Update on Brother

This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 9 months ago by Cyndie in Texas.

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- August 7, 2019 at 3:26 pm
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Cyndie in Texas
Participant
Good morning! My brother had his CT scan on Monday morning and then we met with the doctor that afternoon and the Melanoma has not spread to the areas they scanned: neck, torso, and head. Yay!

He will have his WLE and the SNLB next Thursday and receive results in two weeks when he has his follow-up appointment with the oncologist. Based on results of SNLB the oncologist will stage it. If they find cancer cells he will be put on immunotherapy for 1 year and if not he will be monitored.

I have one question…if they did a CT scan of the head why didn’t the Melanoma show up on the scan? Is it because it’s in the skin and not detectable?

Thank you everyone for your support and walking me through this scary time!

Cyndie

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- - August 7, 2019 at 5:47 pm
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  mandyjill
  Participant
  Very good news!
- - August 7, 2019 at 9:45 pm
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  NewEra
  Participant
  I think CTs only look for soft tissue objects in the organs or brain. I don’t think it can pick anything up on the surface of the skin.
- - August 8, 2019 at 12:29 am
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  MelanomaMike
  Participant
  Yaay! Great news for both of you!! As far as CT or PET scans are concerned for detecting tumors, lesions in our brain, an MRI is the primary tool to 99% confirm evidence or no evidence of disease, better imaging “slices”!! i mean, thats how it was explained to me by my oncologist, CT’s “Can” detect melanoma but sometimes not, its wishy washy..Oncologist feel safer using MRI….hope i didnt cause any worry!
- - August 9, 2019 at 2:48 am
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  lkb
  Participant
  Cyndie, as MM wrote, MRI is the scan of choice for checking the brain. My primary was on my scalp. My one brain lesion was noted as a possible met on the CT scan, but only verified by MRI; I wasn’t due for an MRI at the time, but I’m glad I requested it. (Even if no mets are found, the imaging gives the patient peace of mind and gives the docs a baseline for comparison.) Subsequently, I’ve had tiny lesions on the scalp (bumps I could feel with my fingers) and they did not show up on any scan. Congratulations on your brother’s good CT results! Wishing him more of same!
  - August 17, 2019 at 1:11 pm
    
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    Cyndie in Texas
    Participant
    
    Thank you for your response! Since this post my brother had his surgery so I will start a new post on how things went.