"Normal" mid-chemo and post-chemo testing. Is there such a thing?
Talking to my oncologist once I was done with my first round of chemo. I was asking if there was some sort of picture we could get of whether or not there was any change or shrinking of lesions, etc. and if another scan would be done perhaps after the next round.
She said "No, we don't do any scans or MRIs until the very end of the 5th round of chemo. We do blood draws only to check the progress. That's it."
Is that normal? It seems like I remember reading somewhere that in the more high-end places (Sloan-Kettering, Mayo, etc) that they get an MRI halfway through chemo treatments. I'm wondering if those patients paid out of pocket for them.
What has your experience been with this? Did you get any mid-chemo MRIs or PETscans to check progress?