CT, Rad Onc, and Med Onc

[MBinOregon]

Hello,

I had 5.5 weeks of radiation that ended in July (this was after the pneumonectomy in May).  My radiation oncologist ordered a CT scan which will be on 10/29 (this will be the first scan since BEFORE the surgery. Let's not focus on that for now as I'm already feeling the anxiety that's not even describable. yikes.) and I have an appointment with him the same day.  

As for my medical oncologist, I met with him 2 weeks after the surgery and I really didn't feel that appointment was needed/necessary at all since I also met with someone from the surgeon's office on the same day for post-op follow-up.  Next time I saw the med oncologist was at the end of Aug - again, I didnt' see the point since it was basically "are you still doing well on Crizotinib? How was radiation? I'll see you after the CT scan then."  He ordered a blood work, but that could've been done easily without the appointment. So I now have an appointment with him on 11/1, a couple of days after CT.

So a question -

let's say this CT scan turns out to be fabulous - nothing bad, just all good.  When I meet with the radiatoin oncologist and get that fabulous news, I don't see why I need to meet with my medical oncologist 2 days later?  I'm thinking if that happens, I'll just reschedule it to January (he wanted to see me every 3 months) since I'm guessing he'd be the one to order CT scan.

What do you think?

Thank you in advance as always~!

MB

[Guest]

In my personal experience I've learned the hard way that certain specialties concentrate on just their own specialties and not the whole picture.  

Your Onc could be the quarterback of your team, so to speak. What's the downside of visiting your onc too? 

Could you give the onc's office a call and see if they can just read your results and let you know if you can reschedule your appointment for January?

 

[MBinOregon]

Thank you, Katie.

I do consider my med onc as the "main man" - I chose him after dumping 2 previous med oncs after all - who coordinates my care as in he sent me to the surgeon and to radiation onc.  However, I just feel until I'm done with the radiation oncolgist (which I'm totally guessing would be the CT scan in October), my med onc doesn't ADD anything.  When I meet with radiation onc after the CT in Oct, he will tell me the result, so by the time I go see the med onc on 11/1, I'd already know the result.

My thinking is once I don't get to (or need to) see the rad onc, then it'll be me seeing my med onc every 3 months and getting CT.  

The "downside" of keeping 11/1 appointment - it takes me 40min one way to get to the clinic, 10-15min to find a parking spot, 20-30min waiting since he always runs late, then he rushes in and tells me something the rad onc already told me.  That's a lot of time I have to take off from work.

[LexieCat]

I think keeping the appointment is a good idea just to maintain the connection and make sure everyone is on the same page.  I hear ya about the travel/inconvenience (I'm SO fortunate that one of the offices I visit offers free valet parking for patients), but when I hear stuff like Marcie's dad getting treated for the wrong kind of cancer, it makes me think the more communication the better.  Every time they pull out their charts and review them for a visit, it's a chance to notice if anything was overlooked or if anything has changed.

Just my two cents.