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Re: Differing Opinions Between Surgical Oncologist and Medical Oncologist–Who to Beli
I went to the hospital yesterday for my second dose of Taxol, and spoke to my nurse practitioner while there. I mentioned my conversion with the surgeon, and she advised me that he was correct that they don't know for sure that the dots on my lungs are cancerous, however, they are treating me based on the assumption that they are. I took a blood test called CEA, which determines the tumour markers in a body. I have not taken this blood test before, because it does not detect breast cancer, however, it does show tumour markers that have spread. It takes three days to get these test results, so I won't know the results until my next treatment in two weeks. She told me that markers of 0 to 4 are normal, and anything above 4 indicates cancer. As I have never had this test before, they will use these test results to determine if the Perjeta/Herceptin/Taxol combination is working for me. If the markers go down when I'm tested again next month, that means it's working. If they don't go down, that indicates that the treatment may not be working, and they will then send me for a further CT scan. I also asked about getting a PET scan, but my nurse practitioner told me that I don’t meet the qualifications for a PET scan. It seems that our health care will only pay for it if you meet certain qualifications. I mentioned paying for it myself, but she said I don’t really need one right now, and that she doesn’t know if they would allow it even if I did. I won’t push it for now, but if the Perjeta doesn’t seem to be working, and I feel like I need one, I’ll push for it. The nurse practitioner also told me that she has another patient who had a over 100 treatments of Perjeta, and that it's still working for that patient. Let's hope it does the same for me!
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