Bone Scan Question

[dianew]

I am new here, having posted just one time before under "Introduce Yourself". I have now had a PET scan and CT biopsy, and have my first appointment with an oncologist tomorrow. I've noticed several people referring to bone scans. Is that a completely separate test from a PET scan? Or does the PET scan serve the same purpose?

Because I had my left lung removed almost 11 years ago, I was told that they wanted to do the PET scan in hopes of finding cancer outside of my remaining lung to biopsy. Nothing showed up on the PET scan, so they went ahead a did a needle biopsy of one of the two spots in my right lung, and all went fine. However, I know that this does not mean that the cancer has not traveled outside the lung, and wonder if I should be having a bone scan.

The information everyone has shared about questions to ask your oncologist has been so helpful. Thank you so much.

Diane

[recce101]

If you've had a recent PET scan, I don't think a separate bone scan would be necessary. You could ask the oncologist tomorrow to be sure. Another issue is brain imaging — if you haven't had a brain CT or MRI, you might ask about that. Some oncs order them routinely before treatment, while others don't unless there are symptoms. There doesn't seem to be a clear standard on that.

Let us know how your appointment goes. Best wishes and Aloha,

Ned