I am on the path to firing my oncologist!!!!

chenheart
chenheart Member Posts: 5,159 Member
in Breast Cancer #1
I am one step closer to having a new oncologist!!! I called the office of the Dr a friend recommended and asked if he was accepting new pts for a 2nd opinion..YES! The RN took some cursory info from me, and asked why I wanted to have another opinion. I said that though it is true that my oncologist has kept me alive, which hello! is VERY important~ especially with my recurrance I feel I need a Team on my side and more TLC than my present Dr is capable of delivering. She said.."yes, you do deserve to be part of a team and have loving care"~ I almost fainted!! So, I went to the clinic where my records are, and requested copies of the 1st 18 months of treatment. Though expensive ( $20.00 "administration fee" and then 25cents PER PAGE for copies!) Reggie said I am worth it! He didn't bat an eye. I also found out that the new Dr ( per my request) can get my last 2 years of medical records for free! So, the new Dr wil have 3 1/2 years of my 8 year journey...that should be fine, as the 5 yrs in the middle I was taking Arimidex! I feel I am making such an important personal decision~ thank you for giving me that GRRRRR to stand up for myself!
Oh....one more thing! A friend of mine is participating in her very first Relay For Life ( in my honor!) She called to ask if I had any good Team Names...I thought for about 5 seconds and said KINDRED SPIRITS!!! And that's who we are.. Hope you approve; I walk for all of us, you included!

Hugs,
Chen♥

Comments

  • butterflylvr
    butterflylvr Member Posts: 944
    #2
    Chen you are an amazing
    Chen you are an amazing woman and I wish nothing but good health and happiness for you. I'm sorry you had to find the need to switch oncologists, but it sounds like this new office will be a better match for you my friend. Never give up the Grrrrr.. that's what I like about you.

    Hugs,
    Lorrie
  • sausageroll
    sausageroll Member Posts: 415
    #3
    butterflylvr said:

    Chen you are an amazing
    Chen you are an amazing woman and I wish nothing but good health and happiness for you. I'm sorry you had to find the need to switch oncologists, but it sounds like this new office will be a better match for you my friend. Never give up the Grrrrr.. that's what I like about you.

    Hugs,
    Lorrie

    Chen
    Well done Chen. I think it is so important to have a Doctor or group of doctors and nurses who you can trust and with whom you get along. The loving care part is very improtant too.
    Thinking of you. Take care. Pat
  • New Flower
    New Flower Member Posts: 4,294
    #4
    sausageroll said:

    Chen
    Well done Chen. I think it is so important to have a Doctor or group of doctors and nurses who you can trust and with whom you get along. The loving care part is very improtant too.
    Thinking of you. Take care. Pat

    Claudia
    Claudia,
    I think I do not know the whole story, but since your surgery last spring have been thinking about necessity of a second opinion for you. I am glad that you have decided to make such a very important step. As you probably know I have changed my oncologist 12 months ago.
    Good luck with your appointment and I hope you will share your experience with us. Sorry that you cannot come on June18Th
    Hugs
  • missrenee
    missrenee Member Posts: 2,136 Member
    #5
    New Flower said:

    Claudia
    Claudia,
    I think I do not know the whole story, but since your surgery last spring have been thinking about necessity of a second opinion for you. I am glad that you have decided to make such a very important step. As you probably know I have changed my oncologist 12 months ago.
    Good luck with your appointment and I hope you will share your experience with us. Sorry that you cannot come on June18Th
    Hugs

    Hi Chen
    I am so glad you've found a new team for your treatment. You sound so confident and happy with that decision. I think it is so important to have that team and all be on the same page in your treatment plan. Not only should you be getting the best physical care possible, your emotional care is just as important.

    Best of luck. Keep us posted.

    Hugs, Renee
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159 Member
    #6
    missrenee said:

    Hi Chen
    I am so glad you've found a new team for your treatment. You sound so confident and happy with that decision. I think it is so important to have that team and all be on the same page in your treatment plan. Not only should you be getting the best physical care possible, your emotional care is just as important.

    Best of luck. Keep us posted.

    Hugs, Renee

    I am so excited to know that
    I am so excited to know that I have been proactive~ I am anxious to meet the new Dr! He has to have my charts before he will be able to see me, which makes sense~ he wants to know something about me before I walk through the door! I will keep you informed...I am smiling for the first time in a long time ( about this disease, that it!)
  • grams2jc
    grams2jc Member Posts: 756
    #7
    chenheart said:

    I am so excited to know that
    I am so excited to know that I have been proactive~ I am anxious to meet the new Dr! He has to have my charts before he will be able to see me, which makes sense~ he wants to know something about me before I walk through the door! I will keep you informed...I am smiling for the first time in a long time ( about this disease, that it!)

    How great!
    I hope that you walk in to your appt with this new Dr and it all just clicks. It did for me with my MO when she opened my chart, put on her dollar store reading glasses, (she told me that's where she got them), sat beside me on the exam table and we went through every page TOGETHER. She lets me know I am still human and have an opinion even though I am a "cancer" patient. No false hope, no pulled punches, but puts it all in language I can understand while listening to me.

    Wishing you a fantastic relationship with this new doc,

    Jennifer
  • BlownAway60
    BlownAway60 Member Posts: 851
    #8
    Chen. Behind you 100%. I
    Chen. Behind you 100%. I changed my oncoligist right in the middle of chemo because I was not getting the treatment that I deserved. You deserve the very best care and if you don't get it, then by all means go some place that you will.

    Hugs

    Donna

    PS. I think the team name is just wonderful. What an honor that you thought of us.
  • Lighthouse_7
    Lighthouse_7 Member Posts: 1,566 Member
    #9
    BlownAway60 said:

    Chen. Behind you 100%. I
    Chen. Behind you 100%. I changed my oncoligist right in the middle of chemo because I was not getting the treatment that I deserved. You deserve the very best care and if you don't get it, then by all means go some place that you will.

    Hugs

    Donna

    PS. I think the team name is just wonderful. What an honor that you thought of us.

    Well done indeed. We need to
    Well done indeed. We need to have TLC and I'm so glad you made the decision.
    I changed my oncologist twice. I don't count the first one because he sort of came with the chemo center that I chose.
    Never really warmed up to him anyway.
    The next one was in the same building and I tried him without any thought. He was just way too dismissive so I went
    to the hospital where my surgery was done. It's an hour ride and lots of traffic, but it's worth it.
    Best of luck with the new!
    Hugs,
    Wanda
  • camul
    camul Member Posts: 2,537
    #10
    Good for you Chen
    It never hurts to get a second opinion. I fired my first oncologist. She was suppose to be the best, yet she was so cold with me. That is how I went to my mom's onco. He IS the best, he listens, cried when he gave me my prognosis right with my boys and I. I know he has my best interest at heart as well as that of my family (he is now my 25 yr old son's onco). Compassion means the world to me! I also got a second opinion with the mets diagnosis and he encouraged it!

    Keep us posted, you really are a warrior!
    ~Carol
  • aisling8
    aisling8 Member Posts: 1,627 Member
    #11
    camul said:

    Good for you Chen
    It never hurts to get a second opinion. I fired my first oncologist. She was suppose to be the best, yet she was so cold with me. That is how I went to my mom's onco. He IS the best, he listens, cried when he gave me my prognosis right with my boys and I. I know he has my best interest at heart as well as that of my family (he is now my 25 yr old son's onco). Compassion means the world to me! I also got a second opinion with the mets diagnosis and he encouraged it!

    Keep us posted, you really are a warrior!
    ~Carol

    In my opinion
    You are worth WAY more than 25 cents a page. And if the new doctor wants your whole chart, we'll send you copy money in lieu of flowers:)

    I'm just saying.........

    xoxo
    Victoria
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159 Member
    #12
    aisling8 said:

    In my opinion
    You are worth WAY more than 25 cents a page. And if the new doctor wants your whole chart, we'll send you copy money in lieu of flowers:)

    I'm just saying.........

    xoxo
    Victoria

    Victoria...if that wasn't
    Victoria...if that wasn't just the sweetest thing ever!! I love you! I'm just saying....

    All of you bolster me, encourage me, prop me up ( I know I'm being redundant here! LOL)make me laugh, push me forward and truly envelop me with fellow-feeling. I am humbled and honored to be in your company; truly I am. Thank you, Kindred Spirits.
  • poplolly
    poplolly Member Posts: 346
    #13
    Good for you, Chen. It is
    Good for you, Chen. It is hugely important that we have good communication and a good fit with our cancer team. My oncologist is rather blunt, but she cares about me as a person and not as a "rare cancer case." I wish you the best with your new doc.
  • Texasgirl10
    Texasgirl10 Member Posts: 668
    #14
    poplolly said:

    Good for you, Chen. It is
    Good for you, Chen. It is hugely important that we have good communication and a good fit with our cancer team. My oncologist is rather blunt, but she cares about me as a person and not as a "rare cancer case." I wish you the best with your new doc.

    I'm glad your getting a new Dr
    It's so important to trust your doctor and feel like he/she is doing right by you. I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself and being proactive in your healthcare. You go girl :)

    I wish you all the best with your new onc and of course I pray that you have excellent health always.

    Hugs,

    Dawne
  • Lynn Smith
    Lynn Smith Member Posts: 1,264 Member
    #15
    chenheart said:

    Victoria...if that wasn't
    Victoria...if that wasn't just the sweetest thing ever!! I love you! I'm just saying....

    All of you bolster me, encourage me, prop me up ( I know I'm being redundant here! LOL)make me laugh, push me forward and truly envelop me with fellow-feeling. I am humbled and honored to be in your company; truly I am. Thank you, Kindred Spirits.

    I really understand
    I really understand changing doctors.I did the same thing.I also think that it also depends how the staff treats you.Receptionist and nurse. I fired my urologist after just 3 months.All he wanted to do was give me a CT scan when another test would be less invasive(radiation levels). He did a test on me. Then I had to see him after his nurse jabbed me with a needle in my hip.Antibiotic shot before test. I actually cried a long time.It hurt for almost 2 months.I told him about that he acted like just a bruise. Then I mentioned I don't want a CT scan.Something else should be effecient.He said NO. I knew when I walked out that was it.Actually when you went to him you were given maybe 5 minutes.He tells you how it is and that is that.

    I called another doctor's office and they got me in within 3 days.They were so nice on the phone and said no problems getting your records etc since I had some tests at a hospital this doctor practices. I really like my new urologist.Oh and I also fired my gastro doctor after over 25 years.I was on a roll for about a year. DX with bc before my firings.UMMMMM boy does bc change a person!!!!!

    Thank you for walking for us.I am going to be walking tomorrow night with my new friend.She was dx in 2003.I talked to her last year on the phone and told her this year I will be in touch.We meet tomorrow.I am so happy.And she was so excited when I called her. She has been taking chemo for 3 years.Recurrance in 2008.She had chemo today and walking tomorrow.

    It is worth every dime you spent changing doctors.I am much happier now.I have 2 new ones!!!!

    Lynn Smith
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #16
    It definitely sounds like
    It definitely sounds like you made the right decision and I really like how welcoming the RN was. Yay! I will be right there with you when you go--note the powdered sugar on the floor from all of those beignets!!!
  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    #17
    CypressCynthia said:

    It definitely sounds like
    It definitely sounds like you made the right decision and I really like how welcoming the RN was. Yay! I will be right there with you when you go--note the powdered sugar on the floor from all of those beignets!!!

    Chen ... You all know my saying ....
    Be your own Health Advocate --- I applaud you for taking names, kicking butt and having the forethought of imagining health care with another Doctor.

    I hate the fact that Doctors office charge 'we' patients $$$$$$ to get copies of medical records --. I understand economics - but the continued burden of cancer on each patient is astronomical. Insurance cap's is another bone of contention, for me.

    Hoping bright rainbows, sage filled mountains, and years of Happiness for you.

    Vicki Sam

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