Ladies thank you so much for your advice and thoughts on this. I just dont understand why there isnt more consistent or frequent follow up testing but I know the insurance companies dictate a lot of this as well. I never found my lump, it was too small and it was found on ultrasound. Thats what scares me.

If I am 6 months after treatment I would fake something knowing the ER would send me for a CT scan. I am not kidding. I am serious. I would want to know if cancer was in my body before my yearly mammogram was due.

I guess I could add a little something. I had same diagnosis and treatment. Diagnosed 1/23, finished Aug 23. Tumor marker was grade 3, oncotype score 53. All high. All I was scheduled for was follow up with DR and mammogram yearly. Had that in November, all clear. I started having mobility issues first of December, went to ER and I had a tumor in my brain. Surgery was successful and had to do radiation. My tumor was cancer. Now, stage 4 all within less than a year. So yes I do believe scans should be done at the end of all treatment for a baseline. I know they can't catch everything but I do believe the can catch a lot. I try not to blame anyone because that is the course of treatment. It is my path and I'm ok with that. I am 67 and can deal with it but I feel for the younger women that will follow this path. I think if I was to give any advise it would be to do a PET scan at the end of treatment, no matter the cost, and especially if you have high numbers. I will be having my first PET scan on Tuesday. Life looks a little different now, in a good way though.

I totally agree and this is one of my complaints and have talked about it a lot here. Mammograms only do breasts. Breast cancer can return in other parts of the body. There is no question about it. It has happened to women here. Its the insurance companies that I guess won't pay for it as a yearly thing and only for diagnostic purposes. For Stage 4 they will pay for scans more often . I just don't understand. When a woman has an ache somewhere thats when a doctor will order one.

Unfortunately insurance often will not cover imaging for early stage cancers. I agree with you that imaging should be done but doctors can he at the mercy of the insurance companies.