Second opinion from Dr D
The next day, we visited Dr D at Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital. This appointment was obtained much earlier, independent of the walk-in to consult PCU doctors.
As always, there were many patients wanting to consult her but this time it took longer than usual for her to finally see us: almost 3.5 hours after the appointed time @@. It was worthed it though, as with all previous visits.
We updated her with what had happened since the last time we consulted her. The main concern now was the pain in my dad's left leg and so we were seeking her opinion on what was the best thing to do.
She confirmed with my dad that his priority now was to treat the pain in his leg. So rare for doctors to find out from patients their priorities. Oftentimes, they simply assumed what those are. Humph!
She advised us to seek to consult GH oncologist, via PCU (since oncologist discontinued follow-up appointment, presumably because dad didn't want to do chemotherapy), and get them to coordinate with the orthopaedic oncologist to reconsider proximal femur replacement. As a reminder, this surgery was recommended by a senior specialist but overruled by his boss. We would need to point out to the oncologist that the condition of which surgery was ruled out in favour of pamidronate infusion was no longer there i.e. dad's mobility and pain had worsen. Interestingly, she said zoledronic acid was more appropriate than pamidronate for treating bone deterioration.
My sister wanted to know the cost of the surgery in private hospital. I thought that was a good question in case GH didn't want to do it. It was at this point...
Dr D: Who was the surgeon who recommended the surgery?
Me: It wasn't a surgeon. It was an orthopaedic oncologist.
Dr D: Is it Dr P?
Me: Yes!
Dr D: You can speak with him privately.
It was much later that my sister and I found out that we had the same thought: "Huh? How are we supposed to do that? Like secretly beckon Dr P to a secluded place?" Lol.
Turns out that Dr P is a visiting consultant at Adventist Hospital. Dr D helped us to obtain appointment with him and gave us a referral letter. The idea was twofold:
As always, there were many patients wanting to consult her but this time it took longer than usual for her to finally see us: almost 3.5 hours after the appointed time @@. It was worthed it though, as with all previous visits.
We updated her with what had happened since the last time we consulted her. The main concern now was the pain in my dad's left leg and so we were seeking her opinion on what was the best thing to do.
She confirmed with my dad that his priority now was to treat the pain in his leg. So rare for doctors to find out from patients their priorities. Oftentimes, they simply assumed what those are. Humph!
She advised us to seek to consult GH oncologist, via PCU (since oncologist discontinued follow-up appointment, presumably because dad didn't want to do chemotherapy), and get them to coordinate with the orthopaedic oncologist to reconsider proximal femur replacement. As a reminder, this surgery was recommended by a senior specialist but overruled by his boss. We would need to point out to the oncologist that the condition of which surgery was ruled out in favour of pamidronate infusion was no longer there i.e. dad's mobility and pain had worsen. Interestingly, she said zoledronic acid was more appropriate than pamidronate for treating bone deterioration.
My sister wanted to know the cost of the surgery in private hospital. I thought that was a good question in case GH didn't want to do it. It was at this point...
Dr D: Who was the surgeon who recommended the surgery?
Me: It wasn't a surgeon. It was an orthopaedic oncologist.
Dr D: Is it Dr P?
Me: Yes!
Dr D: You can speak with him privately.
It was much later that my sister and I found out that we had the same thought: "Huh? How are we supposed to do that? Like secretly beckon Dr P to a secluded place?" Lol.
Turns out that Dr P is a visiting consultant at Adventist Hospital. Dr D helped us to obtain appointment with him and gave us a referral letter. The idea was twofold:
- Determine whether he still recommends the surgery. If yes, then we pursues this option at GH. If not, no point.
- Cost of surgery at private hospital.
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