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Thank you for all the support! Unfortunately the appointment with the oncologist went as i expected it to go. She was pretty dismissive, but was polite about it. She kept saying "I trust the expertise of our radiologists." I showed her the scans that i screen shotted and even she agreed it looked different but because it's not her area of expertise, she couldn't comment one way or the other (which is fair i suppose). She flat out said they never ever biopsy birad 3, even though i found articles that support doing a biopsy with changes (that don't include it getting much larger) but have other symptoms (like the itching) and risk factors. I asked her if she could at least recommend a different radiologist to look at the scans for a second opinion and she said no and again kept saying "i trust their expertise." I pointed out that even good doctors make mistakes. She told me i could call the radiology department and ask for a second opinion, but they will likely say no. Or i can go back to my family doctor and ask him for a referral to a different radiology clinic. Otherwise, it's just "come back in 6 months for another scan." I'm not sure what i will do yet. i'll probably call the radiology department on monday to at least ask. I'm also pissed because i have access to my "after visit summary" and she didn't note any of my concerns (the intermittent itching ) and said "Patient did not express any health concerns." At the very least i'm contacting the hosptial to complain about that - her visit notes should at least be accurate. i don't know why she would do that. maybe some sort of liability thing - i also want it documented that i asked for a biopsy and want her to include her reasoning of why that would not happen - she did say only the radiologist can recommend a biopsy and they won't for birad 3 but i want her to document that. I'm wondering if, by the very small chance, i come back in July and it is actually cancer, then they are "covered" with their inaccurate reporting. so i'm disappointed but not surprised. thanks again
Replies to "Thank you for all the support! Unfortunately the appointment with the oncologist went as i expected..."
I do not know where you are located, but the radiologist made a mistake twice on my MRI and I did had invasive cancer and I did get a biopsy. Something showed up on my mamo and I immediately made an appointment with the surgeon who had done the lumpectomy on my first breast cancer. He immediately gave me a script for an MRI. That came back ok, but come back in 6 months, which I did and again everything was ok. I loved my surgeon and I told him I couldn’t live with worrying and wanted a biopsy. He had no problem with that and I had the biopsy within a week and I had invasive ductal carcinoma. This was in the opposite breast from the first cancer. I had another lumpectomy in the second breast.
Needless to say, by this time I was losing my mind. This breast surgeon called me several times to see how I was doing. He knew my mental state was not good. I would be driving and he would call and I would pull over and talk to him. He was very kind and never rushed me on these conversations. I had tried to communicate with the radiologist and he would not get back to me. My advice to you is to find another oncologist and radiologist. My belief is that my cancer had been properly diagnosed with the first MRI it would not have been invasive. As far as oncologists go, the first one I had with this second occurrence would not give me anything for my mental state and told me to take Xanax and that my problem was that I chose not to pay out of pocket to go to the therapist in their practice. Excuse me, but why should I drive an hour and pay out of pocket when I had wonderful insurance and there were plenty of therapists I could have gone to locally. How dare he?! I fired him and went to another oncologist in a different practice. When I asked her questions, she literally ran out of the room. She was associated with a large hospital system and cancer center. By this time, I was pretty frantic. I am trying to save my own life and running into road blocks everywhere. In any event, I marched across the street from the cancer center to the hospital attached and threw a fit. The head of the cancer center got called in and was NOT happy. She was not truthful about what happened and was not even trying to be helpful. I wasn’t going anywhere until this was straightened out and the hospital person could see that and finally I ended up with the chief of oncology at this hospital system. He is wonderful and kind and answers all of my questions. There are good doctors out there. They are just hard to find. I am not trying to scare you, but I have found that you are just a number and money for them. How many people do they see in a day? Do not feel bad if you decide to move on to new doctors. They will not miss you. You have to be your own advocate. Good luck.
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I got 4 opinions when I had cancer. The 4th doctor listened to every concern and addressed each with new testing, most of it repeat testing. The other three were dismissive (but nice about it). I hope you find an oncologist who listens to your concerns and addresses them to your satisfaction.