IM64 wrote:How to get second opinion? Or how to switch oncologist?
Is this primarily a Canadian or even a provincial question about a required referral or not?
In the US it is a self initiated phone call or dr's referral and appointment wait - limited by insurance type, insurer network, and financial resources and willingness for out of pocket cash.
The only way he suggests is systemic chemo. We understand that is the most important part in our case, but we also want to know about other possibilities.
I would at least call other dr's offices and quiz the secretaries and nurses as possible consults.
We even still don't know size of primary tumor (4 month later!), because radiologist forget to describe it in the report,
Plan A - go back to the center and complain about insufficient detail.But they can be pretty sticky. I had an outside phone opinion for CT#2 that found a gross error, they missed the 4-6 cm of para-aortic cluster! The original scan's hospital office still balked me and asked why I needed it in writing (ahem, insurance dummy Never mind future Dr interviews). They issued a skinny addendum.
Plan B - outside reading by another radiologist or, maybe, oncologist. Our second surgeon ran the scan by his hospital's best radiologist.
Plan C - DIY. Our CT scan disks come with their own browser and tools that some patients do use.
Looks like he's not interested to take any extra steps other than usual chemo and blocks all our initiative.
Yep, that's certainly a reason for more consults and/or change at our house.
However, I ran out of steam chasing spoiled children on the remaining oncs, after the easier appointments.
Usually I can get same-day or next day appointments, but these oncs were often 2-3 weeks away for difficult time slots when I called and running on limited play books. This is why we assembled our own support Dr network.
try to find someone who want to treat for cure purpose. I just have no idea how to actually do it.
(I'm not in Canada)Looking and asking around. Friends, family, work, social networks. We picked some off the internet including the president of the national oncology society who was financed by just about every pharma and fairly easy to schedule. But it was still std recommendations, sales pitch and manipulation.
send emails to other docs in hope someone will answer?
May be more likely for medical tourism sites
As I understand, we want to get a second opinion from another hospital, because the docs from the existing will never say something against their colleague, right?
Maybe.
In the US, large metro areas for radiology reading can be dominated by a single partnership/cartel.
In a hospital, the nastiest onc, all smarmy, stabbed another dr right in the back less than 60 seconds after that other (radiation) dr walked out of her office. He had walked me over to her office suggesting possible chemoradiation collaboration. She had all but bitten my ankles off after an oncology society meeting in 5* hotel a year earlier and then it turned out she was our insurer's gatekeeper at this one hospital. Such pleasant surprises.