Connect
← Return to How do I get a call back from clinicians?
Discussion
How do I get a call back from clinicians?
Lung Cancer | Last Active: May 11 11:12am | Replies (8)Comment receiving replies
@abob, a CT scan doesn't confirm a mass is cancer, which is why I would guess that they didn't do surgery immediately. It sounds like your Oncologist and Surgeon have different ideas about what's going on and how to treat it. I always recommend a second opinion. I got one after my first diagnosis and again after it metastasized to my brain. I flew to MD Anderson for the second one. That was despite the fact that I thought my team was, and is, remarkably responsive and thorough, which both second opinions confirmed.
A surgeon is a specialist who is called in to do a job. You may never see them again, but you and your Oncologist need to be good friends. He/she needs to be someone you trust completely. In your shoes, I would be looking for a second opinion now, and I'd be targeting the best cancer institute in your area. At the same time, I'd be contacting a Pulmonologist in your Oncologist's medical center, someone he or she knows. And I'd be asking your Radiologist the Radiology questions. It takes a team.
The good news is that it doesn't sound like they have a confirmed cancer diagnosis because if they did, the path forward would be clear. Hang in there. Stay positive. Work on doing what you can and be persistent. Keep giving us updates as you receive them.
All the best to you.
Replies to "@abob, a CT scan doesn't confirm a mass is cancer, which is why I would guess..."
Connect
Thanks for your reply. PET scan confirmed cancer . Since Interventional radiologist could not get good biopsy, didn’t know if if’s lung metastasis or adrenal cancer. Now we know lung metastasis bc LC chemo eliminated the mass.
Surgeon is a surgical oncologist. Both he and oncologist said to finish chemo then recheck. Since there was a possibility that chemo would eliminate mass, but Oncologist would still think gland should go, then I think Adrenalectomy should have been performed when mass was present.
I understand surgeon and I understand oncologist, but I want what’s best for my husband. We are where we are now, and it looks like husband will be subjected to radiation bc oncologist fears cancer specs and another PET now will not reveal them. Or we get a second opinion surgical oncologist.