second opinion

Deenaishere

Hi,

I have been recently diagnosed with stage 2 lobular breast cancer. I have seen a breast surgeon and have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow. I also meet with an oncologist tomorrow as I am concerned about preserving my fertility. So far, all the doctors I have seen have been recommended by other physicians. The radiologist recommended the breast surgeon who recommended the oncologist and a plastic surgeon. Is this good enough? Should I try to go see another physician for a second opinion. I have no reason to think any of these MDs are not reputable and they have good reviews. Is it standard practice to get a second opinion?

Moderators

Hi Deenaishere, and welcome! Sorry you have to be here, but glad you've found us and decided to post.

Until you get more replies to this topic, you can learn more on Getting a Second Opinion at the main Breastcancer.org site, including why, where and when to get them, and what to expect.

Hope this helps! Let us know how MRI goes tomorrow!

Best wishes,

From the Mods

edwards750

Not necessarily SOP to get a second opinion but that decision is strictly yours to make. No right or wrong answer.It's good you are being your own advocate though. All of us who have gone through and are going through the process have learned to do that. After all it's your body and your life.

I too followed recommendations for doctors except my BS was recommended by a friend. He was one of the two best in town. Turned out a number of ladies I know went to him as well.

It's your comfort zone. You need a good rapport with your doctors for this journey. My BS is a good doctor but not the best bedside manner. My MO is one of many doctors at the West Clinic, one of, if not the best, cancer centers in town. She was efficient but frankly pretty ego driven.

You have checked reviews. Good. I do the same. Sounds like you have done your homework so you should be fine.

Keep us posted and keep the faith.

Diane

swg

Can I ask..where did you look up reviews for your drs?

I'm newly diagnosed and have the same concern as you.

Cliffyw

When my wife was originally diagnosed, doctor friends of ours encouraged us to get a second opinion if only to verify that the recommended treatment is consistent or to see if another doctor has a different view. For the surgeon, there was not much difference in recommendation and we wound up just choosing the one with the better reputation. I don't think the results would have differed much in that instance as both surgeons were well regarded. For medical and radiation oncologists, we are again going to seek second opinions, if for nothing else than peace of mind that we are getting the best possible treatment. Again, the treatment probably won't change, but we just want to make sure we are exploring all options.

Outfield

I don't think it's "standard practice" to get a second opinion, but there are general situations where it can be very helpful:

1) You don't like the doctor, just don't click

2) You have a medical problem that isn't treated in a "cookbook" way. For example, my mom has pancreatic cancer and although there are general recommendations, there's a lot of leeway for individual judgement by doctors because there just hasn't been the amount of research done on pancreatic as on breast cancer because it's not as common. She saw two surgeons, one gave her two choices, A or B, A was more appealing but he said he favored B, and the second surgeon thought A was not even on the table. She was a lot more comfortable choosing B after the second opinion.

3) You have a medical problem that isn't responding well to the treatment you've been offered. For example, you hurt your knee and it's not improved after 6 months of PT.

4) You aren't confident your doctor has the expertise to treat your particular problem

It also can be worth it to "try out" different doctors. I knew I was going to have psychological trouble with radiation, so I saw two radiation oncologists. The one recommended by my medical oncologist wasn't someone that could deal with me if I went off the rails, but the second one was. Good thing I chose him because he ended up having to put his soft-skills to work, that's for sure.

Finally, unless you're nowhere near a big city so have limited options, I'd ask around to get other people's opinions besides the doctors you're seeing. Not necessarily for a "second opinion," but to have an arsenal of names in case something doesn't work out. My breast surgeon is interpersonally odd, but patients who don't mind her manner quickly realize her utter dedication and how she works really hard to stay on the cutting edge of what's best for patients. I had to go outside the healthcare system where I was diagnosed to see her, and I'm really glad I did. The referral within that system would have had me waiting a really long time to see a surgeon (I was done with surgery and had already started chemo by the time that appointment would have rolled around), and I had a very rapidly growing tumor. I didn't like that wait, so I asked other doctors that I knew and some women I knew who'd had breast cancer, and got my surgeon's name. Another example: my first oncologist retired, so I had to switch, then the second oncologist moved out of state, I just didn't like the next one, the fourth one stopped taking my insurance, so now I'm on number 5. Moral of the story: good to have a list of names.

NotVeryBrave

I had second opinions for pathology, BS, and RO. My feeling was that I wanted to see what they all had to say rather than just go along with who the original BS sent me to - and they were all within the same center so that's why she referred me to them. I never got a second opinion for MO because I felt that the plan of care recommended was pretty much standard and anyone else would say the same thing.

I ended up not needing radiation and the pathology results were the same between the two entities. I did change the BS. It really wasn't because of reviews (both had good ones). And both were very kind and helpful. It was mostly just a sense of comfort with the second one. I felt more secure somehow with her.