Bone Scan Vs. PET Scan

Just before Christmas, I got some incredible news – my breast tumour had vanished! Yes, you read that right; it’s completely gone! I got the news verbally because they always hold back the imaging reports for about two weeks. This rule might seem silly, but it’s there mainly to stop patients from jumping the gun and calling their doctors in a panic before they get the whole picture. Also, it helps avoid any confusion in case of addendums or delays. But that rarely happens, and it mostly keeps us patients in the dark leading up to our appointments.

So, there I was, not expecting any significant updates and boom, I was hit with this shocking news during a seven-minute appointment:

Doctor: “Everything looks good.”

Me: “Umm, what do you mean, everything looks good? How’s my liver?”

Doctor: “Your liver is good, spleen’s fine, kidneys are good, everything’s good, and we’ll stick with the same treatment plan.”

Me: “Well, obviously, I’m staying on the same treatment. But what about my right breast?”

Doctor: “Breast looks good.”

Me: “What do you mean, breast looks good?”

Doctor: “You don’t have cancer in your breast.”

Me: “I have breast cancer! Are you saying my breast tumour is gone?!?”

Doctor: “Well, there’s no sign of cancer activity in your breast, so it’s either gone or at undetectable levels.”

Me: “OH MY GOD, MY TUMOR IS GONE! What about my bones? I saw some hot spots on my spine in the PET scan images. What’s the deal with that?”

Doctor: “Yes, you still have some spots in your bones, but we wouldn’t use a PET scan to monitor bone metastasis; a bone scan is more effective. Your next bone scan is scheduled for early February.”

Me: “Okay, wow, I can’t believe my breast tumour is gone.”

Now that I finally have access to the report, I realize she left out at least half of the important information during that appointment. But honestly, how could I have expected anything different in just seven minutes? Plus, it’s rare for doctors to spill all the details from a report. So, adding to my ever-growing “Lessons Learned The Hard Way” list, I’ve now got “Ask the doctor to read imaging reports word for word.” I’m kicking myself for not doing that sooner.

Attached is my last bone scan and the PET scan report. I would love it if anyone reading my blog could help me understand why the bone scan is a better measure. Does anyone have radiology friends or nuclear medicine friends? As far as I can tell, it seems a bit vague. The PET scan report is more specific. But who knows, maybe radiologists have all the details but don’t bother including them in the report because they’re irrelevant from an oncologist’s perspective. I pretty much assume the oncologist is like, “They are going to die anyway, so just spitball it; I don’t need the details.” hahaha

The reason I am trying to figure this out is that at my next appointment, I might need to ask and or justify why I would like another PET. If the Bone Scan truly is more accurate then I might need to ask my oncologist to ask the radiologist for more specifics on the last scan and the next scan.