› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Opinions on scan schedule
- This topic has 12 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 8 months ago by JerryfromFauq.
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- August 14, 2013 at 4:34 am
My daughter is stage IIIb. Her last surgery was 1/31/13 to remove lymph nodes in the right side of her neck and she has been NED since. She did complete 3 rounds of adjuvant biochemotherapy April 10th. She had a PET scan at the end of April that was clear and a CT scan in July that was also clear. Her oncologist (melanoma specialist) originally said she would alternate PET with CT scans every 3 months for 2 years but on her last appointment said she was changing the schedule to CT scan only every 6 months.
My daughter is stage IIIb. Her last surgery was 1/31/13 to remove lymph nodes in the right side of her neck and she has been NED since. She did complete 3 rounds of adjuvant biochemotherapy April 10th. She had a PET scan at the end of April that was clear and a CT scan in July that was also clear. Her oncologist (melanoma specialist) originally said she would alternate PET with CT scans every 3 months for 2 years but on her last appointment said she was changing the schedule to CT scan only every 6 months. My daughter is 25 and this may have something to do with trying to decrease the amount of radiation over her lifetime. I am hopeful this is good news but I wonder if decreasing the frequency of the scans is recommended. Any thoughts?
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- August 14, 2013 at 11:18 am
I think it's common to "graduate" from scans every 3-4 months to scans every 6 months. As to when the graduation happens seems to depend upon the doctor and whether or not you're in a trial.
When I first started this journey, I was told by both my surgeon and my oncologist that the longer you go without a recurrence, the less the chances are of the melanoma returning. After a year, I went from scans every 3 months to scans every 6 months.
So in answer to your question, graduating from 3 month scans to 6 month scans is good!
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- August 14, 2013 at 11:18 am
I think it's common to "graduate" from scans every 3-4 months to scans every 6 months. As to when the graduation happens seems to depend upon the doctor and whether or not you're in a trial.
When I first started this journey, I was told by both my surgeon and my oncologist that the longer you go without a recurrence, the less the chances are of the melanoma returning. After a year, I went from scans every 3 months to scans every 6 months.
So in answer to your question, graduating from 3 month scans to 6 month scans is good!
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- August 14, 2013 at 11:18 am
I think it's common to "graduate" from scans every 3-4 months to scans every 6 months. As to when the graduation happens seems to depend upon the doctor and whether or not you're in a trial.
When I first started this journey, I was told by both my surgeon and my oncologist that the longer you go without a recurrence, the less the chances are of the melanoma returning. After a year, I went from scans every 3 months to scans every 6 months.
So in answer to your question, graduating from 3 month scans to 6 month scans is good!
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- August 14, 2013 at 4:14 pm
My son, also 25, was on a 6th month schedule from the beginning. He is 3A, oral MM with a year of interferon. His last scans were in July which is 4 years from dx.
He has a new oncologist (not a melanoma speciaslit) who told him it can be yearly from now on. This makes me nervous, but I also agree that at a younger age, there are risks of too many scans. He hates getting the scans and I am always a wreck with scanxiety, so I am trying to lok at yearly as a good thing!
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- August 15, 2013 at 1:02 am
Thank you both for your input. I am relieved to know it is a common practice. I totally get "scanxiety" too and so does she so not having to go through the wait for results as often should be a good thing. She is only 7 months NED but her doctors are very encouraging.
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- August 15, 2013 at 4:13 am
Come on Gal, {Becky} relax a little more! (Hee Heee)
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- August 14, 2013 at 4:14 pm
My son, also 25, was on a 6th month schedule from the beginning. He is 3A, oral MM with a year of interferon. His last scans were in July which is 4 years from dx.
He has a new oncologist (not a melanoma speciaslit) who told him it can be yearly from now on. This makes me nervous, but I also agree that at a younger age, there are risks of too many scans. He hates getting the scans and I am always a wreck with scanxiety, so I am trying to lok at yearly as a good thing!
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- August 14, 2013 at 4:14 pm
My son, also 25, was on a 6th month schedule from the beginning. He is 3A, oral MM with a year of interferon. His last scans were in July which is 4 years from dx.
He has a new oncologist (not a melanoma speciaslit) who told him it can be yearly from now on. This makes me nervous, but I also agree that at a younger age, there are risks of too many scans. He hates getting the scans and I am always a wreck with scanxiety, so I am trying to lok at yearly as a good thing!
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- August 15, 2013 at 1:02 am
Thank you both for your input. I am relieved to know it is a common practice. I totally get "scanxiety" too and so does she so not having to go through the wait for results as often should be a good thing. She is only 7 months NED but her doctors are very encouraging.
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- August 15, 2013 at 1:02 am
Thank you both for your input. I am relieved to know it is a common practice. I totally get "scanxiety" too and so does she so not having to go through the wait for results as often should be a good thing. She is only 7 months NED but her doctors are very encouraging.
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- August 15, 2013 at 4:13 am
Come on Gal, {Becky} relax a little more! (Hee Heee)
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- August 15, 2013 at 4:13 am
Come on Gal, {Becky} relax a little more! (Hee Heee)
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