I am trying to decide where to go now and thought I would ask what ya'll thought. I was diagnosed with 3a or 3b NSCLC depending on which doctor we were speaking to.
I just finished my prescribed chemo (6 weeks Tax/Carbo) and have completed 21 of 37 concurrent radiation treatments so far. The treatment plan was induction so that I could possibly have surgery after completion if needed.
What is bothering I am being treated locally and feel that I have a good team, but I did go to a very high ranked teaching hospital for my second opinion. They would not really treat me due to having begun locally, but said that they would pick up treatment after the completion of this first round. (they also agreed with local treatment being a valid choice, but they would have done more tests)
So I just called them and they made appointments for me on 4/22 for a PET and MRI scan which is a full 5 1/2 weeks from chemo completion and 2 1/2 weeks from radiation completion. Since our plan is to get me to a point where I can have surgery...is this time frame too long? I am concerned that anything that may be left of the original tumor may slip back to its original haunts (assuming that it actually has left).
I could probably get appointments locally the week after my radiation completes which would be the required 3 weeks from chemo. But then I have lost the resources of the major cancer research center.
I may be making too much of the timeframe and this is what I was hoping to get others experiences.
Thanks!