Once again I come to this board share a story.
One year ago a friend of mine came to me and asked if I would speak to a friend of theirs about my cancer journey. This person had been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer about 5 years ago. Recently, the cancer came back and spread...now she was stage 4 and really scared. I spoke with her last February and learned she was working with a local oncologist who had done nothing but chemo - surgery was not even considered (if you care to know what the local doctors are like where I live you can search my posts). I urged her to get to MSK in NYC for a consultation. But she gave me the recurring statement I've heard from too many people..."I like my oncologist."
I'm not sure if she was more scared of the cancer or the thought of going into a big city. She didn't want to make that trip, so to get her to go I agreed to accompany her and show her how to get there and get around once there. She finally agreed to go. We made the trip and MSK started running tests...many tests. Since she had never been under the care of doctors who really wanted to find out the whole picture and get a game plan for making her well, she got frustrated. And then the excuses came; "It's too much to go through. Going up there is really difficult for me. I liked my old oncologist." So she gave up on MSK without even letting them finish getting their plan in place.
She stopped in yesterday afternoon to visit. It's the first time she's been back to work since October. She's been on 3 different chemo cocktails since going back to the oncologist she likes so well...and the cancer has spread further. She now has only months to live.
Anyone who thinks all oncologists and cancer centers are the same is sadly mistaken. I don't care how much you like your current oncologist, if they're not talking cure and they don't have a plan in place to get you to NED...DUMP THEM and get a second, third, or fourth opinion. You're fighting for your life.
hiker