Availability of Oncologist for Questions or Concerns

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SummerAngel
SummerAngel Member Posts: 1,006
edited May 2015 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

I'm just wondering what the typical experience with medical oncologists is. When I saw my MO, he was great and super nice and I've heard a lot of locals talk about him as being great. During that appointment he had apologized for a mix-up that happened the day before and he told me I was handling things very well. I told him if he had been around me that day, he would have seen that I had been very close to losing it. He said that the next time I was losing it to call him instead! I thought that was very nice. Since then, however, I've called a couple of times (it's been a couple of weeks since my last appointment), asking for him to call me back when it's convenient. Not only did he not call, his office staff and nurses have been very short with me and told me that he hadn't called because he was "very busy", and "couldn't I just talk to his nursing staff"? I finally gave up and talked to the nurses. Is this pretty typical? Is it "just not done" to actually be able to talk to your oncologist on the phone?

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  • ml143333
    ml143333 Member Posts: 658
    edited May 2015

    Oh my!

    I can honestly say that my MO has given me his home and cell phone numbers and encouraged me to use them.  I also have his personal e-mail address.  I have never used his home number or cell phone, but have e-mailed him and he called me as soon as he could.  He has even called at almost 9:00 one night to answer questions that I had.  I feel that he goes above and beyond for his patients.

    I have two friends that also go to him and he treats them the same way.

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  • dlb823
    dlb823 Member Posts: 9,430
    edited May 2015

    I think it depends on the question. Docs are busier than ever these days and if they had to personally take every patient's phone call, they'd never be able to keep up with their patient schedule or would be in the office until 8:00 at night. That said, you should be able to reach your onc directly IF it's something a nurse or PA can't answer or handle for you. If I email my UCLA onc, I normally get a response from her -- occasionally her PA -- by that evening. If I phone my local onc, I leave a very complete message about why I'm calling with whomever takes the call. Depending on the question, occasionally he's called back, but most likely, a nurse or office assistant or PA will speak to him and call me back with an answer.


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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited May 2015

    My onc is so busy that I try to go thru the nurse. However my onc does call me directly if needed. However I needed more support in the early days and it was hard to find. Does your cancer center have a nurse navigator? She might be able to help

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  • SummerAngel
    SummerAngel Member Posts: 1,006
    edited May 2015

    It makes sense that these doctors are busy, and I wouldn't expect a call-back right away, but I was definitely put off by the tone of his entire office staff, including the nurses and PA I spoke to. These people work in a cancer center, so the tone I've received has been very surprising. In contrast, my surgeon and her nurse have been excellent and the surgeon has called me herself with every important update. I just picked up some paperwork from her office and the nurse saw me, asked me to come back to an empty office, and told me that she was quitting in order to go back to school. She wanted to tell me herself, she said, because she didn't want me to feel like I was blind-sided the next time I came in. She gave me a hug and told me that if I wanted to speak to her directly in the future to let the replacement nurse know and she would call me.

    dlb823, I made an appointment today to get a second opinion at the nearby NCI cancer center. I figure it can't hurt! :)

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited May 2015

    I have never spoken on the phone to my MO, but the nursing staff, his PA, and his NP have been very responsive.  They have returned my calls if they were unavailable in a prompt manner, and have always called when scans or tests have come back so that I was not waiting for the next appointment.  During chemo I had weekly blood draws so could ask questions at that time, and I saw my MO prior to each of the six chemo infusions - so every 21 days.  I continued with Herceptin for the balance of the year so was in the infusion room with nursing staff every three weeks and could ask questions at that time.  I saw my MO every 3 months for the first year after diagnosis, then moved to every six months.  I staggered my appointments so that I was seeing either my BS, MO or PS every few months.

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