Special questions for a "second opinion"?

soromer

Dear all,

Tomorrow morning I have my appointment with another gyn-onc at a completely different cancer center. I'm realizing now (belatedly) that I need to formulate some questions to ask--and I could use your help.

I think I want to know his basic approach to treatment & to working with patients, first. One of my biggest frustrations with my current oncologist is getting limited information, in dribbles.

I'm also interested in knowing whether he and his team see anything different in the pathology results than what has been reported. (I'm curious, also, to know whether I have Type I or Type II adenocarcinoma. I assumed it was I, but now that it resisted chemo I wonder.)

Then, of course, I want to know about his opinion regarding possible treatment options including but not limited to the Megace I am currently receiving.

Can you think of anything else to suggest to me? I would be very grateful for any and all questions, small or large scale.

I thought I was OK about doing this until now, when it is imminent. I am realizing that I'm still fearful, anticipating a response of "nothing else to do." But, of course, I am mindful that I can't succumb to disaster talk.

Thank you all for your reflections.

soromer (Kate)

daisy366

Kate
I think the questions you mentioned sound good. I think it's important to not just have a good medical team but they be responsive to your needs (timely information).

I have a couple of questions. YOu mentioned being resistant to chemo. Did you have a tissue assay (functional profile) done? If not, then this might be something to discuss. The purpose of this is to test tissue for it's response to a variety of different chemos so that a patient is given the most effective (saving time and giving best response for patient). frankly, I'm really surprised at how many people don't have this done. My doc did so I thought it was "normal".

FYI, you can check on the NCCN website and see what recommended treatments there are for your type of cancer.

It's a good idea to bring someone with you - to help absorb all the info you will receive and also help with some questions you may not have thought of.

I'm not sure how helpful my 2 cents is. I think you have good instincts. Best wishes. Keep us posted. Mary Ann

Double Whammy

daisy366 said:

Kate
I think the questions you mentioned sound good. I think it's important to not just have a good medical team but they be responsive to your needs (timely information).

I have a couple of questions. YOu mentioned being resistant to chemo. Did you have a tissue assay (functional profile) done? If not, then this might be something to discuss. The purpose of this is to test tissue for it's response to a variety of different chemos so that a patient is given the most effective (saving time and giving best response for patient). frankly, I'm really surprised at how many people don't have this done. My doc did so I thought it was "normal".

FYI, you can check on the NCCN website and see what recommended treatments there are for your type of cancer.

It's a good idea to bring someone with you - to help absorb all the info you will receive and also help with some questions you may not have thought of.

I'm not sure how helpful my 2 cents is. I think you have good instincts. Best wishes. Keep us posted. Mary Ann

Clinical trials
Might be worthwhile to ask about clinical trials. Might also be worthwhile to ask again about Stage and Grade in addition to type. Your other questions sound great, as is MaryAnn's suggestion about tissue assay. Be sure to take someone with you. You won't hear or understand or remember everything.

Best of luck.
Suzanne

Kaleena

Dear Kate:
When speaking
Dear Kate:

When speaking with this new physician, you should say "this is what I have been told" and then see if your new physician is going to redo the testings, or reread your previous ones, and/or if he/she will be meeting with a team of doctors to discuss your case. This is important because you just don't want your new doctor to just go along with what your old doctor said without doing their own investigation.

How you can tell this, is when you are meeting with your new doctor,this doctor should give you some basic information for what you tell him and then tell you after they thorooughly look your case over, they would get back to you to acknowledge that their findings are the same or different and then give you some options and discuss your case more.

When I went for one of my "second opinions", I heard the doctor outside of my door say so whats this case is about and then came in and reviewed my chart quickly and said he wouldn't operate and he couldn't operate and then left the room. Of course, I didn't stay with that doctor!

My best to you at your appointment today! I hope you find what you want in a doctor at this new appointment.

Kathy