Thank you

[cherylandmark]

Thank you all for your inspiration. Everyone of you gives Mark and I hope and the courage to beat this terrible stuff. Mark has not started his chemo, we are so overwhelmed by all of the different treatments out there. How do you know that what your doctor recommends is right for you? Anyone that could give us some insight would be wonderful.
God Bless, you all are in my prayers.
Cheryl and Mark

[Lifes2short]

If you don't trust your doctor's advice, you should certainly seek a second opinion - even a third one. There are countless stories on this board and others of docs who gave bad advice and/or put their patients on poor treatment plans.

Do as much reading as you can. "The Colon Cancer Survivors Guide" by Curtis Pesmen is a good read. I read it just after being diagnosed and it was a great help to me. There's lots of good info on the web (and some bad info, too - beware of miracle cures). You'll be amazed at how much and how quickly you'll learn.

And don't be afraid to post questions on boards like this. There's a lot of very smart people on this site who have been through hell and back.

Good luck and stay positive. There's always hope.

[missjv]

HI,
IF YOU HAVN'T ALREADY PLEASE GO GET A SECOND OPINION ON TREATMENTS IT CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD. I WAS DIAGNOSED STAGE 4 JUNE 06 FROM A VERY SMALL POLYP IN SIGMOID COLON, NO LYMPHNODE INVOLVMENT AND ENDED UP WITH 3 VERY SMALL LIVER METS I HAD NO SYMPTOMS AT ALL. 1ST ONCO TOLD ME STATISTICS SAY I HAVE 2 YEARS SHE PUT ME ON PALLIATIVE CHEMO AND TOLD ME THATS ALL THAT CAN BE DONE AND EVENTUALLY CHEMO WILL QUIT WORKING AND CANCER WOULD TAKE OVER MY LIVER AND THAT WOULD BE THE END, WELL I THOUGHT SCREW YOU LADY IM NOT EVEN SICK AND 3 LESIONS THE SIZE OF PENCIL ERASURES ARE NOT GOING TO KILL ME. LONG STORY SHORT I WENT TO SLOAN KETTERING AND TOLD I AM A CANDIDATE FOR CURATIVE SURGERY AND I AM HAVING LIVER METS REMOVED SOON. NOW IF I HAD TAKEN 1ST DOCS TREATMENT PLAN AND NOT DONE RESEARCH AND REFERRED MYSELF TO A LARGE CANCER CENTER THEN WHO KNOWS WHAT MY FUTURE WOULD BE, AT LEAST NOW I AM HOPEFUL THAT I WILL BE AROUND FOR A LONG TIME AND COULD POSSIBLY BE CURED. I AM ONLY 40 AND HAVE AN 8 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER THAT I WANT TO SEE GROW UP AND NOW I FEEL LIKE I WILL GET THAT CHANCE. YOUR DOC SHOULD NOT GET UPSET AT YOU FOR SEEKING A SECOND OPINION IT IS YOUR LIFE AT STAKE. GOOD LUCK.

MISSJV

[Pollyanna]

cherylandmark:

I didn't get 2nd and 3rd opinions. I guess for me, I know that I have a intuit sense of people, and I completely trusted who my GP referred me to, surgeon and oncologist. Having met with each of these fine gents prior to my procedures, I got a sense, after barraging them with questions to get a sense of who and where they were; I just knew they were the right guys for the job. If you meet someone, and your spidey-sense starts tingling, then it's time for a different person. One of the criteria for me, as well as a searingly keen knowledge of what the hell they were doing, was a sense of humour. My family is all about the humour, and if they weren't on board, they would have been bounced right away. Humour to me denotes humanism.

[Hannah]

Hi Cheryl,

I would definitely recommend getting a second opinion, preferably at a major NCI-designated cancer center. The NCI center in Sacramento is UC-Davis. The only other Northern CA NCI-designated cancer center is UCSF.

If you find out something new or like the doctor better, you might choose to be treated at the place you get a second opinion. If you hear the same things your current doctors are telling you, you will probably feel more comfortable with your current doc. Either way, you have nothing to lose - just information to gain.

Also, definitely continue to run things by us on this board if you feel comfortable doing that. We try very hard to stay "up" on all of the latest treatment options, and no matter what Mark does, you will probably find someone who has done the same thing, and can offer insight and help!

Hannah