@helloitsme, Something you said in your initial post just struck a chord with me, and that was about your local oncologist. When I was diagnosed in March 2018 with carcinoid cancer of the small intestine, I had a great oncologist. Unfortunately he retired 10 months later, so in 2019 I started seeing his replacement. We got along fine for about 3 years but over the last several months he's become more short, confrontational, dismissive, etc. He's older, is not a NET specialist, and frankly seems burned out. He did not want to answer questions, have educated discussions, or do much more than see me every three months and order my Octreotide injections.
So! I decided to move on and referred myself to another cancer center attached to a university. I met my new doc Tuesday - night and day! He's probably in his 40's, personable, knowledgeable, thorough, and very interested in what my thoughts are. He's provided more information and ordered more labs than I've had in 5 years. He said about 30% of his practice are neuroendocrine patients, he attends NETS national conferences, etc. So my point is, don't be afraid to be assertive about what you need, especially when it comes to your local oncologist.
I, too, went to Mayo (2021) in Phoenix. Dr. Rule was my radiation oncologist and he was great.
After the initial shock of getting this diagnosis, I think most people think, ok, here we go. I'm going to deal with this challenge and just view it as a chronic condition - you manage it.
Best of luck to you. So glad you made the decision to go to Mayo and sounds like you're going to have a great oncologist to work with.