Vorlon Whispers

A Brief Discussion with my Radio Oncologist

I spoke with my radio oncologist about my MRI and future for radiation therapy. She said she wanted to start the radiation therapy after my chemo is done. I asked how we know when the chemo will be over. She said at some point the just stop giving it to you. I told her I may push my oncologist on that issue.

After a little discussion she said she wants another MRI after my sixth chemo treatment and then we will schedule the radiation treatments. That will be some two months down the road.

I’m finding an interesting phenomenon. As I talk to and question my “medical team” I find the more questions I ask and the less passive I am in my discussions with them, I get different and more elaborate answers to my questions. I don’t know if they’re telling things that would happen anyway or they’re changing options as I ask questions.

I consider my job and that of the medical people I deal with very similar. We both diagnose and solve problems for our customers. One difference is I am paid by my customers whereas they are paid by a third party. But in most cases my clients have no clue as to how I do what I do. Many people, including me, have the same idea about the medical profession.

I am becoming of the opinion that when they declare my tumors dead that I have some kind of maintenance program, not just a monitoring program. Here’s my philosophy, which I got from “The Patient from Hell.”

The probability they will successfully kill every cancer cell in my body is somewhere between slim and none. Left to their own resources, in a couple of years I’ll be right back where I started from. I want to cut those suckers off at the pass.

I don’t like to lose and failure is not an option.

I keep reminding myself the three questions to ask the medical people.

1) What can happen?

2) What are the odds of that happening?

3) How do we know what can happen and how can we verify the odds of that happening?

Part of the problem I find is it’s hard to get enough time with a doctor of any kind to have a serious discussion. One is lucky to get more than 10 minutes with any medical person. Perhaps I just need to ask the doctor what his hourly rate is and then pay him his hourly rate out of pocket as the insurance will only pay him a fixed fee.

If you want extra service, you need to be ready to pay for it.

Posted by The Vorlon at December 6, 2005 6:20 PM