OnCOLogists, SURGeons, and BEARS, oh MY!!

I have always said to myself, If I ever get a cancer diagnosis, I will not take the standard route of the three C's: CUT (surgery), COOK (radiation), CHEMO. I am doing my best to stick to that promise made to myself, but bucking the system ain't easy. And in doing further research about my particular cancer, I have come to the realization that the CUT part is perhaps a wise road to take.

So how does one even GET a "proper" diagnosis? Ya gotta have tests, folks. Lots of them. MRI's, PT scans, CT scans, blood work, biopsies. And you have to meet with the allopaths, the docs who attended the school of three C's. It's all they know. Unfortunately, in this country, one must go through the AMA doors to receive all of the tests that are necessary to do a proper diagnosis. I have been doing that. It's been tedious and agonizing.

I must say that I did get pretty lucky in the oncologist department. The doc who is treating me, although quite skeptical of my outside-of-the-box thinking, is willing to stick with me and help me monitor my progress. I like her.

Not so the surgeon. I butted heads with him on the first go-round. I'm sure my chart is full of capitalized letters in red ink warning him.... "yup, this is that crazy lady who believes in all of that whacko stuff." He actually uses such language with me. He warns me that I am going to die. He talks about speed bumps (chemo) on the way to the brick wall (death). Evidently, in his world, those are the only two options (speed bumps and brick walls). Not in my world. I'm taking a DETOUR. (separate post)

Ok, so he's still willing (my gut says reluctantly) to be my surgeon. Not sure if I am willing to lie on a cold slab with him hovering over me with a scalpel. Anyone out there know of a surgeon who will work WITH me and not AGAINST me? I am open for ideas. Anyway, in the meantime, he is willing to perform a surgical procedure to remove the breast ... or lump... or in my case, a double mastectomy (yup, I will probably pull an "Angelina Jolie"). But not right away. He wants to shrink the tumor first. This could take months.