I think I have a problem

Yeehaw, Camel Gal!!

What a sweet relief. Funny how preparing for the worst never really prepares you for the worst at all, but it sure makes good-to-mediocre news all the sweeter!

Now. Relax and enjoy life. Get through this next phase. Play with the grandbabies. Go stimulate the economy. Drink some wine. Smile from camel ear to camel ear.

That's what I'm doing!

Anne

Vent away.

It's demeaning to have someone try to challenge your intelligence. There would be far fewer law suits if physicians owned up to errors in a compassionate way.

Annie, I lost track somewhere along the way...is this BS the same one who you liked so much initially when you were going through your diagnosis hell in Camel Land? If so, what happened? And is this guy your only option?

Anne

I'm so glad to hear your PET Scan is clear

Everyone on these boards are so awesome

 I love you all : - )

Annie - hide-and-go-seek indeed! That's exactly the game my PS has played with me since my surgery! Fortunately someone on this board advised me to get my operative reports - and THAT's how I found out I never got the Diep surgery I requested! My PS's lack of honesty with me is the main reason I am switching to a new PS. I switched oncologists for the same reason. Both these doctors came highly recommended and seemed compassionate, but they treated me like I was some kind of ignoramus. They must be used to women who don't get copies of their reports - women who don't ask questions - women who need "white lies" to get them through the day. That's certainly not me!

Annie - did you confront your PS with the information you obtained from reading your orders? I suppose my own fear of confrontation makes me a culprit in my own situation ......I told my old oncologist I was switching doctors because I found someone closer to home (which was a minor reason)........I SHOULD have told him the real reason, but chickened out. I still haven't confronted my PS yet about how I feel he misled me - and how I don't trust him to do my stage 2 revisions.........I guess he'll just write me off as "lost to follow-up". Perhaps, like in college, these doctors should have their patients fill out an anonymous questionnaire about how well they did their job.  Do you think they'd WANT information like that? Or would it burst their own egos too much?

Post-stress all you want Annie - and I hope a calmer routine next week will give you some sense of stability and comfort!

Wonderful news, Annie. I can't help but wonder...chemo, lymph node with tumor, necrosis...um isn't that what chemo does...cause necrosis? I don't understand why the BS would be baffled by the presence of necrosis. He should, however, be concerned about the presence of a node that should be in a jar somewhere instead of in your 'pit!

But then what is, is. It looks like you're good to go for longevity. Congratulations on another crisis conquered.

Judie

Just came across this thread......been off the board for awhile do to planning and attending my daughter's wedding.

 So I am so glad to hear that your PET scan came back clear. I am also glad that all of our sisters were there for you Annie.

Sending you my love,

Terry 

Geez, Annie.  What a total mess.  I don't even know if I have an opinion, because it is all so surreal. 

I am going to be thinking of you during your surgery, and praying to God that the surgeon is watching himself a little more closely this time.
Love and prayers, Deb

Dear Annie,

As ICanDoThis has just said, you are dealing with no more cancer than before the surgery.  Tomorrow it will all be out. You were lucky (if one can use that term about cancer) that the "bump' reappeared and alerted you to its' existence.  You are certainly the "general contractor" for this Camel Turd Demolition and Removal project.  Thank goodness you are smart and not an oistrich.  A less spunky camel would have said, "ah it is nothing"...subtext- "enough, already"'

You will be OK.  We elephants will see to it. Your doctor might be a good candidate for a complaint of professional misconduct and incompetence.  Each state has a review board that reviews situations regarding a doctor's professional conduct that is questionable. This is not about bedside manner or rudeness.  It is about, among other things, bad decisions made, lapses in judgement, abandonment of a patient or failure to act, thereby putting a patient's health in jeopardy, drug use by the doctor,etc. You can find the info on the web if you look up your state's Dept of Health, Office of Professional Medical Conduct website .All one has to do is be honest and write up the narrative in a concise way.  It is then out of your hands and the state will take over if it feels there is cause for further investigation.

 Right now you have to get through the surgery, which does not sound too extensive, AND HEAL.  If fantasies of getting this doctor to be accountable for his actions, or at least scutinized by his peers, helps you recover quicker, allow yourself to think about it.  Otherwise just be assured that all we oversized, smart women elephants, are at your bedside, keeping the jerk-doc anxious that we'll "out" him and subsequently rub him out.  No size 4 elephant need apply for this watch tomorrow!!!

May God and all the Goddesses hold you in the palms of their beautiful, deft hands, sweet Annie. Tomorrow will be a busy day for all of us as we keep watch over you.

femme 

Annie, I hope that operating room is huge, because we're all going to be crowded in there....appropriately gowned and masked, of course.  I just washed my scrub pants and top this morning, so I'm all prepared.

There is no need for you to feel as if you're supposed to be benevolent.  That is not your job.  Your job is to be the patient, and your responsibilities as a patient do not include having to be patient all the time.   (You do not have to be a patient patient.)

Just this evening when I called our residential phone company for the dozenth time to complain about our poor-quality phone line, I asked the customer service person to be sure our account is flagged to say I am an "angry and frustrated" customer.  She said she would be sure to do that.  (Yeah, as if it will make any difference.)

My point, of course, is that we do not need to be polite all the time.  You and I know how critically important it is to be assertive--even aggressive--when necessary.  Sometimes it's especially necessary when we're in a subservient role (i.e. the patient).

On the other hand (and you knew this was coming, too):  At the present time, your most important job is to get better.  You need to get through tomorrow's surgery (which will be made more awkward for your surgeon by all of us being there, watching over his shoulder).  You need to move on to rads, for which you can get loads of advice from the Rads board.  (I've lurked there.  It's great reading.)  It sounds like your medicos have a plan for monitoring you, and the plan sounds reasonable.

So, go with it.  Get this next stage, and the one after that, out of the way.  Don't consume your time and energy with anger....yet.  There is plenty of time for that, and we will all be cheering on the sidelines or running beside you as you make your charge.

The only thing I can add is that you still have the option, even as you continue with your treatments, of seeking a 2nd opinion at a bigger cancer center.  You might get ahold of the path slides and report from tomorrow's excision, plus everything that preceded it, and take the stuff somewhere big, so they can look at what has happened and give you an opinion from another viewpoint.  I guess once you start daily rads that will be harder to do, logistically--but you could arrange it to happen immediately after you've finished rads.

I am scratching my furry head (see the Hair Hair Hair thread on the Chemo forum, for a pic), trying to understand how the very axillary lump that brought you back from your overseas assignment was overlooked or bypassed during your initial surgery.   Just can't figure that one out.  (Neither can you, I know.)

But, as I said, this may not be the best time to be phoning your favorite attorney.  Take care of your health first--then take care of your anger.   Shout at us about it in the meantime.  We're listening.

Big hugs, Annie....

otter 

Annie, hugs and prayers for you,

(and LOTS of prayers for enlightenment of the benighted...)

Love from another pachyderm,

Ann

Still waiting here for news.

Sheila

Just checking in -- thinking of you, Annie!

((((((((Hugs))))))))

Size 10 pachyderm checking in. Do you have any idea just how many of us are out here? You are loved, dear Annie.

Judie

Sending a prayer your way Annie - hope you're OK!