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First appointment with oncologist: What to expect?
Have the first appointment with the medical oncologist this week for 30 mins. Have a list of questions prepared but unsure what to expect. Any guidance will be much appreciated
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Datu: 30 minutes does not give you much time. Do your research at non.org, centers of excellence web sites, pcri.org and this web site using the search function, to name a few reasonable sources.
Ask about different types of radiation machines and which machine protects your healthy tissue the most. Which machines use real time mri images vs fused images.
Ask about prostate removal with da Vinci robots vs by hand and also nerve sparing.
Ask about spaceoar to separate prostate from the bladder if radiation is used.
Ask about side effects of anything you discuss and drill down even when your doctor says whatever you choose will ultimately have the same benefit in the long run.
Best of luck. Keep coming back here every step of the way for experienced feedback on the subtleties.
Sorry I forgot to post more details. My husband was recently diagnosed with high grade PCa with Mets to bones.we have already done the psma pet scan so the doctors should have data on that. 30 mins doesn’t seem like a lot of time so trying to be as efficient as possible. Thank you everyone for all your advice.
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2 ReactionsI don't know what your list of questions are, so I don't know what to add. My radiation oncologist wanted to jab me with a six-month Lupron shot at our first visit. I told him to slow down, and I would think about it. Studies have shown it makes almost no difference in overall survival in men over age 70 and I am 73 when starting radiation. He also wanted to do 20 sessions till I told him I was looking at CyberKnife and its five treatments. All of a sudden, he could do five proton treatments too. So do some research. Are you doing radiation or surgery? SpaceOar gel or not? Your list of questions would really help us give you questions to ask.
Datu: I am going to start a separate discussion but you might want to ask about a new option to rectal spacers other than spaceoar and biogel, called Bioprotect. It was approved by the FDA in October 2023 and has been used already. It supposedly provides far greater protection than the spaceoar which is what I had. PROTECT your healthy tissue.
Here is a link to more info in Urology times:
https://www.urologytimes.com/view/balloon-spacers-in-prostate-cancer