Re: New here -- need advice

[Guest guest]

Trust your instincts. Unless there's some MAJOR reason for them to rush him

into surgery, then you have the right, and should be allowed the time, to get

a second opinion. I'm getting frustrated with hearing the stories from people

who are RUSHED into treatment, whether it's with the surgeon, the oncologist

or the radiation folks. It smacks of business as usual for them, and not good

news for the patient. I know how it is those with the doctors, and how much

pressure they put on you to do and do it NOW! But the truth is, even the

best intentioned of them, know what they know - be it surgery, chemo or rad..but

that's all they know. That's their business and I respect it. But the onous

is on the patient to do the investigation and the work to investigate as much

as possible..and they should be allowed to do that without the aweful pressure

and fear inspired by some doctors. The fact is, cancer takes years to

develop in most cases...so the rush is most often just simply not justified.

Well - those are my thoughts. Guess I'm just a little fired up tonight. I

get to meet with my surgeon tomorrow to discuss the next step. I'm real

cognizant of the rush factor, since I just finished the chemo and radiation

stage,

and now they want to cut, whether there is a tumor or not. " barbaric " is what

my oncologist said of it, but he's one who understands their limitations - a

rarity, and still stated that that's what they have to work with at this time.

I'm looking into alternatives. But a lot rides on what the results of the

ultrasound show tomorrow.

All I can say is to take each and every decision to God in prayer. He will

bless you, whatever you decide.

Sheila

[Guest guest]

Irene,

One of the best liver surgeons is at the Barrett Cancer Center. It

is part of the University of Cincinatti. I had a consult with Dr.

Lowy. He was wonderful.

Best of luck

Jennie

[Guest guest]

It is a double edged sword - the thing that you will find at a

cancer center is synergism - they have GI's, surgeons, oncs,

radiation oncs, etc., all in one place and I think they can tend to

offer a more whole approach to treatment. Chances are that the

surgeons will be more experienced in colon tumor excision as well -

this is especially true, I think, since you know ahead of time that

there are tumors in the liver; a more experienced surgeon will

probably have a better judgement (or even the capability, as it is

relatively complicated) as to whether or not to try to resect the

liver tumors at the same time as the primary tumor is taken out.

Irregardless of where your brother is treated, seek out a board

certified colorectal surgeon - there is a difference between these

and general surgeons. If the surgeons at the local hospital lack

this credential, then they really are not as good as he says,

probably. There is a web sites where you can go to check this:

American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgeons

http://www.abcrs.org/directoryofdiplomates/

American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons

http://www.fascrs.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1 & subarticlenbr=104

Certified = " Board Certified " at the second site.

The reason that I say that it is a double edged sword is because we

stayed local and probably got the best surgeon around from an all

around standpoint (he was certified).

Joe

> Hello all! I hope you and yours are doing the best that they can

do!

>

> I need help.

>

> My brother was diaganosed with colon cancer that has spread to his

> liver. We found out yesterday. He's at a regular hospital, and

we'd

> like to take him to Loyola University cancer center near Chicago.

> When I mentioned this to his primary care physician (we need a

> referral), he didn't say we shouldn't do it, but he discouraged it

by

> saying that the protocols are the same, and the doctors at the(his)

> hospital were very good. Why does this not sit well with me? The

> major problem is that they want to do surgery either this weekend

or

> early next week, and the team of doctors at loyola meet on

thursdays

> to discuss his case. If he has the surgery, he of course, can't be

> there.

>

> What do you think about being at a 'regular' hospital as opposed

to a

> cancer unit?

[Guest guest]

Do not let the regular hospital touch your brother. Get to a cancer

center.

Just my .02

> Hello all! I hope you and yours are doing the best that they can do!

>

> I need help.

>

> My brother was diaganosed with colon cancer that has spread to his

> liver. We found out yesterday. He's at a regular hospital, and we'd

> like to take him to Loyola University cancer center near Chicago.

> When I mentioned this to his primary care physician (we need a

> referral), he didn't say we shouldn't do it, but he discouraged it by

> saying that the protocols are the same, and the doctors at the(his)

> hospital were very good. Why does this not sit well with me? The

> major problem is that they want to do surgery either this weekend or

> early next week, and the team of doctors at loyola meet on thursdays

> to discuss his case. If he has the surgery, he of course, can't be

> there.

>

> What do you think about being at a 'regular' hospital as opposed to a

> cancer unit?

[Guest guest]

I concur.

Many complications can occur with cancer and it is best to go to a

cancer center where they have specific knowledge and experience for

dealing with this. If there are pain issues also, you will find

these are handled much better by a cancer center. We just found that

out.

We just had

> > Hello all! I hope you and yours are doing the best that they

can do!

> >

> > I need help.

> >

> > My brother was diaganosed with colon cancer that has spread to

his

> > liver. We found out yesterday. He's at a regular hospital, and

we'd

> > like to take him to Loyola University cancer center near

Chicago.

> > When I mentioned this to his primary care physician (we need a

> > referral), he didn't say we shouldn't do it, but he discouraged

it by

> > saying that the protocols are the same, and the doctors at the

(his)

> > hospital were very good. Why does this not sit well with me?

The

> > major problem is that they want to do surgery either this

weekend or

> > early next week, and the team of doctors at loyola meet on

thursdays

> > to discuss his case. If he has the surgery, he of course, can't

be

> > there.

> >

> > What do you think about being at a 'regular' hospital as opposed

to a

> > cancer unit?