Anonymous wrote:As a physician, I think this is not a good idea. There is so much talk in the medical community about whether we are over-using CTs even when there is an actual concern (abdominal pain, minor car accidents, etc) and whether there's going to be an increase in cancer in the future from people getting so many over a lifetime. I find the idea of offering totally healthy and asymptomatic people a CT as a "virtual physical" bizarre, dangerous, and really contrary to both medical ethics and common sense.

OP, what kind of cancer did your mom have? Asking your doctor for more targeted testing might make more sense than just zapping your whole body. E.g. if it was cervical cancer, a Pap smear is going to pick it up in the early and treatable stage -- a CT will not. Likewise, a CT is actually not the greatest test for looking at the ovaries and uterus -- an ultrasound is both safer and gives better information. If it's breast cancer that's a concern, and you are very high risk but too young for a mammogram to work well, some docs will do a breast MRI -- also safer than a CT.