Posted 2/8/2015 2:38 PM (GMT -5)
(I think your post needs a title - and is continued from elsewhere.)
It seems really clear to me. If you want to learn about surgery, see a surgeon. If you want to learn about medical treatments for advanced disease, see a medical oncologist. If you want to learn about curative or palliative radiation therapists, see a radiation oncologist. In our age of specialization, you have to see a specialist. It would be unreasonable to assume that, say, a medical oncologist knows diddlysquat about radiation oncology, etc. Why would you even ask?
In your case, you are wondering if salvage radiation can cure you. You were told by an eminent radiation oncologist that based on your numbers, you have a 70% chance of cure. He would know - he does it for a living. The others would not know - they don't do radiation oncology. The only danger is if a doctor inflates the odds, but, knowing your doctor, he is the least likely person to do that. He tends to be overly conservative in his estimates, as I think he will admit.
One of the problems with forums like these is that we see others going to see different doctors for different situations, and we may not immediately distinguish whether their case is really applicable to our case. Sometimes lots of us mention doctor's names, and sometimes they publicize themselves really well, creating a "jump on the bandwagon" kind of fervor. It may sound good to have a "team of doctors," but that is seldom how it works in the real world, and may cause more problems than it creates - conflicting protocols do no one a service.
- Allen