Porrath Foundation

With the daunting amount of information available about each disease and with more coming out even as you read this, no doctor can be expected to know all there is to know even about his or her own area of expertise. It is therefore vital that you seek a second opinion as part of your treatment research. You may feel like this will insult your doctor, but in fact, most doctors encourage second opinions because:

Doctors are humans and can make mistakes, and they know it. Doctors would rather find out they were wrong than find out you are dead.
Discovery is seeing what someone else saw and thinking something new. Someone else could see something that the first doctor didn't see.
So much new information is coming out all the time that doctors realize they can't know everything about everything, even within their cancer specialty.
Cancer is a very serious disease that grows geometrically. If it is not treated properly the first time, there may not be time to get a second chance.

Analyze findings and make decisions

No matter how many opinions you collect at each stage of the information-gathering process, in the end you have the last word. It's your body that will have to withstand the often painful and uncomfortable side effects. You know your tolerance for pain, you know how comfortable you are with taking risks, and you know how much strength you have. An advocate is a good person with whom to talk through your thoughts and feelings, but still, it's your call. "Who are you kidding? you say." "Whatever they tell me they're going to give me, I'll take. What do I know?" Well, for one, you know a lot about the quality of life you need. For example, the drug Zaloda is new and very effective in cases of metastasized breast cancer that is stubborn and doesn't respond to other treatments. It also causes numbness and skin problems in the hands and feet and other body parts that often does not go away after you stop taking the drug. There are other equally effective treatments for this problem that don't have these side effects. You can ask your doctor for all side effects of each chemotherapy he or she recommends and make a personal risk/benefit decision on what you can handle vs. its benefits.

You can have all the concrete information you've gathered in front of you, discussed your options with friends, family and advocate, but in the end, who you are and what you value plays the most important part in making your treatment decision.