Guest meinman Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 My sister had her biopsies done and the first one came back positive so the surgeon stopped. She is all bruised up and in a lot of pain. She was scheduled for chemotherapy today but wasn't up for it. She starts radiation on Monday and will have it five days a week for six weeks. Chemotherapy will be Thursday. Her Oncologist is given her a cocktail of Carbopaltim and Taxol. He said they would do more scans at the end of her therapy and then reevaluate. His approach seems pretty standard from what I've read. However, we live in Virginia Beach, Va and there are no cancer clinics here. I'm wondering if there is a correlation between survival rates and major cancer centers. The surgeon that did the biopsy is a heart specialist? Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginnyd Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Mary, I have no data on survival rates based on where treatment is done. However, I am a firm believer in second opinions and in having the treatment done by a doctor that only works with cancer patients. While the neurosurgeon we used (at a general hospital) did not only work on cancer patients, he only worked on brain tumors. Then we got two opinions on the next treatment and both the general hospital and the cancer center recommended the same surgery. We choose the cancer center since that surgeon ONLY operated on lung and esophagus cancer. Again, if you have confidence in your current hospital, that is what matters. If you can get a 2nd opinion, I think it helps clarify that you are taking the right approach Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosanne Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Mary, Getting a second opinion is very helpful. We did and were relieved that the 2nd doctor would have done the same treatment. This made us feel good. It also was helpful when we left the first group because of there uncaring way of treating my husband. It made the change easier. Rosanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karma1976 Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Mary that is Identical to my dad's treatment! He gets radiation 5 x a week and he JUST started chemo one week ago on carboplatin and taxol, he has that one every 3 weeks. As far as living in Virgina, i woudl maybe go on the ALCASE website and maybe see if they have centers listed in VA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlon Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 I hope this helps. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/nycu/healt ... hqcanc.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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