› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Scan Question
- This topic has 18 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 2 months ago by
JerryfromFauq.
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- February 6, 2013 at 3:09 pm
Per my previous notes on here. The CT scan lit up over my 3rd rib down on my left side and doctor had me go for chest xray to see if I had any type of injury to that rib. Nothing showed up on the xray and he would not give me any thoughts as to what else it could be and wants to do a biopsy. Does anyone know if I would have some sort of pain if it were the melanoma in my rib? I have no pain at all. It is the rib right over my heart so a heart specialist will have to do the bone biopsy and they cant do a needle biopsy because of main arteries right there I was t
Per my previous notes on here. The CT scan lit up over my 3rd rib down on my left side and doctor had me go for chest xray to see if I had any type of injury to that rib. Nothing showed up on the xray and he would not give me any thoughts as to what else it could be and wants to do a biopsy. Does anyone know if I would have some sort of pain if it were the melanoma in my rib? I have no pain at all. It is the rib right over my heart so a heart specialist will have to do the bone biopsy and they cant do a needle biopsy because of main arteries right there I was told. I am very scarred because I dont know what else it could be but the melanoma spreading. I was diagnosed 3a almost 2 1/2 years ago with the primary on my right shoulder. It had spread to my lymphnodes under that arm and had 28 removed and then went thru almost 11 months of Interferon treatments. I had my 1 year anniversary September 2012 of being off of those awful shots. I did go 9 months without scans because of insurance issues so this is the first scan in quite some time. My scan from last April was clear. Nothing showed up at all. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated….
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- February 6, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Lauri,
I am currently in my 3.5 month Interferon treatment. I have had some pain from time to time on my rib on the right side but just came up clear on my 3 month scan. I am stage IIIC. I do know that when my axillary lymph nodes were attacked by a tumor in July 2012, I did have significant pain prior to them removing the tumor. My hat is off to you for completing 11 months of Interferon. I have found it exhausting and it does not give me a sense of well being. I went off 1 week at the doctors advise and by the end of the week, I was feeling like my old self again. I hope all turns out to be nothing.
Wolverine
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- February 6, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Lauri,
I am currently in my 3.5 month Interferon treatment. I have had some pain from time to time on my rib on the right side but just came up clear on my 3 month scan. I am stage IIIC. I do know that when my axillary lymph nodes were attacked by a tumor in July 2012, I did have significant pain prior to them removing the tumor. My hat is off to you for completing 11 months of Interferon. I have found it exhausting and it does not give me a sense of well being. I went off 1 week at the doctors advise and by the end of the week, I was feeling like my old self again. I hope all turns out to be nothing.
Wolverine
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- February 6, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Lauri,
I am currently in my 3.5 month Interferon treatment. I have had some pain from time to time on my rib on the right side but just came up clear on my 3 month scan. I am stage IIIC. I do know that when my axillary lymph nodes were attacked by a tumor in July 2012, I did have significant pain prior to them removing the tumor. My hat is off to you for completing 11 months of Interferon. I have found it exhausting and it does not give me a sense of well being. I went off 1 week at the doctors advise and by the end of the week, I was feeling like my old self again. I hope all turns out to be nothing.
Wolverine
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- February 6, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Lauri, would an MRI help with the diagnosis? It is my understanding that PET scans are good for alerting you to a potential problem, but are not very good for clearly imaging the lesion.
I, too, would be very concerned about having a surgery so complex that a cardiac surgeon has to do it. Any chance of you waiting a month or 6 weeks and then getting another scan to see if there is any change in the lesion? I most definitely would get a second opinion from a melanoma specialist (or another melanoma specialist if you are already seeing one melanoma specialist) before proceeding to surgery.
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- February 6, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Lauri, would an MRI help with the diagnosis? It is my understanding that PET scans are good for alerting you to a potential problem, but are not very good for clearly imaging the lesion.
I, too, would be very concerned about having a surgery so complex that a cardiac surgeon has to do it. Any chance of you waiting a month or 6 weeks and then getting another scan to see if there is any change in the lesion? I most definitely would get a second opinion from a melanoma specialist (or another melanoma specialist if you are already seeing one melanoma specialist) before proceeding to surgery.
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- February 6, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Lauri, would an MRI help with the diagnosis? It is my understanding that PET scans are good for alerting you to a potential problem, but are not very good for clearly imaging the lesion.
I, too, would be very concerned about having a surgery so complex that a cardiac surgeon has to do it. Any chance of you waiting a month or 6 weeks and then getting another scan to see if there is any change in the lesion? I most definitely would get a second opinion from a melanoma specialist (or another melanoma specialist if you are already seeing one melanoma specialist) before proceeding to surgery.
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- February 7, 2013 at 5:07 am
Laura, I notice you said a CT scan lite up on the rib. My lung tumors were first found from x-rays and then follow-up by CT. The CT showed many more tumors than the x-ray and followup showed rapid growth. Hopefully yours is from a bruise or even a benign tumor or a cyst. I know the fear of a re-occurance and agree with keeping a close watch. Have they discussed waiting a month or 6 weeks for a followup CT scan to see if there is any growth?
Take a couple of deep breaths and don't freak out without additional info. (Didn't say don't worry, just don't let worry without more info ruin things for you.) I've had many false alarms and hope this is one for you.
Will be thinking of you and praying for you.
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- February 7, 2013 at 5:07 am
Laura, I notice you said a CT scan lite up on the rib. My lung tumors were first found from x-rays and then follow-up by CT. The CT showed many more tumors than the x-ray and followup showed rapid growth. Hopefully yours is from a bruise or even a benign tumor or a cyst. I know the fear of a re-occurance and agree with keeping a close watch. Have they discussed waiting a month or 6 weeks for a followup CT scan to see if there is any growth?
Take a couple of deep breaths and don't freak out without additional info. (Didn't say don't worry, just don't let worry without more info ruin things for you.) I've had many false alarms and hope this is one for you.
Will be thinking of you and praying for you.
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- February 7, 2013 at 5:07 am
Laura, I notice you said a CT scan lite up on the rib. My lung tumors were first found from x-rays and then follow-up by CT. The CT showed many more tumors than the x-ray and followup showed rapid growth. Hopefully yours is from a bruise or even a benign tumor or a cyst. I know the fear of a re-occurance and agree with keeping a close watch. Have they discussed waiting a month or 6 weeks for a followup CT scan to see if there is any growth?
Take a couple of deep breaths and don't freak out without additional info. (Didn't say don't worry, just don't let worry without more info ruin things for you.) I've had many false alarms and hope this is one for you.
Will be thinking of you and praying for you.
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- February 7, 2013 at 5:53 am
Laura, I notice you said a CT scan lite up on the rib. My lung tumors were first found from x-rays and then follow-up by CT. The CT showed many more tumors than the x-ray and followup showed rapid growth. Hopefully yours is from a bruise or even a benign tumor or a cyst. I know the fear of a re-occurance and agree with keeping a close watch. Have they discussed waiting a month or 6 weeks for a followup CT scan to see if there is any growth?
Take a couple of deep breaths and don't freak out without additional info. (Didn't say don't worry, just don't let worry without more info ruin things for you.) I've had many false alarms and hope this is one for you.
Will be thinking of you and praying for you.
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- February 7, 2013 at 5:53 am
Laura, I notice you said a CT scan lite up on the rib. My lung tumors were first found from x-rays and then follow-up by CT. The CT showed many more tumors than the x-ray and followup showed rapid growth. Hopefully yours is from a bruise or even a benign tumor or a cyst. I know the fear of a re-occurance and agree with keeping a close watch. Have they discussed waiting a month or 6 weeks for a followup CT scan to see if there is any growth?
Take a couple of deep breaths and don't freak out without additional info. (Didn't say don't worry, just don't let worry without more info ruin things for you.) I've had many false alarms and hope this is one for you.
Will be thinking of you and praying for you.
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- February 7, 2013 at 5:53 am
Laura, I notice you said a CT scan lite up on the rib. My lung tumors were first found from x-rays and then follow-up by CT. The CT showed many more tumors than the x-ray and followup showed rapid growth. Hopefully yours is from a bruise or even a benign tumor or a cyst. I know the fear of a re-occurance and agree with keeping a close watch. Have they discussed waiting a month or 6 weeks for a followup CT scan to see if there is any growth?
Take a couple of deep breaths and don't freak out without additional info. (Didn't say don't worry, just don't let worry without more info ruin things for you.) I've had many false alarms and hope this is one for you.
Will be thinking of you and praying for you.
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