To find out what exactly is going on or to see if the treatment is helping, your mother or father will have to go to hospital for some tests. Here are some of those tests.
X-rays
If every you have ever broken an arm or a leg, then you know what an X-ray is. You can see bones on it and also some other things. Sometimes mothers or fathers with cancer also have to have an X-ray taken. That´s how the doctor can see what it looks like on the inside.
Ultrasound
An ultrasound is an examination using sound waves. The doctor smears a little bit of gel on, for instance, your mother or father’s tummy and moves a little handheld probe over it. The doctor can see on the tv-screen if there are any cancer cells in the tummy.
Blood tests
A blood test looks at your mother or father’s blood. Usually the doctor can see a lot there. Because blood often has to be checked, your mother or father will also have to be pricked with a needle regularly!
Scan
A lot of pictures of your mother or father’s insides are taken quickly after each other using something that looks like a big drum. Your mother or father has to lie on a table that moves very slowly through the drum.
MRI
To see exactly where the cancer cells are, sometimes an MRI is done. An MRI is a sort of tube that makes a lot of noise, which your mother or father moves through on a moveable table. Because the examination takes rather a long time, your mum or dad can bring some music along to listen to.
Biopsy
The doctor almost always needs to take away a little bit of tissue from the tumour (that´s called a biopsy). That biopsy is then examined in the laboratory under a microscope. In this way the doctor can see exactly what sort of cancer it is.
