TrojanGirlie wrote:Thank you for all the suggestions. We met with our covering oncologist today since our old oncologist was just promoted to a new position at a different hospital and the new oncologist has not begun yet. We had to fight to get an appointment today because my husband wants to begin his leave of absence from work, but our old oncologist and the covering oncologist were refusing to sign the paperwork. Went in today to meet the covering oncologist. He said he still wouldn't sign the leave of absence paperwork because he doesn't know what the procedure is up in our region(Lancaster/Palmdale). He only knows the process for his region (Los Angeles). Told us he has never seen the XELOX and Keytruda treatment protocol and is a little confused as to why my husband is on it if he is already Stage 4 with mets to liver and lymph nodes. Said he wouldn't order anymore tests or adjust medication because fatigue and vomiting are just "that's what chemo does to you." Told us he didn't understand why we would think surgery would ever be an option at Stage 4 and said the cancer is incurable and we should focus on being comfortable until it's over. We asked for a referral to a clinic in Woodland Hills (recommended by UCLA) and he told us he wasn't authorized to do that. I feel like it was a waste of an appointment. We got nothing done and just had to deal with all of this negativity. I already filed two grievances (one verbal and one written to have documentation) with the hospital for not being able to get the leave of absence note signed. This seems so frustrating and now I'm wondering if we are being silly to think that there is a possibility he will ever be cancer free.
I read your last post and felt such anger at how you were treated by the covering oncologist, so wrong! I was told to get my affairs in order 16 days before my daughter's wedding because I had a blockage and the general surgeon at local hospital said surgery wasn't going to give me more time... That was exactly 2 months ago, my oncologist referred me to UCSF where they performed surgery. I made it to my daughter's wedding a week after I was released from the hospital. I have hope and continue to fight, time is precious. Please don't give up hope, there are more options out there for your husband, you just need to find the right doctor/hospital. Sending you positive thoughts and wishing you both the best.