When is it too much?
Last month there was an article on The Washington Post about overuse of CT scans and its possible affects it would have on patients, especially younger women and children.
In my experience, there is no doubt that CT scans have saved my life 7 yrs ago. From the time I showed symptoms of Hodgkin’s (tiredness, itchy legs, night sweats, chest pains — I know! How can those be considered symptoms of cancer?! But sadly they are truely symptoms of Hodgkin’s) to the time I was diagnosed, was a long 5 month period. Five fat months where the cancer ran rampant and amok within my body, growing from the nodes inside my chest up to the nodes in my neck. And yet, doctor after doctor, copay after copay, test after test, nothing conclusive, but with several misdiagnoses. Isn’t that lovely, not only they don’t know what’s wrong, but they tell you something completely off the wall!
I guess I could say that the x-ray did give the hint (when they finally ordered one!), but really it was the CT scan that really showed it was a mass, a big bad mass. I eventually also got a gallium scan as a diagnostic scan, and a PET scan midway through chemo. I don’t know what doses of radiation these scans gave, but I think it was absolutely worth it for the benefits it provided. After all, the radiation couldn’t have been a small fraction of the two-weeks-long intense frying radiation therapy I received.
However, there comes a point when the scans aren’t necessary in certain situations or for certain people, as the article pointed out. But who determines that, and how does everyone’s interest plays into the final decision?
Are we, the general population, getting more diseases, or do we just have the technology and knowledge of diagnosis, therefore simply are uncovering what would be there anyway?
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:21 am
I can’t tell you how many times I have had this exact debate in my head. I’ll let you know if I ever come up with anything conclusive.
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February 22nd, 2008 at 7:46 am
I read a lot of doctor/medical blogs and they mention all the time how scans are being used as part of defensive medicine because of fear of lawsuit.
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February 22nd, 2008 at 11:22 am
I wonder about this, too. Is it both? ::shakes head:: I don’t know…
My dad was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s almost 3 years ago. My neighbor the same, just late last year. Both discovered with scans. My dad’s annual scans just came back with nothing to see! Yay!
I am completely inspired by you!
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February 22nd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
It took my husband to go into renal failure to discover his multiple myeloma. If the doctors would have ordered a CT scan they would have discovered this much earlier and he would not have suffered as much permanent bone damage. His kidneys would have been happier as well. It took the doctors 6 months to figure out what was wrong! Yes…I am bitter! Oh…glad to say the weather is warming up! Hooray!
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February 23rd, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Ok, then I am on the other end of the spectrun…I had one when I went into the ER for some serious abdominal pain. It was kind of a weird deal, and there wasn’t anything to find. So then I had to fight to not have to pay for an “unnecessary” scan. I think it was done just out of the fear of a suit.
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February 23rd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Hello, thanks for adding me as a friend. I really like your blog actually, which was a surprise, as I’m generally very picky about what I read. You sound pretty feisty and strong!
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