An anxious young man sits quietly in his doctor’s office waiting to hear the diagnosis. “It's prostate cancer”says the doctor. “But I’ve been healthy all my life. How could this be? Are you absolutely sure? Is it possible for the tests to be wrong?” the patient replies. Some would seek to reassure him the tests are correct and just accept it. Others would say “your questions and fears are valid and you should seek a second opinion.” What would you do?
At this point, please stop and read the following article enumerating important information in guiding the thinking when deciding whether to seek a second opinion.
When to Get a Second Opinion
Getting a second opinion means that you see two separate doctors about the same set of symptoms. The doctors can be in the same field or specialize in different areas. This can happen at either the diagnostic or treatment stage of an illness. Second opinions particularly come into play when your problem is gynecological. Often, your doctor will want you to see one of his or her associates or a specialist to confirm a diagnosis or a particular treatment approach; this is known as a referral or a consultation. Usually, if a family practitioner finds something suspicious in a pelvic exam or wants to investigate symptoms of an irregular menstrual cycle, you'll be referred to a gynecologist (one of your own choosing) or someone your family doctor trusts. Sometimes it is you who requests a referral to another specialist to seek an alternate diagnosis or approach to treatment. In the Unitied States
, many insurance companies require second opinions before they'll cover a procedure.
When it comes to gynecology, second opinions can be tricky. First, doctors weigh a variety of factors in determining the best treatment. Take, for example, a thirty-eight-year-old woman with four children, who has symptomatic fibroid tumors. She may be treated differently by two gynecologists. One may recommend a "watch and wait" plan to see if the fibroids get worse with time. He or she may feel this is preferable to subjecting this woman to a hysterectomy, even though she already has four children. The other gynecologist may feel that a hysterectomy will correct the problem faster, and delaying the operation is simply prolonging the woman's suffering. In both cases, the suggested course of treatment may be correct, even though they're completely different plans of action for the same problem.
A second opinion is a good idea if you have any reservations about a particular course of treatment.
General Guidelines for Seeking a Second Opinion
It's difficult to know whether you're justified in getting a second opinion. Just because you don't like the sound of your diagnosis doesn't mean you require another opinion. Let's say your doctor suspects you have endometriosis and wants to perform a laparoscopy to confirm his or her suspicions. You might not like the sound of this and decide to see a holistic doctor or a herbalist instead. The holistic doctor may tell you that you're under stress and need to rest and take various herbal vitamin pills. This is a much more soothing diagnosis, but the first doctor is the one who is right.
The following guidelines should help you decide whether a second opinion is warranted. If you answer yes to even one of the questions below, you're probably justified in seeking a second opinion.
1. Is the diagnosis uncertain? If your doctor can't find out what's wrong or isn't sure whether he or she is correct, you have every right to go elsewhere.
2. Is the diagnosis life-threatening? In this case, hearing the same news from someone else may help you better cope with your illness, or come to terms with the diagnosis. Diagnoses like cancer, however, usually won't change; the diagnosis is based on carefully analyzed test results, not just symptoms.
3. Is the treatment controversial, experimental, or risky? You might not question the diagnosis, but you might have problems with the recommended treatment. For example, if you're not comfortable with surgery, perhaps another doctor can recommend a different approach, such as hormonal therapy.
4. Is the treatment not working? If you're not getting better, maybe the wrong diagnosis was made, or the treatment recommended is just not for you. Hormone therapy often doesn't work, and surgery might be the best approach after all. Seeking a second opinion may help to clear up the problem.
5. Are risky tests or procedures being recommended? If you don't like the sound of laparoscopy, hearing it from another doctor might make you accept the procedure more readily. Or, you may find out that a laparoscopy is premature and isn't necessary after all. Find out if there are alternate procedures that can confirm the same results.
6. Do you want another approach? An eighty-year-old woman with heart disease and high blood pressure might be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. She'll probably die from heart disease or a stroke before she dies from breast cancer, which tends to grow slowly in the elderly. As a result, her doctor may decide that she's too frail for surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy, and opt to leave her alone. The woman's children may find this approach unacceptable and demand that her breast cancer be treated.
7. Is the doctor competent? When I asked my gynecologist if radioactive iodine (used for treating various thyroid disorders) would conflict with oral contraceptives, his response was, "What's radioactive iodine?" I left and never went back. Basically, if your doctor doesn't seem to know much about other health problems you have and doesn't bother to find out, find another doctor! Or, if you only suspect your doctor is deceiving you, find another doctor either to reaffirm your faith in him or her or to confirm your original suspicions.
"Copyright © 1999 by
M. Sara Rosenthal. From The Gynecological Sourcebook, by arrangement with The NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc."
WebMD Medical Reference from "The Gynecological Sourcebook"
Remember, the young man we spoke about in the beginning? He did indeed seek a second opinion, not only on the diagnosis but treatment options as well. They did not change, nevertheless he was better prepared to come to grips with the diagnosis. Happily, he opted for the treatment with the highest success rate and is living gratefully for each and every day.
Study Information to Reduce Your Risk of Prostate Cancer…
TIME magazine – online edition - 10 Foods That Pack A Wallop
Tomatoes
You can start by passing the ketchup. Several studies have linked the cooked tomatoes in ketchup, soups and sauces to a reduced risk of prostate cancer and other cancers of the digestive tract. Tomatoes contain lycopene, probably the most powerful antioxidant among the carotenoids, the compounds that turn fruits and veggies deep orange. It is so good at mopping up free radicals that Lycopene outperforms the best-known carotenoid of them all, beta-carotene. It is readily released from tomatoes by cooking and — good news for pizza lovers — it's most easily absorbed when a small amount of oil is added. Like your tomatoes raw? That's good too. They can be a valuable source of vitamin C.
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