Second Opinions

   I am not a shy person. In fact, I could probably use a little more shame in my life to prevent me from making a fool out of myself on a daily basis! Yet somehow, despite my usual brash boldness, I get really embarrassed about second opinions. I feel like I’m both cheating on my primary physician and just wasting the second guy’s time. This is completely illogical: I work in the medical field and I understand how much personal differences can influence a course of treatment. Oooh all very smarty pants of me, but I still had to get my mommy to call for a second opinion at MGH.

   Well, it turns out I just need to get over myself. Second opinions are awesome! Not only was my oncologist at Beth Israel more than happy to be in touch with the people at MGH, but it turns out my surgeon and second-opinion oncologist are best buds who took their kids trick-or-treating together and discussed my case pretty much the whole time. Not a whole lot of room for subterfuge there! Here is why it’s worth it to get a second opinion:

-Immature cystic teratoma’s are very rare, they account for maybe one or two patients a year at MGH. No one is an expert on this cancer, so the more people that can brainstorm about it, the better it is for me.

-Ditto on reviewing my CT scans and pathology slides. I had a big tumor, and finding the small foci of cancer cells in it is kind of like finding a needle in a haystack. I’m really lucky the first pathologist at BIDMC caught it at all, having the pathologist and radiologist at MGH go over everything a second time is just good sense.

- I feel even more at ease. I always had complete confidence in my plan of care, but having one more really smart expert confirm it as the best treatment is just a very reassuring feeling. Even when there were small differences in opinion (deciding between three or four cycles of chemotherapy, whether or not to put in a port) I’m glad I heard both sides of the argument and can make more informed choice.

So there you have it. No doubt about it, I’m getting the bestest treatment at Beth Israel. Chemo will start on Monday, and we’ll just have to see how that goes. I still plan on wringing as much stress-free fun out of the weekend, but come Monday this will all start to get real!