Difficulties With Getting A Second Opinion

I appreciate the comments that unanimously urge me to get a second opinion. It's not just comments here, it's in emails and personal conversations. There are problems.

The first problem is that my surgeon (Wichita Clinic) has no experience with bypassing radiation in a case like mine. He's never seen that in his medical practice, which might be totally in this area. He has no financial interest and recommends the radiation.

My oncology group is affiliated with St. Francis. My radiation oncologist is affiliated with Wesley. That's a major chunk of all medical practice in Wichita. It's probably about all that work on my situation. I'm skeptical of finding anyone in Wichita who would disagree with the recommendations I've received. I doubt there are any local specialists who didn't either teach the doctors I'm dealing with, or were taught by the doctors I'm dealing with. The chances of a local and disagreeing second opinion are slim.

The second problem is timing. One thing that's never in question is that if there is radiation after surgery, the time interval between the surgery and the radiation is important to survival rates. I'm upset that I'm only getting the information about the permanence of some side effects at the eleventh hour, but it is the eleventh hour.

I'm likely to have to go out of town to get an opinion different than I'm getting. If the time to do that would delay the beginning of treatment, and treatment was recommended, all I accomplish is to reduce my survival numbers. If I get a second opinion and it disagrees with the local recommendation, then I have to decide which option I want to pursue.

I have arranged access to some medical research regarding my situation that goes way beyond what I can find on my own. It's from a source that is considered "gospel" in the medical community. It is more information than my surgeon had when he described what would happen. It is probably more current research than my radiation oncologist relies on. He has reminded me repeatedly of his 20-some years of experience.

I ran into someone I trust who has access to a huge medical research database that is a pretty pricey subscription. It's a research database that doctors normally consult for research and information from studies that affect their cases. If there is a basis for a second opinion that differs from what I've got, I'll know about it.

The company I work for has another division that owns that database.