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treatment concerns

Forums General Melanoma Community treatment concerns

  • Post
    tkoss
    Participant
      are all oncs created the same or are some much better than others?

      englarged LN’s show up on scan. Doc never suggested i self check so the*y have been enlarging and recede several times over last 5 months with me not bothering to bring to oncs attention.

      Onc sent me to staff surgical oncoogist for a biopsy. The Onc Surgeown spent about 3 minutes and did not mention biopsy once but said “surgery” repeatedly .

      What i know about any of this is that I did this all once before in 2020. Then that Onc Surgeon spent alot of time describing surgery and partiall vs. complete lympothedtomy. The current Onc surgeon did not. In fact i had to nail him down as to whether i was even going under anesthesia. I had assumed some kind of needle biopsy. The reason i am asking here is cause i know from last time otherwise i would be clueless as to what to ask.

      are not all onc practices euqal and do i have time to find another?

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        MMH
        Participant
          I can provide no words of wisdom but I wanted to respond and let you know that I am thinking of you and you are not alone. Waiting on lymph node biopsy results for bad lymph node near scar and I am at an all-time low. All the best to you, and keep advocating for yourself.
          mmbraddock
          Participant
            I am sorry to hear about your experience. It is very frustrating when communication is not clear. I am fortunate to live in Tampa so have access to oncologists who work specifically in skin cancers. I would suggest seeing if there is anyone local that specializes specifically in melanoma. I have found it helpful to email and send messages through the patient portal to clarify questions are concerns. Hopefully, they will be responsive and give you the answers you need quickly. Advocating for yourself is key! Hang in there, it’s tough.
            tkoss
            Participant
              thanks for your replies . i insisted they postpone surgery until my concerns and question were allayed. they were.

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