Today I had to go see my new oncologist. Which wasn’t nerve-wracking as I had already got the ALL CLEAR good news results just after my most recent PET scan a couple of weeks ago. Some of you may recall that a few years ago my then oncologist totally misread my results and told me I only had a year to live. The asshat hadn’t even seen the biopsy report, she just handed out a death sentence. After that I started seeing the sub-director of Oncology, and that was great. I could talk to her, she got things done, and all tests went smoothly. Until she got cancer!
And so last year I was told that after this year’s PET scan I would be transferred back to my original oncology group. Well, okay. Except I walked into the office this afternoon and I swear there were two 14-year-olds sitting there. And their idea was that I should have a CT scan in 6 months and, if that went well, I would continue with annual CT scans. WTF? I told them that last year (after reaching the five year cancer free point) I’d been told I would be having PET-CT scans anually, and they said “BY WHO?”… honestly, they couldn’t have been more unprofessional (caught one of them giggling at me as I was getting up to leave). Anyhow, we have left it that they would get in touch with Nuclear Medicine and sort out the next step of my future scans. Meanwhile, I’d rather be getting the PET-CT scans, wouldn’t you?
casa azahar 
Snotty medical personnel are among my hottest buttons. You are the expert on your care right now and I say dig in your heels.
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Honestly, they were even worse than the death-sentence one. I never want to see them again.
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Stand your ground and scream if you have to. Obviously your case has gotten shunted off to some residents (welcome to austerity medicine). Not all cancers are alike, and you were lucky enough to have overcome a bad one. Common sense would indicate that you should be getting high-level screening. I had to yell at a doctor to take my blood pressure a couple of years back. I could tell something was wrong. She refused (“that’s a nurse’s job…” “There’s no blood pressure cuff in the office, I’d have to go and get one”…this from a cardiologist, albeit a very very young one). In the end, my BP was 180 over 100!! And THEN she insisted tht “it’s high because you just got yourself worked up over nothing”.” The next day I went to my local ambulatorio, my médico de cabecera did my BP and it was 200 over 100!! They immediately gave me nitroglycerine and watched me for an hour, and sent me home with new meds. If I hadn’t insisted….
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That was how I almost died! Bloody private hospital refused to do a scan, telling me I just had gas when I actually had a tumour about to burst through my gut. Scary, isn’t it?
Anyhow, last night I sent a text message to the former head of Nuclear Medicine (and my friend). He has told me not to worry about the “baby oncologists”, that he would discuss this with the present head of NM because he personally thinks I should be continuing with PETs. Phew!
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Glad to hear you’ve got someone on your side. We need you!
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