To: Chrisy :-)

[jojo]

Hi Chrisy,

If I'm not mistaken, you have 2 onc's; the 2nd one being Dr Rugo as a 2nd opinion. Is she aware of that? Is she even a "full-time" 2nd opinion for you? I'm just curious, as to why you'd have 2 onc's.

[chrisy]

Hi Jojo
Hmmmm....just lucky I guess!

I was sent to Dr. Rugo for 2nd opinion in 2004, and decided I wanted her to guide my treatment. I was treated and "owned" by my local oncologist, who is terrific, and continued to see Dr. Rugo a few times a year (usually after a scan!) for follow up. Yes, they both "knew" so I never felt the least bit adulterous! lol.

I actually AM very lucky; they were willing to work in concert - this is not always the case, unfortunately. I loved this arrangement because my local onc was able to monitor me much more closely and the office was much more personl (and a 10 minute drive!). But I also had access to a top doc on the cutting edge in research.

In April after the cancer recurred, I entered a clinical trial that is run at UCSF by Dr. Rugo, so at least for now, my squad of experts is in an a role reversal - with Rugo as my "treating" oncologist and I see my local oncologist just to keep him in the loop so he doesn't forget me!

My impression is that it's pretty common to get the 2nd opinion, less common to do continued periodic follow up as I did - but I wanted to keep my toe in the door there, which turned out to be a good decision for me.

Or maybe I'm just high maintenance...

[jojo]

I think I get it... thanks much for taking your time to explain your rather unique situation.

A lot of best luck to you, plus the trial! :-)

[Adriana Mangus]

Dear Chrissy:

So good to hear your toe did did not get smashed by the door. uh?

[vickie h]

Hi Crisy, I also have two Oncs, a main Onc and another Onc closer by that deals mostly with my Iodine levels, hormones,blood work and chemo, if needed, etc. They work together and it has been marvelous. When I had my week of of NAVELBINE off, my 2nd Onc would give me my herceptin so I didn't have to drive to LA. They are both women and I absolutely love them. I wish everyone could have 2 Oncs looking after them. In my case, I drive 180 miles each way to Santa Monica to see Dr. Chap (an affiliate of Dr. Slamon's- they are one block apart and worked on Herceptin, Avastin, etc together)) and only 90 miles to Santa Barbara to see Dr. Julie Taguchi. I couldn't be more blessed. Love, Vickie

[chrisy]

Sounds like you need a helicopter! I'll stop whining about my 75 mi one way to SF! Although I did have a major problem yesterday...as I disclosed a while back in one of those TMI messages, I have to be, um, near a bathroom like clockwork a certain time after I take the Tykerb. Which works out swell on my way to UCSF as there is a BEAUTIFUL rest area located in JUST the right location!

Except....umm....when they CLOSE it as they did yesterday!!!!! It didn't help that my hubby was with me this time and all he could say was "well, you need to know where more bathrooms are!"

[Sheila]

Chrisy
I can see that Tykerb and Rush hour traffic or long drives could be a problem, and with all the urban growth, its not like you can just pull over, hop out and find a field or patch of corn....oh the midwest has some advantages!