My son is on R-CHOP, an acronym for five different drugs. One of them has a lifetime limit that he has take 2/3rds of it.
all I know it is difficult enough to make good decisions on treatments without having a judge and social services breathing down your neck to do it their way. I know from the several oncologists we have spoken with that there is a vast difference in their expertise and manner they approach treating the cancer.
This is the third time in the last four years I've dealt with that have had cancer. One of those oncologists in my opinion was very incompetent. What happens if this young man is dealing with someone who was towards the bottom of his class, so to speak?
I agree, its extremely difficult to deal with making medical deciisions all on its own, having a judge and social services breathing down your neck, is only adding more horror, to what the parents and their 16 yr old son are going through...
I would agree, there can be a great range of ways in which different oncolgists approach different patients and different cancers...if one is dissatisfied with their oncologist, then they need to find another one...
My husband has always been very demanding on any doctor we go to, for whatever reason, whether a small medical problem, or a major problem, and all the doctors that we have worked with know this about him...believe it or not, my husband actually conducts what I can only call in interrogation of prospective doctors...he tells them ahead of time, he is going to do this, so they are forewarned...he wants to know where they went to high school, where did they place in high school, where did they go to college, what was their GPA in college, what medical school did they attend, and where did they do their internship and residency, and what were the recommendations made about them concerning their competence...he also wants to know how long they have been practicing and where they practiced before hand, and why did they leave any places where they might have practiced in the past...actually, when he forewarns them of this, they are all, except for one, actually answered every one of his questions...
We know all these facts about any doctor we have dealt with for any medical problem...if a doctor wont answer the questions we dont deal with them...good, honest, competent doctors will be glad to answer these questions...
I know this does not guarantee that we will receive excellent medical care, but its a start...and from that start, we watch the docs like a hawk...patients are consumers, and are entitled to have all the facts, for ones health is of great importance...