newly diagnosed-need Lots of help - Cancer Message Board

luvmydad · 02-21-2004, 12:09 PM

My name is Tonya and my dad was told Feb 17th that he has cancer. Believe it or not that is not the worst of it. His Dr. basically said "It's not good news, you have cancer and it is advanced." He gave no other information as to what was actually found. He asked my dad what he was expecting when he came in. He had made an app. with an oncologist for the next day but we refused it because of previous experience with this Dr. We asked to be refered to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He said ok and that he would call the next day with an app. The HCI call my dad and said that he had an app. for MARCH 11. He asked if they could make it sooner and she said yes if the refering Dr. felt it was necessary. His Dr. said it would be ok for him to wait 3 weeks. This same Dr. saw my dad in Aug. saying that he had an infection in his pancreas and CT scans show no spots on his liver or pancreas. Now he says that there is a golf ball size tumor on his liver.

I had to demand that he give my dad better pain control meds. It took him almost 10 min to decide how much MS contin to give and then at the last min changed it again. When we got to the pharmacy we were told that they didn't even make that dosage. Back to the Dr. office to get a new script. Needless to say we have gathered his records and gotten a new refering Dr.

I feel like we weren't told all the facts. How do we know if it is in the lymph nodes? The pathology report says there is no trace of malignant cancer cells in the blood stream. Our app. is Monday morning. Can anyone shed some light for me?

thanks

Marimac · 02-21-2004, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvmydad

My name is Tonya and my dad was told Feb 17th that he has cancer. Believe it or not that is not the worst of it. His Dr. basically said "It's not good news, you have cancer and it is advanced." He gave no other information as to what was actually found. He asked my dad what he was expecting when he came in. He had made an app. with an oncologist for the next day but we refused it because of previous experience with this Dr. We asked to be refered to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He said ok and that he would call the next day with an app. The HCI call my dad and said that he had an app. for MARCH 11. He asked if they could make it sooner and she said yes if the refering Dr. felt it was necessary. His Dr. said it would be ok for him to wait 3 weeks. This same Dr. saw my dad in Aug. saying that he had an infection in his pancreas and CT scans show no spots on his liver or pancreas. Now he says that there is a golf ball size tumor on his liver.

I had to demand that he give my dad better pain control meds. It took him almost 10 min to decide how much MS contin to give and then at the last min changed it again. When we got to the pharmacy we were told that they didn't even make that dosage. Back to the Dr. office to get a new script. Needless to say we have gathered his records and gotten a new refering Dr.

I feel like we weren't told all the facts. How do we know if it is in the lymph nodes? The pathology report says there is no trace of malignant cancer cells in the blood stream. Our app. is Monday morning. Can anyone shed some light for me?

thanks

This is not a lot of information to work with but, here goes:
Advanced cancer does not necessarily mean terminal. The only way they can know if it is in the lymph nodes is to biopsy a lymphnode. The doctor may or may not do this. The other way is a Pet Scan which will show something but not necessarily define what it is. The lack of cancer cells in the blood stream is a good thing, It means the cancer is contained at the moment the blood work was done. The best thing to do is to write down all your questions and take them to the doctor. Do not leave the office until you have asked every single one of them and have an answer you understand. Good luck

jaydees · 02-21-2004, 09:41 PM

Yes, write down your questions. Also, when you see the doctor ask if he/she wants you to wait until he says his piece before you ask questions or if you can stop him and ask a question about things he is saying at the moment.

Don't know if I am being clear. By example, I saw two surgeons. The first would speak and I would think of a question while he talked but he would keep on talking. At the end of it he asked what questions I had.

The second sugeon however, kept her eyes on me while she talked and if I showed a questioning look on my face she would stop and ask if I had a question. Obviously the later is better though both are excellent surgeons and explained themselves well too.

Biopsies don't always show the whole story but so far your father is getting good news. Only after the post surgery pathology is done will a more definite report be possible.