When the Doctor's wife has Breast Cancer

Valgirl

Not sure where to post this but I found it an interesting read.  The stories will continue every Tueday in the New York Times /well section.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/when-the-doctors-wife-has-cancer/

Part 2 - The Doctor Who Knew Too Much.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/the-doctor-who-knew-too-much/

Anonymous

I  was surprised that a Dr. would tell a patient that he thought it was cancer prior to a biopsy.

Sherryc

My doctor told me that and she was right.  Actually we started looking at something else that the radiologist did not like.  Another radiologist and my BS looked at it and both said they really did not think it was cancer but needed to do a biospsy to make sure.  Well we could not get a good biopsy so we ended up doing a MRI to rule out cancer.  The original place was ruled out but when my BS called me she said they had found a tumor.  I asked her point blank if it was cancer or are we testing more.  She said as far as she was concerned she was treating it as cancer until another test proved her otherwise. Another test then biospy finally confirmed it.

AnneW

I had a fibroadenoma when I was 37. My surgeon told me at my pre-op visit that this was going to be cancer. No "probably"--he was emphatic. I was devastated. When it turned out to be benign, I asked him why on earth he would make such a statement. He said it was to prepare me for in case. Like we DON'T prepare ourselves when we face a biopsy?? Sheesh. I told him to never take away a woman's hope again.

Anonymous

Hopefully he hasn't done that again.  It will be interesting to read the weekly stories to see what she does with the choices that are in her future.

lago

Seafoobs I asked the radiologist before he did my biopsy what was going on and he said "We are doing the biopsy to confirm our diagnosis of breast cancer. If the biopsy doesn't confirm it then we will do a more invasive procedure to prove it."

I could tell by the way my breast surgeon was acting just when he looked at my mammo/US images that he pretty much knew it was cancer. Wouldn't say much other than the radiologist needed to look at it. Then he started to mention something about breast cancer being treatable. This all before the biopsy.

To be honest I knew too. I felt the "mass" and my nipple had bloody discharge. This wasn't papilloma.

kathleen1966

Yes, I had a wonderfully blunt radiologist that had me soo convinced it was cancer, that I told my whole family that night before any biospy.  Me...."If this is NOT cancer, what do you think it could be?"...The radiologist "I can't think of anything OTHER than cancer that this could be"....then she went on to point out that this was a very large area, that she could see numerous tumors and that if I had come at 40 for my mammogram it would have been better for me....she also said over and over again during the ultrasound that she couldn't believe my gynogologist didn't send me in sooner (Long story, but I had to change gyno's due to a change in insurance and hadn't even met my new one yet...I did sit on a script for a year). It was obvious I had cancer.  Everyones face (the radiologist, the intern) was very, very serious. The radiologist also said...there are tumors we are not concerned about and tumors we are concerned about, then she bent foreword and very seriously said with a long pause...and we are VERY......VERY...concerned about your tumors.  But to be honest, I was not offended by her bluntness.  I appreciated her honesty and liked her very much. I could tell that the staff liked her very much as well. Knowing was the easiest part for me.  The not knowing now (about the future) is hard. But I can tell you that if I see her again, I will not ask her what she thinks of me having four positive nodes.

Laurie09

Interesting article, I'll be interested to read further. 

I remember having my biopsy done.  The radiologist didn't tell me he thought it was cancer, but I could tell he was concerned.   

iodine

Looks to be a good series.  I'll be interested to see how this articulate doc handles it and gain some persective in how my dh handled it.  I would guess that the author will provide the words that many of our spouses could never come up with, or even feelings they could identify, in the comming weeks.

The radiologist told me after ultrasound that he thought I had cancer.  That, to me, sure beats waiting the weekend to get a letter in the mail which says to see your primary doc.  URGENTLY.  If I was home alone and opened that letter---WOW, talk about getting scared.  At least he was there to address any questions I had, or just hold my hand for a moment.  Much more than my dh was available to do for many hours, he was in surgery, and then had patients to see in the office.  He did call though.

edited for my lousy spelling

Valgirl

Part 2 of the Series today:  The Dr. Who Knew Too Much.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/the-doctor-who-knew-too-much/

Anonymous

Part 3 of the Series today: The Doctor who knew Too Much.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/the-doctors-wife-in-the-chemo-chair/

Valgirl

Not sure which Part this one is but it's a good one.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/after-a-diagnosis-wishing-for-a-magic-number/

Wishing for a Magic Number...

voraciousreader

I thought the comments that accompanied the article to be more provocative and compelling.

Anonymous

Along the same topic, did anyone see the fantastic results of liver resecting for breast cancer.  87 women had liver resecting after breast cancer had mets to liver.  Average lived 7-8 years longer!!!  How many of those were doctor's wives?  I bet 85.

Valgirl

Here's the link to March 30 and April 4 posts.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/peter-b-bach/