Father in late 60’s, stage 4, 7cm tumor

An important tip I got after my wife’s diagnosis in April was to create a personal copy of all of her medical records.

I would recommend you (or have your dad) request a physical copy of all of his reports and lab results. Most importantly, you want to get a copy of his scan images (CT, Pet or whatever) on CD disks. Whereever he got the scans are usually set up to provide these disks.

In my experience, armed with this information, you can quickly get a second opinion from most doctors and hospitals. You do have to contact them directly and send them a copy of the information, but every doctor I have contacted has been very willing to spend a few minutes talking and has been willing to take a quick look at the scans.

If you don’t have a personal copy of this information, a second opinion requires the hospitals to exchange information. This process can be much slower, and often starts with a formal referral request. At that point, two hospital beauracracies and your insurance company become involved which can add lots of time to the process.

I am not sure how often you will seek a second opinion about some aspect of your dad’s care, but my experience has been that the “get a copy of all your records” tip has been hugely helpful.

Jason

Wow, I just thought of the other place!
The University of Washington Medical Center Seattle, Washington, http://www.uwmedicine.org , medical records, scans, lab results, etc., may be mailed to other cancer centers for evaluation. Again, helpful members on this site may come up with the names of more. In the meantime you can start gathering any of the Medical Information above. Take a deep breath now, put on the boxing gloves your fight begins now. Oh, BTW we do not listen to time frames re: life, we were not born with expiration dates stamped on our feet.

I do have one suggestion until we get a few more members on here:

Swedish Medical Center – Seattle Hospital

http://www.swedish.org/

Swedish is the largest nonprofit health-care provider in the Greater Seattle area.

500 17th Ave Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 320-2000

I remember we do have a couple of Members who went there and I know some more will come forward tomorrow with more suggestions. Hang on and hang in!

mannaribbit…..I too would like to welcome you to our site. I am glad that you have found us. Personally I find it important to educate yourself as much as possible about this disease. Doctors are able to give general time frames however; individuals vary in their responses to treatments hence, at this point, no one can say as to how long your Dad will live with this disease. Much information can be found on this site. It will help you learn about this disease and communicate with those sharing their personal experiences with you. And, as Lainy has mentioned, supporting your Dad’s decisions if indeed he makes educated decisions.
I agree with Lainy, a second or third consultation with a specialist is in order. You would want to look for a center/physician treating a high volume of CC patients. Generally you will find that in major cancer centers. I assume that your Dad has someone advocating for him and tending to his needs. The chemotherapy treatments he is planned to undergo will have side effects hence, you might want to look up the drugs and what possibly is to expect. Somehow I always prepared myself for the worst and then was happy not having to act on it. You too will find your path.
Others will come around real soon and share their thoughts with you. In the meantime don’t hesitate from asking questions – we are here to help each other.
Hugs,
Marion