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Has anyone gotten a second opinion for before lung cancer surgery?

Posted by cynthia19591965 @cynthia19591965, Jun 22 8:10am

Has anyone gotten a second opinion for lung cancer surgery!
I was somewhat scared to because it is with the same group of doctors. I’m sure I will be told the same thing, but it was the it was presented to me that made me nervous.. I actually have three choices.
But the doctor said he was going to do a lobectomy and left out the other 2 choices until I pulled it out of him.
It just made me feel uncomfortable..

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andycapp | @andycapp | 5 days ago
In reply to @tinambor "It may be too late to be helpful, but we had a doctor friend suggest we..." + (show)
Profile picture for tinambor @tinambor

It may be too late to be helpful, but we had a doctor friend suggest we get a second opinion after my spouse's cancer team indicated the course of action they wanted to take. We paid out of pocket and went to a major cancer institute. While we can never know the outcome of what would have happened had we gone with the original recommendation, we feel strongly that the second opinion was very helpful and was, in fact, the better course of treatment. I encourage you to go for it. I also did not feel comfortable with the original surgeon and the one we went with after the second opinion was truly outstanding. Good luck.

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@tinambor I didn't go for a second opinion but was a surgical candidate for a lower left lobectomy. After a broncostomy and Lung Function Test, the surgeon member of my oncology team told me that, although he "could" perform the surgery, he felt that he "shouldn't."
He said that because of the poor condition of my lungs, surgery would have left me with very poor lung performance.

So, I thanked him for his honesty and opted for combination of concurrent chemo/radiation therapy which I completed two months ago.

In my opinion, you must believe in the treatment that you will be going through. If not, consider alternative(s).

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Profile picture for andycapp
andycapp | @andycapp | 5 days ago
In reply to @andycapp "@tinambor I didn't go for a second opinion but was a surgical candidate for a lower..." + (show)
Profile picture for andycapp @andycapp

@tinambor I didn't go for a second opinion but was a surgical candidate for a lower left lobectomy. After a broncostomy and Lung Function Test, the surgeon member of my oncology team told me that, although he "could" perform the surgery, he felt that he "shouldn't."
He said that because of the poor condition of my lungs, surgery would have left me with very poor lung performance.

So, I thanked him for his honesty and opted for combination of concurrent chemo/radiation therapy which I completed two months ago.

In my opinion, you must believe in the treatment that you will be going through. If not, consider alternative(s).

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@andycapp Correction: bronchoscopy...not broncostomy.

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Profile picture for tinambor
tinambor | @tinambor | 5 days ago
In reply to @andycapp "@tinambor I didn't go for a second opinion but was a surgical candidate for a lower..." + (show)
Profile picture for andycapp @andycapp

@tinambor I didn't go for a second opinion but was a surgical candidate for a lower left lobectomy. After a broncostomy and Lung Function Test, the surgeon member of my oncology team told me that, although he "could" perform the surgery, he felt that he "shouldn't."
He said that because of the poor condition of my lungs, surgery would have left me with very poor lung performance.

So, I thanked him for his honesty and opted for combination of concurrent chemo/radiation therapy which I completed two months ago.

In my opinion, you must believe in the treatment that you will be going through. If not, consider alternative(s).

Jump to this post

@andycapp My partner was in a similar situation. He was told they didn't feel he would do well after having a lobe removed. But the team with the second opinion disagreed, he had the surgery (it was intense!) and he's had 15 months of good quality of life. It was very hard to know which one to trust more, but ultimately you have to decide for yourself. He went for the second opinion because the surgeon seemed confident he could do it and the team had an excellent track record. All my best to you on your journey!

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rlf66 | @rlf66 | 3 days ago
In reply to @tinambor "It may be too late to be helpful, but we had a doctor friend suggest we..." + (show)
Profile picture for tinambor @tinambor

It may be too late to be helpful, but we had a doctor friend suggest we get a second opinion after my spouse's cancer team indicated the course of action they wanted to take. We paid out of pocket and went to a major cancer institute. While we can never know the outcome of what would have happened had we gone with the original recommendation, we feel strongly that the second opinion was very helpful and was, in fact, the better course of treatment. I encourage you to go for it. I also did not feel comfortable with the original surgeon and the one we went with after the second opinion was truly outstanding. Good luck.

Jump to this post

@tinambor
I have NOT had these issues. However, I need to know if any of you have had radialogy of LLL (small lession) but cancer is also in the mediatenum. I doing OK w/chemo and immuno. After Dr. did not remove the LLL tumor, I continue w/above mentioned treatments, which I tolerate well. Returned to oncologist, went for second opinion re: radiation, both told me NO. They believed the treatment would cause serious scarring which could cause breathing problems. So has anyone had this radiation and had issues w/scarring and breathing problems? Thanks for any info. you can provide. rlf66

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rlf66 | @rlf66 | 9 hours ago
In reply to @rlf66 "@tinambor I have NOT had these issues. However, I need to know if any of you..." + (show)
Profile picture for rlf66 @rlf66

@tinambor
I have NOT had these issues. However, I need to know if any of you have had radialogy of LLL (small lession) but cancer is also in the mediatenum. I doing OK w/chemo and immuno. After Dr. did not remove the LLL tumor, I continue w/above mentioned treatments, which I tolerate well. Returned to oncologist, went for second opinion re: radiation, both told me NO. They believed the treatment would cause serious scarring which could cause breathing problems. So has anyone had this radiation and had issues w/scarring and breathing problems? Thanks for any info. you can provide. rlf66

Jump to this post

@rlf66
I had my second opinion on doing radiology to my LLL. Both radiologists concurred that I should NOT have the radiology on LLL because my cancer had already metastazide to mediastenum. Plus they believed radiology would cause breathing problems due to the scarring left from the radiation. They both stated that if chemo and immuno appear to be working it just keep that going. Has anyone had a similar answer about radiology causing breathing problems due to scarring caused by the radialogy. Kindly, share any information you can provide for me. Thanks, rlf66

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