I have a question for you all out there. Who is your primary physician through all this? Is is the onclogist? Lung doctor? General MD? I'm not always sure who to contact with my symptoms.
Thanks for any input.
I have a question for you all out there. Who is your primary physician through all this? Is is the onclogist? Lung doctor? General MD? I'm not always sure who to contact with my symptoms.
Thanks for any input.
That's a good ? and one I asked my onc. When I went into hospital in June, my onc was not on call. I had 3 doctors tell me after a couple days I could go home (on call onc included) and a pulmonoligist that happened to be on call did everything she could to keep me there. I asked him what the chain of command was on my next appt. He said it was normally the hospital physician they assign to you. He didn't even know I was in the hospital. Needless to say I was less than happy. Other than that he said to contact Family doc for things that appear to be minor. I was referring to a problem I'd had in the past. He said sometimes they get a lil upset if they are left totally out of the loop.
I consider my family doctor, the one I had before cancer, as my primary. I have gotten the very definite impression that my onc deals ONLY with my cancer. About 2 months ago I had a cough that seemed to be lingering longer than I thought it should. I called my Onc and they said to call my family doctor! So I did, and he saw me within an hour ( God bless him, his wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer around the same time as I was diagnosed with lung cancer and she died last year. ) and he did a chest x ray and said that it looked good , don't worry. Anyway, my point is that it seems the Onc only wants to deal with direct problems with cancer and chemo. I have all the reports, labs, scans etc sent to my primary as well as the ordering Physician......the "specialists" only get copies of what they order. So at least my primary has some idea of all that is happening to me. Starting 3 weeks ago I have a cardiologist as well as pulmonologist, oncologist, general surgeon and thoracic surgeon. Hard to believe that just 2 years ago I remember telling my primary how lucky I felt since I was one of the few people I knew my age ( 48 at the time) who wasn't on meds or being treated for something. I think I jinxed myself !! I just realized I am rambling, must be that chemo brain LOL.
The Oncologist is the one who orchestrates everything so he/she is your primary cancer doctor (if that's what you mean).
actually, you should have a team. the onc is the ring-leader of the orchestra. you should also have a pulmonary doc, a radiation onc, a family doc, and possibly a few more (neurologist, rheumatologist, hematologist, dentist, opthamologist, etc) running loose. unless the onc says otherwise, he/she is the general of the war, and will tell you when it's appropriate to see the rest of them.
one reason this is important is that the onc is weilding the big medical guns right now, and needs to make sure none of your other medicines will adversely affect your chemo (that would be horrid, now, wouldn't it?)
confusing, isn't it?
I have a team too - but I generally go to my Onc and he tells me if I need to go to someone else.....it is very confusing I afmit!
Karen
I think it might depend on each individual's case. In my mom's case, her pulmonary doctor has become her primary. He is the one who diagnosed her and has been with her every step of the way. Her oncologist had the say in her actual cancer treatments and if there was a question or side-effect relating to her treatment we would contact him, but for anything else we would contact the pulmonary doctor. Fortunately, in her case, the two doctors would always work together and confer with each other. Her family physician hasn't been in the picture.
Liz
My primary care physician is definitely my coordinator of care. He and my oncologist happen to be friends, so that is a good thing. But my PCP has moved things along when the oncologist lagged -- like getting my bone met diagnosed after I broke a rib from a very minor incident. When my second opinion differed from my first, the PCP guided me.
Gretchen
I found that I got much better care when I would involve my PCP. He would get me in to see them. He was my calm in the storm. He would go over what everyone else were doing to me and if he seemed to be curious about anything he could get answers a lot easier than I ever did. So It worked for me. Just like the whole cancer thing everybody is different.- John
I would definitely run ANYTHING by your oncologist, or onc nurse. I find that the nurses are excellent to speak with, and my mom has found them very helpful. Cancer is nothing to fool around with, and if your primary is smart I think he/she would be referring you to your onc first just to run any symptoms of anything by them. Your oncologist may not be readily available, but see if he/she has an email address as well so you can keep in touch with them with any questions.
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