Thorough - or lying by ommission?

OK, entirely unsurprisingly my tongue biopsy proved positive and on Thursday I was told "very small", TNM "zero" so far. "Best guess, surgery..." This, despite requested further tests (presumably re spreading), I found relatively encouraging. Yesterday a head/throat MRI - again, understandable and logical further check. I was also referred for a CT scan - booked for Monday. I suppose I should have asked "of where?" but I didn't. Have now received CT details through the post - "thorax, abdomen and pelvis". I can only assume that for reasons undisclosed to me there is something that strongly suggests that the sprerad is extensive and that tongue presumably a secondary not primary site. I really think I should have been told this on Thursday. 

I am not prepared to fight a losing battle on so many fronts! I need as much time as possible to put my affairs in order, buy my unwell wife a more suitable house and arrange my own death. I thought frankness and clarity supposed to be norm these days - clearly not. The man seems to have bottled out of imparting the harsh reality. How he could have thought that this in THIS patient's best interests beyond me. 

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  • Hi dj48.

    It is very easy to assume that because test XYZ has been ordered, the doctor "thinks" I have cancer, or thinks it's worse than they've said.  It goes along with these others: The doctor/nurse said nothing or gave me a funny look, therefore he/she thinks I've got cancer. Or the radiographer was very quiet after the scan, he/she must have seen something bad on the screen. 

    Well, those of us who've been throught this mill a couple of times know better.  There are guidelines that doctors follow, and generally those guidelines include the ordering of certain tests as a matter of standard procedure. You quite rightly state that the MRI check is a "logical" step.  Well, a CT is much faster than an MRI and hence can check a larger volume of the body in a shorter time. It's not a question of the doctors "thinking" your cancer has spread, it's simply the doctors want to make sure that nothing has been missed.

    I doubt very much that they expect to find anything nasty with the CT, but they can't just assume that it's not there.

    So, I suggest you put your funeral plans on hold for now :)

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  • Hi dj48.

    It is very easy to assume that because test XYZ has been ordered, the doctor "thinks" I have cancer, or thinks it's worse than they've said.  It goes along with these others: The doctor/nurse said nothing or gave me a funny look, therefore he/she thinks I've got cancer. Or the radiographer was very quiet after the scan, he/she must have seen something bad on the screen. 

    Well, those of us who've been throught this mill a couple of times know better.  There are guidelines that doctors follow, and generally those guidelines include the ordering of certain tests as a matter of standard procedure. You quite rightly state that the MRI check is a "logical" step.  Well, a CT is much faster than an MRI and hence can check a larger volume of the body in a shorter time. It's not a question of the doctors "thinking" your cancer has spread, it's simply the doctors want to make sure that nothing has been missed.

    I doubt very much that they expect to find anything nasty with the CT, but they can't just assume that it's not there.

    So, I suggest you put your funeral plans on hold for now :)

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