JDO -- Get a 2nd Opinion!

jgwright
jgwright Member Posts: 242
in Esophageal Cancer #1
If your oncologist immediately gives up and says "There is no cure for you, only palliative treatment", immediately get a second opinion from a top-level cancer center.

My Doctor wouldn't even stage me. I had no idea there was such a thing until I found this site.

Just cancer in the esophagus and lymph nodes does NOT preclude surgery and "No Evidence Of Disease"!

I was initially told I was terminal due to a Pet Scan that wasn't particularly accurate. MRIs told a different story.

I supposedly had metastasis to the brain and spine. Nope. Not even close. Sadly the cancer DID metastasize, but to the adrenals, and only later. But get a second opinion. Things flow quickly, and there are just too many doctors that give what seems to be wildly inaccurate diagnoses and treatment regimens.

Any decent insurance should readily cover a 2nd or even third opinion.

--Jerry
Stage IV
T4N1M1

Comments

  • Freida
    Freida Member Posts: 182
    #2
    Agree with Jerry and William
    Agree with Jerry and William that you need a second opinion. My Bill was not staged until they had done CT scans, PET scan, and an esophageal scope and ultrasound. Only then did they decide on his treatment. For this cancer you need to go to a major cancer that has much experience in dealing with it. We initially went to a local oncologist and left feeling quite defeated. As soon as we got to the car, I told Bill we were going somewhere else. Our family doctor made all the arrangements for us to go to a major cancer center (in our case M D Anderson in Houston). The major centers have departments that specialize in different types of cancers - for instance MDA had a whole department that deals only with gastrointestinal cancers. For some cancers this may not be as essential, but for esophageal cancer I truly believe you should go to someone who specializes.

    Freida (wife of Bill, diagnosed 11/8/2011 T3N2Mx, treated at M D Anderson with induction chemo followed by chemo and radiation, not a surgery candidate due to other health problems)
  • Heeran
    Heeran Member Posts: 171
    #3
    unbelieveable
    I really used to look up to doctors but since I've been in and out of the hospital with my mom for 9 months, there's good medical people and others where I wonder how they even passed medical school. There was a lymph node that lit up on my mom's abdomen early in the diagnosis. One of the doctors stated it was probably cancerous which would have put her at stage 4. I was freaking out. Then I found out that it tested negative so then she was a stage 3 so I was jumping up and down. Get a second opinion pronto!!!!

    Unbelieveable, I can't believe what some doctors say.

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