I have a meeting with the consultant in2 weeks time to see how I am getting on post treatment. It will be my 4th appointment since completed treatment. During last one I had the all clear. For this one however, the consultant didn’t refer me for an MRI scan. She only wants to see how am doing? I don’t know but I find it hard to understand how she is going to assess my progression without any scans. Do you always have MRI scans prior of the regular post treatment follow up appointments?
I’m in my 5th year of follow-up treatment for cc. I haven’t had an MRI before every follow up appointment. I’ve had one or two MRIs fairly recently and also a CT-scan but that was because i’ve had episodes of vaginal and urethral bleeding - seems I’m NED so far.
I expect follow up policies differ between health trusts so for peace of mind you could call your nurse specialist to make sure there hasn’t been an admin error or you could ask when you have your appointment.
All my appointments, with or without prededing scans, have included discussing any concerns or changes since I was last seen and the oncologist also does an external and internal examination.
Your consultant probably just wants to catch up and see how you are doing and maybe answer any concerns you may have.
As @Jazza mentioned protocols vary between health boards and also the type of treatment which has been tailored to your care.
I didn’t have MRI scans or blood tests for my all of my consultations. My old oncologist used CT scans and blood tests I had from our main hospital because I was admitted with bowel obstructions and I have now been discharged from the cancer hospital. I had a MRI scan nearly 2 weeks ago because I had vaginal bleeding and my gynae nurses arranged this. Fortunately it isn’t a recurrence, my pelvic floor has dropped due to the treatments.
