every 2 months

Dad spoke with someone at MD Anderson this morning; he asked how often MD Anderson performs scans on its GBM patients during their radio- and chemotherapy; the answer he got back was "every two months," but if the patients show signs of infection (as happened to Mom), they are immediately referred to the infectious diseases department. The protocol there seems to be about the same as what we're going through here. Infrequent scanning during therapy isn't abnormal.

It still rankles me, though, that a doctor would dismiss a recent scan by saying something like "We normally wouldn't even take such a scan at this point in the therapy." So what? The scan is there; it was done for a reason, not frivolously, so it's supposed to be of use to someone. And shouldn't a good scientist think that more information is better than less information? The scan report clearly mentions that the tumor has progressed in multiple areas during the time that Mom was on her dapto regime. This isn't important information?

I'm sitting here, shaking my head in bitter wonderment.


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