get a second opinion

Hi Patteee
"So here is my question
Did you get a second opinion on your cancer dx or treatment. How did it help or support what you ended up doing?"

I did get a second opinion, it was at Sloan Kettering. It totally changed the path I was about to go on. I'm very glad I did, the other "plan" was not much of a plan, they were not even talking about curing me, just buying a little bit of time. While I am not cured, I am close to being cancer free.

Just another note, it is not uncommon for surgeons to have a separate day set aside for surgery only. I don't think most of them are out golfing the rest of the week but I don't know your doctor so who knows what his golf score is.

Hope this helps
-phil

Great Question!
And now I can answer a post like this one.

I've been going to the same cancer center since I was dx'd. My oncologist there was a veteran with 30+ years of experience. I thought he was taking pretty good care of me and we consulted and I did my research and went to his office prepared to talk about treatments or waiting and a variety of things. Were some mistakes made? Probably, he even admits that. Maybe we did not do things the way they should have been done...it's behind me and we move forward like we all know...you make the best decision, roll the dice, and live with the results good or bad. It is an inexact science.

Well, back in May of this year, my last PET and CT revealed 2 tumors in my pleura of my lung and showed uptake activity to one of those spots prominently. He requested a needle biopsy but I declined, based on my failed biopsy of my liver where they said there was nothing, but instead I had a tumor in there the size of an orange...how do you miss something like that?
They wanted money up front and I already had a 6-month payment plan set up for the PET. Now they would want $250 more for my end of the CT + how much ever for the biopsy part...and the spots are about 1.4 cm, so it was a hit and miss proposition. If they did the biopsy and said negative, how could I really believe that? And if it was cancer, then I needed the surgery anyway.

Well at the same time, the cancer clinic began to look like a ghost town...parking lots were empty, nobody in the blood labs, radiology and infusion practically empty. I did some digging and talked to a few nurses I knew. The place was beginning to dry up and wither away...many people had been laid off, people had stopped coming out of town and people could no longer afford to pay for their tests and infusions. This place began demanding your co-pay right up front before filing your insurance claim, so that out of pocket expense was forcing many people to stop going there.

I told them then, I would update your resumes because you will be out of business in 6 months. I've been back once to flush my port and see my old onc one more time, but it just looked like my days there were over...you began to wonder if you were going to get good treatment there.

So, I made the decision to seek a 2nd opinion on the mets to the lung. I met with a new oncologist, a bright fellow, who is very dialed into Cancer...he had me figured out in ONE hour what the other guy almost seemed not to in a 5 year relationship. He was studious and contradicted several things about my treatment that had been done.

I met with him last week just before I posted my update about the return of my cancer. We talked intelligently about all the possibilities and I am feeling more comfortable with him, this just my 2nd visit.

The meeting with the chest surgeon was a fiasco...but I've talked with him since...and I just chalked up to he was having a bad day...I'm now waiting to meet with him again after he confirms that surgery is the recommendation. He's an associate professor who specializes in thorasic and cardio surgery...so he's been called a very competent surgeon.

So, to answer your question, it was good for me that I got this 2nd opinion and have ended up at a new facility in which to further my care and hopefully take better care of me. I think it was worth the peace of mind and the hospital is so far advanced with the latest machines and a nice infusion area...and everything looks so good in comparison to where I was.

I think it's like anything...we can get one option or many...we'd all receive different opinions. Like everybody, we just do our homework, talk it over with the oncs / surgeon and just hope that all of us are on the same page...and that we feel comfortable enough in that relationship...and that if it calls for it...to walk away from a relationship.

I took another fork in the road on the journey and I try not to 2nd guess it...surgery is looming for me in just a few weeks or so.

Take care of yourself and nice post
-Craig

Sundanceh said:

Great Question!
And now I can answer a post like this one.

I've been going to the same cancer center since I was dx'd. My oncologist there was a veteran with 30+ years of experience. I thought he was taking pretty good care of me and we consulted and I did my research and went to his office prepared to talk about treatments or waiting and a variety of things. Were some mistakes made? Probably, he even admits that. Maybe we did not do things the way they should have been done...it's behind me and we move forward like we all know...you make the best decision, roll the dice, and live with the results good or bad. It is an inexact science.

Well, back in May of this year, my last PET and CT revealed 2 tumors in my pleura of my lung and showed uptake activity to one of those spots prominently. He requested a needle biopsy but I declined, based on my failed biopsy of my liver where they said there was nothing, but instead I had a tumor in there the size of an orange...how do you miss something like that?
They wanted money up front and I already had a 6-month payment plan set up for the PET. Now they would want $250 more for my end of the CT + how much ever for the biopsy part...and the spots are about 1.4 cm, so it was a hit and miss proposition. If they did the biopsy and said negative, how could I really believe that? And if it was cancer, then I needed the surgery anyway.

Well at the same time, the cancer clinic began to look like a ghost town...parking lots were empty, nobody in the blood labs, radiology and infusion practically empty. I did some digging and talked to a few nurses I knew. The place was beginning to dry up and wither away...many people had been laid off, people had stopped coming out of town and people could no longer afford to pay for their tests and infusions. This place began demanding your co-pay right up front before filing your insurance claim, so that out of pocket expense was forcing many people to stop going there.

I told them then, I would update your resumes because you will be out of business in 6 months. I've been back once to flush my port and see my old onc one more time, but it just looked like my days there were over...you began to wonder if you were going to get good treatment there.

So, I made the decision to seek a 2nd opinion on the mets to the lung. I met with a new oncologist, a bright fellow, who is very dialed into Cancer...he had me figured out in ONE hour what the other guy almost seemed not to in a 5 year relationship. He was studious and contradicted several things about my treatment that had been done.

I met with him last week just before I posted my update about the return of my cancer. We talked intelligently about all the possibilities and I am feeling more comfortable with him, this just my 2nd visit.

The meeting with the chest surgeon was a fiasco...but I've talked with him since...and I just chalked up to he was having a bad day...I'm now waiting to meet with him again after he confirms that surgery is the recommendation. He's an associate professor who specializes in thorasic and cardio surgery...so he's been called a very competent surgeon.

So, to answer your question, it was good for me that I got this 2nd opinion and have ended up at a new facility in which to further my care and hopefully take better care of me. I think it was worth the peace of mind and the hospital is so far advanced with the latest machines and a nice infusion area...and everything looks so good in comparison to where I was.

I think it's like anything...we can get one option or many...we'd all receive different opinions. Like everybody, we just do our homework, talk it over with the oncs / surgeon and just hope that all of us are on the same page...and that we feel comfortable enough in that relationship...and that if it calls for it...to walk away from a relationship.

I took another fork in the road on the journey and I try not to 2nd guess it...surgery is looming for me in just a few weeks or so.

Take care of yourself and nice post
-Craig

Second opinions
Craig,
It sounds like you did not get a second one in the beginning. I think that once the onc told me he felt like mistakes were made, I would have thanked him and said goodbye. It almost sounds like you were a learning lesson for him. I would make sure you feel comfortable with your chest surgeon too. My onc is not a warm and fuzzy kind of doctor but she is possibly one of the best in the country. She has incredible credentials and has done plenty of research and written many papers on various cancer related topics. Another thing that my brother did for me when we were looking for an alternate onc when I wasn't covered at SK was to see when they graduated and where they went to school. We didn't want someone who is older and stuck in their ways nor did we want someone too young a green. Also, if they went to school in Grenada (the country that we went in to liberate under Reagan) they were off the list too. Those were some things that I felt were important.
I hope you are comfortable with everyone and that your surgery goes smoothly with a fast recovery.

-phil

PhillieG said:

Confused about your reply Buzzard
Buzzard, I don't quite understand your comment to John.
"Never second guess anything.....or apologize for anything you feel adamant about. Its what makes us different and progresses the race".

I don't want to second guess the meaning of second guessing or apologizing about anything. Also, the race thing, not like the boys in brown I hope?

Hmmmm...
Well, as a citizen of brown town, it didn't even occur to me that he could have been talking about *race* in that way. I was thinking the HUMAN race...right?

Anyway, I have been going to Lombardi at Georgetown since the beginning. Since this latest recurrance in the lung, my mother has been wanting me to seek a 2nd opinion on treatment from Johns Hopkins or Cancer treatment centers of america. So I'm gathering all of my info to get that moving along.

PhillieG said:

Second opinions
Craig,
It sounds like you did not get a second one in the beginning. I think that once the onc told me he felt like mistakes were made, I would have thanked him and said goodbye. It almost sounds like you were a learning lesson for him. I would make sure you feel comfortable with your chest surgeon too. My onc is not a warm and fuzzy kind of doctor but she is possibly one of the best in the country. She has incredible credentials and has done plenty of research and written many papers on various cancer related topics. Another thing that my brother did for me when we were looking for an alternate onc when I wasn't covered at SK was to see when they graduated and where they went to school. We didn't want someone who is older and stuck in their ways nor did we want someone too young a green. Also, if they went to school in Grenada (the country that we went in to liberate under Reagan) they were off the list too. Those were some things that I felt were important.
I hope you are comfortable with everyone and that your surgery goes smoothly with a fast recovery.

-phil

Clarification.................
Human race as in the complete human race....as in moving forward and never stalling ..This progresses "civilization"...that may be a little more politically correct......sheesh..LOL

Buzzard said:

Clarification.................
Human race as in the complete human race....as in moving forward and never stalling ..This progresses "civilization"...that may be a little more politically correct......sheesh..LOL

Ah ha
That's clearer...hey, there's chemo brain over here too at times.
Believe me, you don't have to be PC with me Mac
It just seemed odd (to me) in the context of your entire post
-p