Whew, finally got my Gyno/Onc. referral and other tests being requisitioned

bluerose
bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
Update on my quest for getting this cyst and node biopsied. My doc came back from holidays today and she agreed to get me a referral to a Gyno/Onc instead of just a Gyno - apparently it was quicker to get me to a Gyno than the Gyno/Onc she felt here, sigh. We will see. I also requested another pelvic ultrasound for comparison and she is doing that and also sending a req for a CA125 as well that will be done with my regular blood test on Friday. Whew. Well it isn't the ultimate goal of having a biopsy date but I am one step closer - 3 actually when you consider two more tests that will come in with more info and the referral to the Gyno/Onc.

Thanks for your support in all of this, what a battle - and that's just to get a biopsy. Sigh.

Take care all. Blessings, Bluerose
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Comments

  • saundra
    saundra Member Posts: 1,370 Member
    #2
    Whew....
    That is really good news. We'll pray for a rapid response. Saundra
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #3
    saundra said:

    Whew....
    That is really good news. We'll pray for a rapid response. Saundra

    Whew is right
    wow that was alot of work just getting that all started. Wish I had got a date for surgery as well but have a feeling that will be the next battle zone. I think rapid is a 10 year ago thing up here unfortunately but we shall see. Thanks for the note Saundra. Hope today is a good day for you. Bluerose
  • BrittanyC
    BrittanyC Member Posts: 100
    #4
    bluerose said:

    Whew is right
    wow that was alot of work just getting that all started. Wish I had got a date for surgery as well but have a feeling that will be the next battle zone. I think rapid is a 10 year ago thing up here unfortunately but we shall see. Thanks for the note Saundra. Hope today is a good day for you. Bluerose

    I am happy that you got a
    I am happy that you got a referral!!

    I pray that the new doctor will work miracles on you :)
  • Cindy54
    Cindy54 Member Posts: 452
    #5
    BrittanyC said:

    I am happy that you got a
    I am happy that you got a referral!!

    I pray that the new doctor will work miracles on you :)

    Great!
    I hope you continue to get to where you need to be...this has to ease your mind a little to be getting things started. I sure am hoping you get some of the answers you need. This waiting and juggling things is for the birds. Cindy
  • BonnieR
    BonnieR Member Posts: 1,526 Member
    #6
    Sigh!!!
    Yes a sigh of relieve that things are finally working in your favor. Hugs Bonnie
  • froggy1
    froggy1 Member Posts: 205
    #7
    Great!
    Wow,
    This is good news. Best of luck with your tests. Luv, Froggy
  • jane65
    jane65 Member Posts: 277
    #8
    Bluerose
    Thank Goodness Bluerose!!!!!
    I wish you good luck and a good outcome!
    Jane
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #9
    BrittanyC said:

    I am happy that you got a
    I am happy that you got a referral!!

    I pray that the new doctor will work miracles on you :)

    Thanks Brittany
    Thanks for your kind note. I am praying for miracles too - the first being an early appt with this new Gyno/Onc. One step at a time I guess. The req is in for the CA125 so that will be done Friday and I will wait for the referral date for another pelvic ultrasound for comparison as it has been 2 months since the last one.

    Hope this reply finds you feeling well. Have a good day.

    Blessings, Bluerose
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #10
    BonnieR said:

    Sigh!!!
    Yes a sigh of relieve that things are finally working in your favor. Hugs Bonnie

    You've got that right Bonnie
    Thanks, about time eh? lol. I felt so relieved when my doc agreed with all my requests yesterday, CA125 will be done Friday so more info will start coming in, positive info I hope. Hope you have a good day and are feeling okay

    Thanks for your support Bonnie. Blessings, Bluerose
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #11
    froggy1 said:

    Great!
    Wow,
    This is good news. Best of luck with your tests. Luv, Froggy

    Yuppers froggy, good news for sure
    Hoping that the outcome of all the tests is positive, now the waits start for appt dates, surgery dates and the diagnosis. Sigh. It all seems so neverending sometimes doesn't it? Oh well, step at a time. Hope you are doing well frogs. Luv, Bluerose
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #12
    jane65 said:

    Bluerose
    Thank Goodness Bluerose!!!!!
    I wish you good luck and a good outcome!
    Jane

    Thanks Jane
    A real relief at least we are starting to get serious about this. When I spoke with my GP about standing my ground for a gyno/onc instead of a regular gyno she said that she sent me to the gynos as she knew the waits were shorter there. SHORTER? hOLY MOLY BATWOMAN. Well I am holding a good thought that once I get this referral then I can start in on trying to get the gyno/onc's office to put me on a cancellation list and move up the appt.

    Thanks for the well wishes Jane, hope this response finds you having a really good day.

    Blessings, Bluerose
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #13
    Cindy54 said:

    Great!
    I hope you continue to get to where you need to be...this has to ease your mind a little to be getting things started. I sure am hoping you get some of the answers you need. This waiting and juggling things is for the birds. Cindy

    Waiting is for the 'boidies' is right Cindy
    Well this is all a positive step in the right direction for sure Cindy, sure took enough out of me to get here - sheeesh. I was talking with my GP yesterday about my requests and she started to explain some things about my radiology report she hadn't mentioned before. Apparently she said that the cyst itself is 1 inch by 1 inch by an inch and a half but clear which gives her the feeling it isn't cancer but it's the little 1cm node perched on it that they are concerned about - it's solid. They call it a mural node meaning, she said, that it is on the cyst = like a mural on a wall thing. Makes sense. So the node is the issue or so it seems and that she said is very small and probably isn't growing quick, probably? ya well lets make sure okay? Sheeesh.

    Anywho I am happier now that I am in the hands of a gyno/onc as I have had alot of input from lists here from ovarian survivors and some of the things the gyno was going to do in surgery could have been more risky than need be. I am so relieved that I have you guys to fill me in because when I talked to the docs I had so much more confidence behind my requests as I had the facts - thanks to you all. What a wonderful site this is.

    Take care Cindy. Blessings, Bluerose
  • jane65
    jane65 Member Posts: 277
    #14
    bluerose said:

    Thanks Jane
    A real relief at least we are starting to get serious about this. When I spoke with my GP about standing my ground for a gyno/onc instead of a regular gyno she said that she sent me to the gynos as she knew the waits were shorter there. SHORTER? hOLY MOLY BATWOMAN. Well I am holding a good thought that once I get this referral then I can start in on trying to get the gyno/onc's office to put me on a cancellation list and move up the appt.

    Thanks for the well wishes Jane, hope this response finds you having a really good day.

    Blessings, Bluerose

    Your relief is coming through your words and the computer,
    stay positive and know that we're all going through this with you.
    I'm having a good day today, thanks for asking.
    Be well,
    Jane
  • lindaprocopio
    lindaprocopio Member Posts: 1,980 Member
    #15
    jane65 said:

    Your relief is coming through your words and the computer,
    stay positive and know that we're all going through this with you.
    I'm having a good day today, thanks for asking.
    Be well,
    Jane

    Hang in for the Gyn-Onc if it comes down to surgery.
    So glad you have set the wheels in motion, no small feat! If it does turn out to be cancer (God forbid!), insist on the gyn-onc to do your surgery. Optimal de-bulking is the most important step of the initial treatment protocol, and studies have shown that those who have their hysterectomies done by a Gyn-Onc have a much better statistical prognosis that those who don't. I know that you will advocate for yourself with every ounce of energy you can muster. ((((big HUGS)))))
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #16
    jane65 said:

    Your relief is coming through your words and the computer,
    stay positive and know that we're all going through this with you.
    I'm having a good day today, thanks for asking.
    Be well,
    Jane

    Very relieved
    Yup Jane I am relieved that at least I have the referral for the gyno/onc. No date yet but Monday I will call his office and make sure if there is a cancellation list I am on and make sure they realize the background to my health situation and why I feel I should be seen earlier, hope that the nurse is understanding and doesn't try and cut me off mid explanation. I try and keep it short and usually script what I am going to say for brevity sake and that usually works. I am not above begging for an earlier appt so I will if I have to.

    Glad to hear you are having a good day - just one every now and again can give us so much extra strength to carry on can't it? Thanks for all your support Jane.

    Blessings, Bluerose
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #17
    BrittanyC said:

    I am happy that you got a
    I am happy that you got a referral!!

    I pray that the new doctor will work miracles on you :)

    Thanks Brittany
    Hoping for miracles too. Blessings, Bluerose
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #18
    lindaprocopio said:

    Hang in for the Gyn-Onc if it comes down to surgery.
    So glad you have set the wheels in motion, no small feat! If it does turn out to be cancer (God forbid!), insist on the gyn-onc to do your surgery. Optimal de-bulking is the most important step of the initial treatment protocol, and studies have shown that those who have their hysterectomies done by a Gyn-Onc have a much better statistical prognosis that those who don't. I know that you will advocate for yourself with every ounce of energy you can muster. ((((big HUGS)))))

    Self advocation is indeed the key
    Thanks for the words of support and suggestions. Yes I will definitely ask the gyno/onc to do the surgery - that's one of the reasons I held out for him and let the first gyno go - it would be months yet for biopsy there anywho. I just trust someone who has dealt with cancers to first of all recognize it early, if God Forbid it is cancer, and secondly then to do the surgeries involved for biopsy and for debulking or whatever.

    It was the strangest thing today. I was lieing down with a headache and switched on the tv in my bedroom and that show Mystery Diagnosis or whatever it's called came on. I nearly fainted when I listened to this woman's symptoms - they were exactly like mine down to where she was diagnosed with a kidney stone that never materialized ME TOO and later the doc who found her ovarian said the pain wasn't a kidney stone but it was a big mass pressing on organs that was causing her the pain. She seemed to have all of my symtoms but farther advanced - bigger pain in the back and abodomen - not the smaller ones that I have. It always freaks me out when I just 'happen' to come across things like this on tv or the net or radio or something. I really don't believe in coincidences, everything happens for a reason and I believe I was lead to watch that show for a reason indeed. The show also spoke of all the wrong diagnosises this woman had to go through til her husband just put his foot down and refused one day to take her home from the hospital til they figured out what was wrong. Advocacy, advocacy, advocay.

    Just having to wait so long for action on this small 1 cm node perched on this bigger cyst is hellish indeed - if it is 'you know what' it's just being left for so long to maybe go to a later stage. Wonder why ovarian is often caught late? Hmmm, makes you wonder sometimes. I know that they talk of the 'whispering symptoms' of ovarian but you have to wonder about waits playing a part in catching it too late as well - at least from my experience this seems possible.


    Oh well I am hoping for the best and will push, with my limited fibromyalgia/osteoarthritis/chronic fatigue/atrial fibbed energy in this old bod. lol.

    Thanks for your information and encouragement Linda. Hugs. Bluerose
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #19
    Had the CA125 today
    The lab tech came in to do my INR today as they do once a month and my GP had sent through the referral for the CA125 as I had asked her, in record time, so that is
    done. Now the wait starts for the results. I couldn't believe the diff in cost for
    this test - we aren't used to paying for blood tests here. Anywho the old gyno that
    I let go was going to charge me $135 for it and I nearly fainted when my blood lab
    who comes in to do my bloodwork monthy as I mentioned before told me it would be
    $35. Yikes, glad I waited. What a difference. How long does it take to get that
    test back - the results I mean? I thought I heard 10 days - does anyone know?

    Thanks for all the support. Blessings, Bluerose
  • Kgirl
    Kgirl Member Posts: 45
    #20
    wait time for CA-125
    Bluerose,

    I know how hard it is to wait for those results. I work for a hospital lab and we result it the same day since we do the test in our lab. If it is a sendout to a reference lab, it could very well take up to 10 days to get the results. You might ask your doctors office on Monday where they send their testing for this - that will give you an ideal of what the wait time is. Thinking good thoughts and hoping that you can get into the gyn/oncologist soon and that the results are negative!

    Kathy
  • lindaprocopio
    lindaprocopio Member Posts: 1,980 Member
    #21
    Kgirl said:

    wait time for CA-125
    Bluerose,

    I know how hard it is to wait for those results. I work for a hospital lab and we result it the same day since we do the test in our lab. If it is a sendout to a reference lab, it could very well take up to 10 days to get the results. You might ask your doctors office on Monday where they send their testing for this - that will give you an ideal of what the wait time is. Thinking good thoughts and hoping that you can get into the gyn/oncologist soon and that the results are negative!

    Kathy

    I usually got my CA-125 results in about 4 hours
    I only had CA-125s on chemo-infusion days (no CA-125s since then yet), and they did lab work in house at Hematology/Oncology. So late in the afternoon, while I was still getting my chemo, my gyn/onc or one of the nurses would come back and bring me my CA-125 results. But I do think that when I had my pre and post-surgery CA-125s at Hershey Medical Center, that it took over a week for the results.

    I have thrilling news to report. I had my post-treatment CT-scan yesterday (done by my dear DIL who is a CT-scan tech at the hospital where I go for treatment) and she pushed the doctor to read my scans right away. Although I must pretend surprise when my oncologist calls me with the results, as she is not allowed to report scan results herself, I already know that the report says "NED." No Evidence of Disease!! And next to the notation from my April CT-scan on the supposed 2.7 mm lung nodule, it now says "Nodule not visible". WOO WOO!!! I have upcoming post-treatment follow-up appointments with the gyn-onc for a pelvic exam/PAP and with by chemo-onc for a CA-125, and with the radiation onc to check on this ankle/foot swelling I keep having. But all in all, I can't see how any of this will change the fact that I am in full remission! Please let me be right! Because I am so happy, and my husband was so relieved that he immediately committed to an October trip to Athens/Rome that we have been talking about but were afraid to commit to in case I had to go back into chemo right away.

    :D

    Answered prayers!

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