Opinions

[PinkGirl]

When you talk about getting second and third opinions, are you
talking about newly diagnosed people? I've noticed that there are
many, many of us who received basically the same treatments....
AC, a Taxane, a year of Herceptin, radiation and then a medication
for the estrogen receptor +'s. Why would we seek a second opinion if the treatment is somewhat standard? I know there are exceptions but an awful lot of us had quite similar treatments.

I also wonder about the name-dropping of the well known oncologists at places like Dana Farber, Sloan Kettering, John Hopkins, MD Anderson etc. Do these doctors keep everything a secret? Do they share with other "common" oncologists? There are lots of posts about having an oncologist who is considered to be one of the best in some area of the country. It makes me wonder how I ended up getting the same treatments while living amongst the trees, bears and blueberries.

I think there might be a false sense of security that comes from seeing the big-name oncologists. If we all got a year of Herceptin, does it matter if we got it from Dennis Slamon or from Dr. Whoever?

Anyway, I'm a bit confused about the second and third opinions, but I understand wanting to have an oncologist who "feels right".