I'm a little irked by the radiation oncology group there, as they need to get in touch with my medical oncologist to discuss the recent scan, as it has implications for my chemo treatment. I kind of feel that now they have my precious data for their research they don't have a vested interest in following up. Before I did the radiation the doctor would call the house and my mobile to explain what was going on, and they chased down the insurance approval. Now I get a quick phone call from a doctor on the team who gives me a heads up that they don't think they can do surgery. I've been trying to track the main radiologist down to get him to call my oncologist, and he seemingly can't be bothered. It's disappointing.
Good news is that I have a clear plan with my chemo. There are still some options with the drugs I can take, so I feel better about that.
Ok. Almost here. Let's stent.
Sadly this is the state of the medical world. It's been like this for as long as I can remember. One of the biggest lessons I learned watching my mom deal with all her medical stuff was that doctors do NOT know all, frequently make mistakes, frequently drop the ball and the best course of action is to know as much as you can yourself and be an advocate for the patient (yourself or your loved one). As frustrating as it is, I don't fault the doctors because I know they are so over-worked and the amount of time they are allotted to do their jobs falls far short of the time they need to do a great job. Hang tough. Be true to your gut. When something feels off, call it out. I also think it's fair to say that you can bug, bug, bug as much as you want and they really don't hold it against you (I mean, it's not like your a hypochondriac).
ReplyDeleteFortunately, the doctor got back to me the next day. Turns out he was on vacation and had just gotten back, so I might've jumped the gun a bit.
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