Hello all...it's been awhile since I've posted...I get so much out of reading. But now I have some questions.
My mom has Stage IV bladder cancer. She had her bladder removed last year in June, the doc performed a radical cystectomy which could not have worked better! This year in January we learned her cancer has returned in her pelvis. She saw local oncologist who told her to go home, relax, and live out the rest of her life because there wasn't much he coud do for her. He told her he would sign off on total disability for her so she wouldn't have to work another day! We weren't exactly satisfied with that answer, and we looked elsewhere, ending at the Cancer Treatment Center of America. Mom went through 6 rounds of chemo spread out to every 3 weeks, 3 days of chemo. In July the docs decided to do radiation. 7 weeks we had of radiation. Mom tolerated all of that very well except for 1 week in the beginning of radiation...she was admitted to the cancer treatment center hospital due to low WBC's and low electrolytes. Her radiation ended the week before Labor day. She had September, October, and November off, however did have a CT scan, and a PET scan. Results of those we just got right after Thanksgiving, which showed that the tumor that was being radiated has shrunk by more than 2-3 centimeters! BUT...there were 2 new little tumors growing. The doc decided to give her 2 more rounds of chemo. She had her first round of 2 last weekend.
This week Wednesday she became sick, as usual after chemo. By Friday she was too dehydrated to stay conscious, so we took her to our local er. This is where the fun begins.
Mom needed to be admitted, but the attending Oncologist happened to be the doctor we saw here in town who told mom to go home and die! He would not admit my mom to the hospital, nor would anyone else in his practice. Where we live, this doctor along with the others all work in one office, together, and treat patients at both hospitals in our area. Mom had to be admitted, so the ER doc had to admit her under "hospital service"...a general doctor. She got to her room, and a couple hours later this "hospital service" doctor came to see her, and was totally confused as to why my mom wasn't admitted by an Oncologist, since he would have to consult with one of them anyway to prescribe any care my mom needed! He also asked us detailed questions as to why we didn't like the doctor on call...(maybe because he had no hope and told my mom to go home and die???!!!!) The next day apparently an Oncologist did come in to see my mom, however she doesn't remember as she was still very out of it...that was the only visit. The rest of her care was through the "hospital service". Monday she had yet another new doctor, as the "hospital service" doctor she had over the weekend was done with his shift for a week. This guy came in and had not reviewed my mom's chart, had no idea what she was in for, and again, AGAIN asked questions as to why she wasn't under the care of a local Oncologist after being admitted to the hospital. At this point mom was feeling a lot better, her counts weren't too terrible, so I said "She wants to go home". The new doc left for about an hour, then came back and released her! WELL...her instructions to go home included an appointment with a local Oncologist today. No time was listed on the sheet, so we were told to call their office this morning to get the appointment time. Mom called, and was given a time of 11:40. 15 minutes later, a lady from that office called back and informed mom that she would not be seeing a doctor at all, she only needed to come in to have her bloodwork done. This lady also called because she "needed to inform my mom that the doctors in the Oncology office will not treat her because they are not comfortable with her choice of treatment for her cancer". If she would get sick again like she did last weekend, she was not guaranteed any contact with any doctor in the Oncology office.
Can doctors do this?!! The Cancer Treatment Center is a long ways away, especially if one is in and out of consciousness...now my concern is that when my mom does get to the point of needing local care, once her options are whittled down, nobody will help her. What can I do? I am so scared, let alone worried about my mom now more than ever. The last thing she needs is some doctors office telling her that when she needs help the most, she won't get it from them!
Thanks for listening/reading...any advice is much appreciated...
