Q: How does one decide which doctor to see?
A: You can ask folks on this forum to respond to you via a private message as to which docs they prefer at a particular institution (out of respect for the medical community, folks on the Beacon generally try to avoid public comparisons of doctors).
Q: What does one tell one's own doctor that a second opinion is being sought? (I think I feel needlessly awkward about doing this.)
A: You shouldn't feel awkward about this. Docs are used to this and expect it, especially when cancer is involved. Just be up front with your doc. My local oncologist was not offended in the least when I said I was going to consult with a specialist out in California. In fact, my local doc got on the phone to the new doctor shortly after I got my second opinion from the new doctor, just to make sure that they were both on the same page. My local doc also confirmed that he would administer any drug treatments that my new doctor recommended, if that was my wish.
Q: How does one get one's records transferred to the second opinion doctor?
A: You can just contact your current doctor's front office and request that they send copies of your records to the new doctor. But I might also suggest getting paper copies of your original lab results, radiology reports, bone marrow biopsy (BMB) results, your doctor's diagnosis writeup, and CDs of any imaging that was done. Bring those items with you to your first visit. Even if you don't need them at your next appointment, I find it invaluable to have copies of all these records organized in one notebook, since I often refer to them.
Q: Will there be duplicate testing at the second center?
A: If you do a good job getting copies of all your tests and have all the records transferred well in advance of your second opinion appointment, chances are you won't need to have any additional testing done ... unless your current doctor is not ordering all of the tests listed in
this link. Depending on the kind of imaging you've had done in the past, your new doc may request some new imaging (i.e. if you only had xrays done in the past, your new doc may recommend a PET/CT). The new doc may also request doing some additional tests for items that they may uniquely track what your current doc does not. As an example, I've had additional testing done for CRP, BCMA, etc when I've seen a couple of different specialists. Some specialists are also set up to do GEP testing, which is not commonly done at a lot of places, so you might be asked to get those tests done. I also had one specialist request the remaining sample from my bone marrow biopsy (labs apparently store this biopsy material for a period of time, which was a surprise to me), so that his pathologists could also examine it.
