r/breastcancer • u/Rachel21321 • 2d ago

Diagnosed Patient or Survivor Support Choosing Doctors

What do you think made you go w/one oncologist over the other? How many did you see?

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/PupperPawsitive +++ 2d ago

Honestly I just went with first available.

Are you trying to choose an oncologist currently?

1

u/Rachel21321 1d ago

Yes - I live in Houston so a lot of options. My gyno referred me to a breast surgeon after my biopsy and not an oncologist. It was confusing bc I thought I was seeing an oncologist. I have stage 2b, her2 negative, tumor is ~5x5cm.

The surgeon then referred me to an oncologist (I don’t get in until 9/25!) and to get an MRI but I see so many people talk about getting multiple opinions and finding someone that feels right for them. So trying to understand what makes someone prefer one doctor over the other.

1

u/PupperPawsitive +++ 1d ago edited 1d ago

Here (link at bottom) is a recent post you might find helpful; I rambled on a response at length to it.

It is normal to start with a surgeon (could be a general surgeon, breast surgeon, surgical oncologist). They basically cut the cancer out of you, and hand you to a medical oncologist and/or radiation oncologist to handle those pieces. Depending on your cancer, they’ll decide who gets dibs on you first, it might be recommended to do chemo first and surgery after for example. There might also be a plastic surgeon involved. I never knew I would have so many doctors in my life, let alone all at once!

My bottom line tip: most of these people are good, so don’t overly stress about finding “the best”, especially if your flavor of cancer is straightforward and common. However, every profession has a few bad apples & assholes. You’ve met assholes before in your life, and you know when you’re standing in a room with one. If your doctor is an asshole, leave the room and find a different one.

Some people prefer to get a second opinion no matter what, and this is perfectly valid if you do. It is like getting 2 quotes on a new roof: if they are the same, that’s probably what a roof costs, and you’ll feel better knowing. If they are very different, you suddenly have some questions.

I liked my first doctors, haven’t felt a need for a second opinion. MD Anderson has their standard treatment protocols online, I’m nowhere near Texas, but I can follow the flowchart & it tells me my doctors are doing standard by the book recommendations used by one of the top cancer hospitals in the country, and that makes me feel pretty good. Also, I stood in a room with them and just like them as people. So that ticks all the boxes I need.

https://www.reddit.com/r/breastcancer/s/YCK68ZKOuS