delay on follow up mri?

[carter]

I am quickly approaching my 3 year anniversary of my ck on the AN.

I was laid off in late Sept.  I have kept the Cobra insurance.  But to have the MRI, I will have to pay the $500 deductable plus 20% of the MRI costs.  that is my whining.  my question is how long has anyone postponed their annual follow up mri's? 
'
any thoughts about delaying this until I find the next job?

carter

[Jim Scott]

Carter ~

I'm sorry to learn that you were laid off from your job and are facing financial difficulties with having another MRI scan.  They are expensive.

I underwent numerous MRI's in the 3 years post-op...all 'negative'...but I haven't had an MRI scan since 2008 - over 3 years.  I have no symptoms and my very conservative neurosurgeon has not stated that I should have another MRI.   Unless my doctor says otherwise or AN symptoms suddenly arise, I don't intend to have my next MRI until 2013 - 5 years after my last one.  You might want to consult your AN doctor about this but at the 3 year mark and with no AN symptoms I don't believe that postponing an MRI for a year is terribly risky.   Others may disagree.  Please note that I'm not a physician and this is simply my opinion so do with it as you will. 

I hope that you can find employment, soon.

Jim

[ppearl214]

I am quickly approaching my 3 year anniversary of my ck on the AN.

I was laid off in late Sept.  I have kept the Cobra insurance.  But to have the MRI, I will have to pay the $500 deductable plus 20% of the MRI costs.  that is my whining.  my question is how long has anyone postponed their annual follow up mri's? 
'
any thoughts about delaying this until I find the next job?

carter

carter

Not sure where you have your MRIs performed, but many of the facilities will also work out payment plans for you.  If you take the initiative and alert them that you need it done but this is your current status (and unfortunately, they may be doing the same for so many in today's economy), they can work out a plan with you.  Health always comes first and we hear, on the news, all too often, people postponing procedures or holding off purchasing meds due to economics.  If you take initiative first, they are more than accommodating and understanding of the need.

Just a suggestion.
Phyl

[ChipsFL]

I am quickly approaching my 3 year anniversary of my ck on the AN.

I was laid off in late Sept.  I have kept the Cobra insurance.  But to have the MRI, I will have to pay the $500 deductable plus 20% of the MRI costs.  that is my whining.  my question is how long has anyone postponed their annual follow up mri's? 
'
any thoughts about delaying this until I find the next job?

carter

The problem I ran into after skipping MRI's for nearly 3 yrs. was after symptoms that had mostly gone away since first being diagnosed and on a W & W, was did this thing just start growing again, or has it been slowly growing all along.

[PaulW]

My personal opinion only. I am no doctor.

I think the time between MRI's varies between patient and Dr and will depend on a number of issues.

My treating Radiosurgeon recommended a 12 month MRI, but my local ENT specialist was happy to do the next MRI in 2 years.
This was on the basis my AN was small, it had been treated, and probably would not have grown all that much.

People on W&W especially with small tumors could have MRI's every two years.
Radiation in a way is also watch and wait for 5 Years

Your tumour is quite large, which means radiation failure rates are higher, and if your tumour starts to grow again it may start to cause more serious complications quite quickly, as opposed to a small tumour, which could take years. Also at 3 years if radiation has failed its normally the 2-4 year window that problems are detected.
I am sure you could stretch this out for a few months, but at the end of the day the treating Doc would have scheduled the MRI for 12 months because he saw it as being the most appropriate.

Just my thoughts on this
PaulW

[mk]

Carter,

I will agree with Paul. Your tumor is on the larger side, like mine was - My doctors scheduled MRIs every 6 months after having GK and guess what. I did run into trouble around the 2 and a half year mark. The MRI showed continued slight growth, even though I didn't really have any symptoms. I am not saying that this is likely to happen, but with tumors of this size it is good to keep an eye on them to make sure you don't run into trouble.
Sorry about the insurance situation, I hope this will not prevent you from getting appropriate follow up and that you will be able to find employment soon. Could there be a facility around where you live that would charge less for an MRI? I know that in the province of Quebec in Canada private clinics charge around $600-$900 for an MRI (depending on contrast/no contrast) and I heard that just across the border in New York state they charge a similar amount. So I am guessing that this is the real cost of an MRI - would it be possible to find a clinic around where you live with similar  costs?

Marianna