How did your doctor tell you the results of your biopsy? I would be interested in hearing from people who had either good or bad experiences.

The whole experience of my first biopsy was pretty bad. The doctor had two PAs who missed their calling making horror films. I ran out of his office and didn't go back. I asked around and eventually made an appointment with another doctor who ended up doing a partial glossectomy. The second biopsy experience was better but still not what I would have hoped.

My husband recently had a biopsy for suspected colon cancer. We were very happy to find out that he did not have cancer but apparently doctors aren't any better at delivering good news than they are at delivering bad news.

I would like to give my doctor some tips on delivering biopsy results. Has anyone had a GOOD experience? Does anyone have a doctor who is GOOD at delivering BAD news???

I had a FNA by an ENT which was the 4th doctor I had been to. He told me that he would put a rush on it implying he had "connections". Eleven days later, after about 10 phone calls on my part and 2 weekends I got a phone call from his nurse who said the doc wanted to see me at 3pm that day which was rainy Monday. I knew that was bad because his office closed at 2pm.

I arrived early and didn't get to see him until 3:30. I was sitting in his exam chair and he was sitting on this little stool. Please understand that I was a health and exercise nut and had never been sick a day in my life other than a yearly cold. He proceeded to tell me that I had a Stage IV cancer in my lymph nodes and that he was going to do a radical neck dissection where he would cut me from my ear to my shoulder and take out all my lymph nodes, nerves, muscle and veins. My neck would be sunken in and my skin would be hard and to make his point he knocked his knuckles on his desk to make a descriptive THUD sound. He continued to say that my shoulder would droop and my neck would hurt for the rest of my life. He said THEN he was going to give me chemo and 7 weeks of radiation. To top it off he said after all of that he only gave me a 50 to 60 % chance of surviving 5 years. All of this took less than 2 minutes time.

About that time I felt my face get real hot starting from my shoulders and it moved up my face really fast. The next thing I remember is waking up to hear him say, "you fainted". I started to ask a million questions and he finally said, "so I gather you want to get another opinion." I said to myself...YOU THINK!!!

Even though I call him Dr Death to this day, he was the one that got me in to see his friend (Chief of Oral Surgery) at Moffitt the very next day and the rest is history. So I kinda of love him and hate him at the same time.

Mine was a phone call... this after being told that "it looks like a simple ulcer, nothing to be really concerned with. Does it hurt?" Well heck yes it hurt. Then the nurse popped in "Oooohhh.. if it hurts, then it's not cancer." That was Memorial Day 2006.

A week later, I got the phone call, And then the roller coaster ride started.

Kevin

Mine was after I said I thought I had Oral Cancer for sure. The Dr called in another RO after the results of the biopsies came back and told him, don't be backward because Jim knows what it is and I just want a 2nd opinion for him. He confirmed it.

I should add that my teeth had starting breaking and falling out. This mouth always got Dental attention and I never waited for the 6 month deal. I usually went every 4 months because to me, teeth were one of the main attractions of the face. I almost cried when they pulled them all out.

June, 2007...we had moved to Florida from Texas the previous fall. Around Christmas, Bill started complaining about his throat being sore....really sore. We had not established our family doctor yet and the change in insurance with our move required a Primary Care Physician. I delayed calling with all the craziness of a move and the holidays. In January, I called to get both of us seen and established...Uh..Mrs. Harris, the first bloodwork and physical will have to be in May..is there anything wrong?? Yes, husband is complaining of a sore throat and drainage. Oh, OK, we will call in a prescription for you and see you in May. Uh, OK. So, he took the antibiotic and Zyrtec and got slightly better but still had a sore throat. We waited till our early June appt. after our May bloodwork to get seen..both at the same time. I was in one room and Bill in another. After seeing Bill, the Doc came in to see me with a rather concerned look on his face..."Why didn't you call back when his throat didn't get better?? I said, I guess we aren't complainers and didn't want to be a bother. Doc says, his throat does not look good (deep frown)...never said the C word to me but he had said enough to Bill to get the message across that he thought that is what it was. Bill's tumor was very large..very visible on his tonsil but he had not looked and neither had I. We were both so in shock that neither one of us said anything to each other for over an hour. We checked out of the PCP's office like nothing had happened but deep inside we were both reeling.

The rest is history....off to an ENT for screening and biopsy. Then to Moffitt Cancer Center for second opinion and treatment plan. In between all the craziness of scans, dentists, MO's, RO's, hearing tests, PEG and port surgery...etc. I get that panicky feeling just reliving the months of June and July.

Yes, I could kick myself for blowing off Bill's complaint...we had just moved to a new area and I really thought he was experiencing allergies. The thing that makes me feel so guilty is that Bill has a very high pain threshold so, for him to complain, I should have known it was something sinister. But really, he is a big boy and should have made the appointment himself if I was too distracted to do so. What a giant mess, but so far, it looks like we have slain the beast. I hope so anyway.

Deb

I was on the third round of doctors trying to get an answer as to why my left ear ached all the time, and the newest ENT had just about given up after doing endoscope, antibiotics and declaring that it was "stress - in my head" when I insisted on getting my head scanned. The CAT scan was on a Friday and that Monday I had three urgent emails and two phone messages to call him but when I did, he wss not available. Finally at lunchtime I got through and he blurted out on the phone: You have CANCER and need to come in today to see his colleague who had lots of experience with cancer. She was great and had no doubt it was cancer but that I needed the biopsy before our CCC would start treatment. She was also very tactful and positive in telling my wife that it was Stage IV and had spread to two lymph nodes but that it was "treatable" while I was still unconscious from the biopsy

The Oral surgeon who performed the biopsy phoned me at work (August 2006) to tell me that it was cancer. Did he expect that I would just carry on working like normal till the end of the day? Naturally there were a few tears and tissues offered behind closed doors in my boss�s office. Things moved quickly after that and before the operation he asked to have his students have a look at me before the surgery!!!
I still angry about it now and without any more tests done still ask myself did I really have cancer in the first place

My primary care doctor looked at the lump and sent me on to an ENT, telling me as he made the referral not to worry it didn't look like cancer. The ENT saw me two days later, did an immediate biopsy and gave me 50/50 odds that it was or wasn't cancer...didn't look like it but it didn't look like anything recognizable. As the week went on and no results, I began calling. His nurse said she'd put the results on his desk, then came back to the phone and said they weren't in...just preliminary ones and they never gave those on the phone. Told me (this was Friday) to come see the doctor on Tuesday at 9. At 10 on Tuesday he finally saw me. He walked into the room, grabbed me tongue again, felt the tumor. Let go and said "you have cancer. It's probably Stage 1 and highly curable, but it spreads quickly. So I'm going to do a pie-shaped cut in your tongue, but first you'll need a CAT scan to see if it has spread already". I said, "no, you're gonna refer me to MDACC since they're the cancer specialists". He didn't respond well..telling me I'd have to wait a couple weeks before I would be seen and no telling where the cancer would spread. Needless to say, I took my chances and am glad I did. After that response no way would I let him treat me.

Try to picture this.....

....I had to tell myself. You see, the biopsy was done in my office on a Friday. I came back from dinner to my office the following Tuesday night and my office manager gave me a fax and said, "I know you will want to see this."

I had five patients scheduled that night, starting about 5 minutes after I read the biopsy results. Somehow, I got through the night and fortunately, I had a day off the next day.

Probably one of the most unique ways of finding out you have cancer.

Jerry