gyno/onc

Well I called the nearest gyno/onc. It is over 4 hours away and I have to have a referrel from my doc.
But the thing is it has been 2 weeks since I was told that he wanted to open me up and look. I have yet to hear from them about my surgery date. Seems they only have one person to schedule the surgeries and she was sick. Now she is back but the doc's wife just had a baby. I am so afraid. I know that the word cancer doesn't always mean life threatening. But my hyster was due to cervical cancer. And now I am so worried that he was wrong and that it did spread to the lymph system. I can't sleep, eating more that half a meal makes me ill to my stomach. Sitting hurts, walking hurts. I can't clean. I am going crazy. And I have been calling my doc office everyday since last Wednesday and still no word. Should I request a referrel to the gyno/onc or should I just continue to wait. It is so hard not to break down with the worry because I have 2 young girls and a hubby who can't handle me being ill in any way. He totally freaks. I just want to break down crying. I told him to do the surgery because I didn't want to play the waiting game.

I'm a little confused...which doc are you waiting to hear from--the one that has to give you the referral or the gyne/onco. And which one wanted to open you up? And why? I probibly missed this info on another thread...

It is just a regular gyno that wants to open me up. And that is the doc I am waiting to hear from. He is the one that just had a baby and also told me that there is a possiblity that it is cancer. I found a gyno/ocn but it is in Birmingham and that is almost 4 hours away. He seemed really gun-** about the surgery happening as soon as possible. But like I said it has been 2 weeks since I have heard anything. When my hyster was done the onc that did my path report on my uterus was a dermatolgist/ onc. My new doc wanted to open me up because of a "nasty" ultrasound. I am not sure what the grade of the ultrasound. But he did tell me that he talked with several techs that read them and they all said it was really bad. I know that ultrasounds have trouble being accurate that if there is gas in the bowels but would that come into affect if the ultrasound was vaginal one?

I would ask the nurses at your docs office if they can get his authorization to call in a referral to the gyne/onco.

Truely, when dealing with a gyne cancer (or any cancer) you want an onco on board. They are trained in this field for a reason--they can pick up on things the untrained eye may overlook. They also have a better sense of what IS cancer rather than what "may be" cancer.

Definately get yourself to a gyn onc, they are the best at what they do. Your regular gyno has no business doing the surgery if he suspects cancer. Has anyone confirmed that it is cancer? Has a pap been done or a cervical biopsy? These are very important in determining whether you need surgery for cancer. Also, a gyn onc can tell from an exam, if it is cancer, what stage your in. Also, extremely important before doing surgery.

On a brighter note, cercvical cancer is usually very slow growing and a couple of weeks probably isn't hurting anything. I spent 2 months from diagnosis to surgery because I wanted to do as much research about my options as I could, and my gyn onc was okay with that. He set a deadline but knew that I couldn't move forward without all of the info I needed. I started with a stage 1b1 and when I got the final word after surgery, it was the same.

Please, move forward with this and get yourself to the proper doctor, it is extremely important that a specialist handle this. I know it's a long drive, but your health and well-being are more important. There are gyn onc locally for me, but I didn't like either one that I was referred to, so I did some research and found one that I think is an absolute genius and angel, but he is over an hour away. I will gladly make the drive as often and for as long as need be because I trust him so much.

Good luck and let us know where you end up with all of this.

Jasmine

I am sorry maybe I said it wrong. My hyster was for cervical cancer. That was 2 years ago. Now he is saying that I may have cancer in or around the ovaries.

Taylea,
I also recommend getting to the gyn/onc. They have much more training and experience in diagnosing, surgery and treating of all gyn cancers. I am very thankful that none of the Dr.'s at my home clinic wanted to do my surgery. My Family Practice Dr., the general surgeon and the gyn at my clinic said no way, get her to a gyn/onc. You see, on my ultrasound and CT scan, they did not like the way the mass looked and they felt if it should be cancer, that a specialist should be doing the surgery. I am so thankful that they insisted as it did turn out to be ovarian cancer and I had the surgery that is needed for removing as much of the cancer as possible.

s
Jane

That makes much more sense. I was getting a little nervous for you that they wanted to just open you up without a proper diagnosis. Of course, with the ovaries, they need to see it or take it out. But definately, get to the gyn oncologist. As you know, they are much better at this because they see it everyday and will know what to do once they do get in there.

Good luck to you with everything.

I really respect my regular gyn when she refers me to the gyn/onc. Although the regular gyn is the one I know best and really like, as she put it, if she was in my shoes, she'd be going to the oncologist. It's good when a doctor knows his/her expertise, and knows when to refer elsewhere.