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Second opinion? How do you know when you should seek one?

seatown
seatown CSN Member Posts: 261 Member
edited January 2014 in Peritoneal Cancer #1

Got the results from my latest CT scan last week.  Long story short, it shows “something” on my spleen. My gyn/onc surgeon thinks it may be a recurrence of my primary peritoneal cancer. My CA-125 number has been slowly rising since summer & is now 44. The surgeon presented several options but recommended a 90-day period of “benign neglect” with no monitoring during that time, but with the addition of the oral drug Arimidex. Have already been on Carboplatin/Taxol in 2012 with good results. Then last year, after positive biopsies, had Carbo/Taxol again with the addition of Avastin (which apparently didn't work for me). I chose the recommended new option but worry that I should seek more aggressive treatment. Reading the literature about recurrences scares me, although I know many people are in far worse situations. Been thinking about seeking an appointment with a leading figure in gynecological cancers—not that my present docs aren’t highly regarded. How do you decide what to do?

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