My 23-year-old daughter was diagnosed in October 2005 with dysgerminoma, a germ cell malignant tumor which originated in her left ovary. Upon its removal, along with her left fallopian tube, and following a C-T/PET scan, her disease was detrmined to be Stage IIIC. (A second live tumor was found in a lymph node located near her left kidney on the aorta).
She has just finished her fourth round of BEP chemotherapy and is back in school. We are waiting to go for her post-chemo C-T/PET scan to determine if this first-lline treatment was effective or not.
I am looking for other persons who have had a similar diagnosis. Because dysgerminoma is usually found in younger females, it seems to be considered more of a pediatric disease in all the literature. In addition, many oncologists feel it is analogous to testicular cancer in males.
One of my main concerns at the moment is that our insurance company (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas) would not pay for her initial pre-chemo PET scan, which is critical to determine if a tumor is alive or dead. We fear that they will also deny payment for post-chemo PET scans. These are no longer considered "experimental" by the medical oncology community in effectiveness for determining whether a cancer has survived chemotherapy, and during follow-up care whether the cancer has recurred.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this?