Nancy Hernandez43 said:Last time my dad and I talked about this, the answer was a pretty solid yes. Her markers have been looking fine for six months now—but back in February, during her checkup, the doctors suggested she get a CT/PET scan just to be absolutely certain there isn't any metastasis hiding somewhere, especially since it’s been a year since the surgery. Apparently, overseas, a scan like that runs you about $1,500, but here in the States, you can often get it done for next to nothing if you've got decent supplemental insurance. My dad mentioned something about Mayo Clinic? Does anyone actually know anything about them? He said he already reached out to get some info, but he hasn't really filled me in on what they said.
My parents are heading back to the States tomorrow, so I should finally have some more breathing room to write—fingers crossed.🙂
Look, sorry if I'm being a bit blunt with the info here—just bear with me and try to keep an open mind while I lay it all out.
I’m dropping the link to Quest Diagnostics right here on these pages—not that I want to keep repeating myself—but since you asked, here’s the absolute latest info:
The PET/CT scanner is located over at Mount Sinai Hospital, but since it’s actually run by Quest Diagnostics, you have to go through them to get everything scheduled.
Look, you have to print out their specific forms—Form A and Form B—directly from their website. And just to be clear, the oncologist is the only one who fills these out—I mean, the actual doctor referring the patient for the scan. Once that's done, you fax it over to them. They’ll give you an appointment time, but honestly, if you want things to move faster, just pick up the phone and call them directly. They lay out the whole registration protocol on their site anyway, so just follow the instructions there.
If you’ve got that supplemental insurance card, the checkup through Medicare is totally free—no strings attached. If you don't have it, though, you're stuck paying the copay yourself. Simple as that. $433
A private checkup’s gonna run you about $11. $0.00But honestly, everyone’s just sitting around waiting for the first available opening anyway—so there’s really no such thing as cutting in line. It all ends up being the same.
It felt like we were waiting forever—I mean, we applied back on April 10th and didn't even get an appointment until May 19th—so we finally just called it quits and went to Budapest instead. It cost us about $1,100 plus travel expenses, and the whole thing was organized by this company, DMGV PET CT America (I'm actually trying to pull up their website right now, but it won't load, which is just typical). From the moment we secured the slot to actually getting the scan done, the entire process took maybe seven days total. Fast.
Look, since your mom is doing okay and this is just a routine checkup, you should probably get her scheduled in NYC as soon as possible. We were actually rushing to get things sorted because my mom was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma—it turns out that follow-up was basically the only way they could figure out if the cancer had spread elsewhere, which, unfortunately, it had. 😢Look, you just can't pinpoint the epicenter using this method—it's fundamentally flawed.
To everyone fighting this battle right now—and to their families, too—I’m sending nothing but strength. You're going to need it, but I truly hope you find the grit and the success needed to pull through this.