Bill Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 Are you finding a good, poor or indifferent correlation between your symptoms / condition and your imaging results ( e.g. X-rays, CTs, MRIs, etc. ) ? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patut Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 Can let you know better after December 2nd when next cat scan is scheduled , but so far our onc has gone by how my hubbie feels and acts more then by what an xray showed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted November 26, 2004 Author Share Posted November 26, 2004 Can let you know better after December 2nd when next cat scan is scheduled , but so far our onc has gone by how my hubbie feels and acts more then by what an xray showed. ////////////////// Thanks Patut. Good start. Hopefully many more readers will respond to my question as this is an important topic given all of the ( emotionally stressful and seemingly endless ) testing that cancer patients experience. Your answer is very similar to my wife's situation. Endless testing including plain film X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, weekly hematology, etc. BUT at every office visit the story ends the same way. How do you feel ? How are your symptoms ? Are you gaining / maintaining weight ? ( Weight gain is the # 1 most reliable indicator of patient condition according to all of her docs ) ? Favorable answers to these 3 questions and the imaging results are all but ignored. Last set of CT scans ended up on the floor and the med onc didn't even care to discuss them as my wife gave favorable answers to the above 3 questions. We head over to the rad onc office and face the same questions with the same reaction. BTW, the correlation between my wife's symptoms / condition and her imaging results is very poor. In particular, her CT scans have caused a great deal of confusion as her favorable symptoms / condition say one thing and the very discouraging CT scan results say something entirely different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoBennett Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 Hey Bill, I wasn’t sure I understood your Q at first but I have to say I completely agree that the tests and such have little impact for the Onc, it is the three questions that rule the treatment.. My Oncs first question is always, is there any pain. Since the pain left long ago and there are no symptoms he has little to say. The tests have more value for me as I get all reports and results long before he does, he actually seldom even gets results, he goes by what I tell him. I think understanding how things work, such as your question is an important part of getting through lung cancer I get blood work each week and try and correlate the results with how I feel, just can’t seem to find it though. Even when the mono is double the norm, indicating infections, I just go on a longer hike. The only comments from the Onc is via the reports and that is to say I have cytopenias, my blood is always trashed, but since I feel fine it doesn’t seem to mean a lick to the Onc. Overall I have found no correlation to tests and how I feel. Interestingly I have lost over 25 pounds in the last 4 months and he hasn’t commented. If he asked I could honestly tell him that discipline was the cause, not the cancer. Anyhoo, all discipline is out the window today we are doing Thanksgiving a day late.. Bo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Lamb Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 Bill,I one time felt better than ever only to learn the cancer had returned in my other lung.The last two times ( scans every 3 months still )I felt like sh!t and the scans were good.(still stable).Haven't been able in my case to reliably pre-predict by how I feel as to how the tests will turn out.A good question tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stand4hope Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 Bill, I would have to answer GOOD. My husband's imaging results are really bad - actually they stink! But his "condition" is great! LOL! That's ok with me. His radiation oncologist is a real joy to be around - very positive, optimistic and just a really happy man. He says they look more at the patient than they do at the films. He likes what he sees when he looks at his patient - my wonderful man! Love, Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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