Hello pretty ladies 🌺 I hope you are well. Thank God I have felt fine, only with some momentary pains in different parts of the body but not limiting. In October I have to do a control PET scan as I have done since my diagnosis every 6 months. Well now my insurance says verbatim: that they DO NOT approve this procedure as it is considered unnecessary. My doctor now says: ok, we'll do a CT scan and a BONE scan. This has made me very nervous since I thought that the PET scan was the best technology to know early if the cancer appears in a new place.
What is your experience ???
And, how is it possible that the insurance decides what is better for me than what the Dr. requests ??? I do not understand
Thank you for reading my post and clarifying my doubts
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Maludagui
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I have MBC since July of 2018 and I have done pet scan only once on November of 2018!my onc says some times you get false result from pet scan. I did bone scan last week and I am scheduled to do MRI and CT next month
I get a ct scan every 3 months and a bone scan. Yes with contrast the ct can see the organs. The bone scan has less radiation so that is better for you.
I have lobular in my stomach and throughout my whole spine from top to bottom. Multiple PET scans and CTs have not shown it anywhere. Only MRI works for me. I just wanted to let you know lobular does not show up in some types of scans.
My insurance denied my PET scan as well and I had a CT and bone scan. The CT scan with contrast showed organs . My concern is that it did not include my brain as the PET would have and the bone scan showed a lesion on my skull. The insurance companies do not care about your health and in my experience will deny everything that they can. I have appealed in the past and won the case one time and lost one time and had to foot the bill. One good thing that I have noticed about MSK in comparison to other doctors and hospitals is that they give you the tests that they deem necessary and appeal after. I find that they have in some instances absorbed the costs when they loose the appeal. Other hospitals seek approval first and in my experience most of the time ,the insurance company deems PET scans as medically unnecessary. It's not worth getting angry about because it's just business and insurance companies are in the business of making money not saving lives. Hard truth.
What doctor and hospital do you go to? I had the same experience. But I cannot have CT scan because I am allergic to the contrast substance. So, I insisted for the PET scan and my doctors insisted as well, we appealed, contested and they finally approved. Good luck to you!
My doctors like cat scans for routine scans. PET are only used if they believe the cancer has moved somewhere else. They can get a better view on Cat Scans or MRI's. I see a doctor locally and I see one at a major cancer center twice a year. It is my understanding that they cannot get a good comparison between a CAT and a PET. Hope this helps. Wishing you the best. Blessings Hannah
You are right about why is it possible for insurance companies to have a say. But with the CT and bone scan you should be covered in terms of its reliable results.
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