Meeting With Surgeon

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buckeye2
buckeye2 Member Posts: 428 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1
I am trying to determine whether or not this is a good sign. We met with oncologist on Tuesday and he said he would bring my husband's case before a Board of doctors to see if surgery was an option but wasn't optimistic it would be. He said he would see us in two months following four more rounds of chemo. Today we got a call from the oncological surgeon with an appointment for Monday for an evaluation. So my question is whether this is a routine procedure before the Board meets or is this a sign the surgeon sees surgery as a potential. It's just weird that the oncologist didn't mention it and now we have an appt within the week. Lisa

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  • annallen
    annallen Member Posts: 7
    #2
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    Many hospitals have 'Tumor
    Many hospitals have 'Tumor Boards' where doctors present cases to each other to pick everyone's brains. I think it's great that your oncologist is doing that.

    And this makes me think of two possibilities:

    1. The tumor board may have met and recommended that your husband be evaluated; or

    2. Your oncologist may want an evaluation by a surgeon prior to the tumor board meeting.

    Doctors don't always communicate well ...
  • buckeye2
    buckeye2 Member Posts: 428 Member
    #3
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    annallen said:

    Many hospitals have 'Tumor
    Many hospitals have 'Tumor Boards' where doctors present cases to each other to pick everyone's brains. I think it's great that your oncologist is doing that.

    And this makes me think of two possibilities:

    1. The tumor board may have met and recommended that your husband be evaluated; or

    2. Your oncologist may want an evaluation by a surgeon prior to the tumor board meeting.

    Doctors don't always communicate well ...

    Thanks for your input. Lisa

    Thanks for your input. Lisa
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #4
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    Lisa
    It's a Tumor Board, which is a team that consists of cancer surgeons for various parts of your body that they specialize in resecting (i.e., liver, lung, etc)oncologist nurses, anesthesiologists, and oncologists (maybe more I don't remember them all)who go over your charts that your oncologist presents and they make a decision whether they think you are a viable candidate or not. If they turn your husband down, do NOT be disappointed, I was turned down by two different boards, one in Santa Cruz and one in Palo Alto (Stanford). My oncologist really believing that I was qualified to have all these surgeries (colon, liver and ureter)then took my case to an oncologist in Stanford (Palo Alto)who then took my case separately to the liver, oncologist and colon surgeons there, who agreed they could do something for me, then the oncologist in Stanford took it back for a second time to Palo Alto and I was approved by the tumor board at that time. I am now NED for all intents and purposes. This process took several months.
    So the moral of my story is...Don't get disappointed if they say no at first!!!
    Winter Marie
    (and good thing seeing surgeon first, better idea, more support for surgery!!)
  • tanstaafl
    tanstaafl Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #5
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    getting to "yes"
    Part of the interview process is gathering pertinent information, preparing your case to quickly deliver information, resolve questions and present favorable aspects. One unknown (missing) detail quoted from the right expert, when added, may turn "No" into "yes". At least, it did for my wife, after a short string of "Dr No"s. You may have to get outside expert help with 2nd, 3rd opinions for extra pieces of information.

    Part of the search is finding someone who has the right experience, skills, clout and confidence to do your surgery successfully, when no one else will.
  • buckeye2
    buckeye2 Member Posts: 428 Member
    #6
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    herdizziness said:

    Lisa
    It's a Tumor Board, which is a team that consists of cancer surgeons for various parts of your body that they specialize in resecting (i.e., liver, lung, etc)oncologist nurses, anesthesiologists, and oncologists (maybe more I don't remember them all)who go over your charts that your oncologist presents and they make a decision whether they think you are a viable candidate or not. If they turn your husband down, do NOT be disappointed, I was turned down by two different boards, one in Santa Cruz and one in Palo Alto (Stanford). My oncologist really believing that I was qualified to have all these surgeries (colon, liver and ureter)then took my case to an oncologist in Stanford (Palo Alto)who then took my case separately to the liver, oncologist and colon surgeons there, who agreed they could do something for me, then the oncologist in Stanford took it back for a second time to Palo Alto and I was approved by the tumor board at that time. I am now NED for all intents and purposes. This process took several months.
    So the moral of my story is...Don't get disappointed if they say no at first!!!
    Winter Marie
    (and good thing seeing surgeon first, better idea, more support for surgery!!)

    Thanks for that advice
    Thanks for that advice because otherwise I would have been very down if surgeon was not optimistic. I will keep the hope. Lisa
  • buckeye2
    buckeye2 Member Posts: 428 Member
    #7
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    tanstaafl said:

    getting to "yes"
    Part of the interview process is gathering pertinent information, preparing your case to quickly deliver information, resolve questions and present favorable aspects. One unknown (missing) detail quoted from the right expert, when added, may turn "No" into "yes". At least, it did for my wife, after a short string of "Dr No"s. You may have to get outside expert help with 2nd, 3rd opinions for extra pieces of information.

    Part of the search is finding someone who has the right experience, skills, clout and confidence to do your surgery successfully, when no one else will.

    I am beginning to see it is
    I am beginning to see it is important for that surgeon to see that my husband is "all in". He operates much more effectively in the world of denial than in the "all in" realm. I may have to work on that over this weekend. Lisa

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