I was told followup screening that is done without symptoms causes more anxiety and does not have benefit. Instead, I am supposed to watch and report symptoms.

I was told I will receive no screening for recurrence. My BC was triple positive (er pr her2)
This is because insurance companies lobbied to have it so that screenings aren’t “standard” (and thus insurance companies arent required to cover them) because screenings don’t affect “overall survival” outcomes. A recurrence is technically metastatic cancer which is incurable and the treatments are the same regardless of how early it is detected. That’s how they rationalize not covering screenings. Awful.

Unfortunately, this the the standard protocol. Wait and watch. I can't believe they let me go 6 months between screenings even the first 2 years and that they don't ever do a full body MRI or something as a regular screening for anyone with a diagnosis. But it's the state of care with a broken system manipulated by Big Pharma and insurance companies calling the shots. There's nothing like getting cancer to give you that wake-up call to the truth.

I was told there is no test that can predict a reoccurence before it happens. Most scans will not pick up very small reoccurence. I was told to watch out for symptoms and report if they last more than 2 weeks. I use the Cleveland Clinic