U of M

I went to the University of Michigan cancer center for a second opinion. I felt that it was a complete waste of my time. I had to arrive at 8:30am and was taken into the breast imaging waiting area. I sat in the waiting area (in a gown 3 sizes too large) for hours. I was called in once only so they could tell me that they were having trouble downloading my imaging from the other hospital and it would be a bit of a wait. Then I got called in for a mammogram. Then they had to repeat the mammogram. More waiting… Then they were going to do an ultrasound and I was interrogated by the radiologist.

Radiologist: What did they tell you the next steps would be?

Me: My doctors said I needed to come here for a second opinion.

Radiologist: But what did they tell you about what you need to do next?

Me: They told me to come here for a second opinion on how to proceed.

THEN they realized I no longer have lymph nodes in my left armpit to ultrasound. Radiologist left in a huff.

I was then allowed to dress and since it was almost noon I was hoping for lunch. No. Next I had to put on another gown and meet with a nurse practitioner. Then we grabbed a quick lunch in time to hear a nurse navigator talk about absolutely nothing. After that I went to wait to be called for my appointment with a doctor.

They use a multidisciplinary team approach to decide on treatments. So a group of doctors was supposed to be going over my case, reviewing my imaging and pathology slides, etc. The nurses called it the “tumor board”.

We waited in the exam room for almost 3 hours (I was in yet another XL gown). The doctor came in, sat on the stool and wheeled herself right up almost knee to knee with me and told me my cancer is “incurable”. It's amazing that one word can completely suck hope out of a room. After that I kind of went into a rage. I saw red. I had thoughts of just getting up and walking out but I was in a gown. She then proceeded to draw a picture about the ovaries and hormone production. My tumor was estrogen positive which means it uses the hormone to grow. I will need to have my ovaries removed to stop the production of estrogen. The adrenal gland also produces a form of estrogen so after I have my ovaries removed I will take medication to inhibit the formation of estrogen. Then I will need periodic scans and bloodwork. It is considered stage IV because of the positive lymph node in my right armpit. Normally, stage IV means the cancer has spread to other organs like the liver or lungs. The doctor said it can be considered to be in remission but there is “no cure in 2013".