Yes and no. Doctors are like everyone else - some are very efficient and others are procrastinators. Realistically though, a complete diagnostic work up with all of the different scans, blood work, hearing tests, baseline TSH test, creatinine clearance, pathology and radiology readings, RT treatment plan programming, mask creation and simulation, etc. can take over a month. In the scheme of things that's pretty typical and shouldn't have any significant difference in the outcome. In other words, a one month delay shouldn't affect the staging. Everyones treatment plan is custom made. They can't jump the gun on this - all the pieces must be in place before Tx can begin. Cheryl is correct, however, that it doesn't hurt to be a proactive advocate. The 2 institutions where I was treated fast tracked me on everything and it still took over a month before treatment started and I was Dx'd prior to Thanksgiving.

Another thing to consider is you will be stunned when treatment actually starts with the amount of people in the infusion unit, RT unit, etc. It's a logistical nightmare. Many institutions run the RT machines 2 shifts and occasionally they break - screwing up all of the scheduling. It's a lot like being in a stockyard!

You are correct that the MO, who typically coordinates everything, including your team, and takes care of medications, orders scans, pain relief, etc., should be your primary point of contact.