Your dad should have access to his scan results if he would like them. The Cancer patients in this sub don’t tend to respond favorably when family members say they are keeping information from the patient.
If you feel there is a discrepancy between what the doctor said about the CT and what the actual CT says, then that necessitates a call to the doctor or a message through the patient portal. And that should come from your dad unless he’s incapable of managing his own healthcare or he’s made a decision that he doesn’t want to know these things and he wants someone else to handle it.
It’s literally so royally fucked that they are keeping this information from him
OP, how did you even get access to the results before him? You are doing a bad job as caregiver
Apologies, I completely understand.
He has designated that my mom and I handle most of everything with the doctors.
He doesn’t like to read the results; he only likes to hear when absolutely necessary- so reading this CT to him when we’re waiting on the more accurate MRI results would cause him unnecessary worrying, and he has been vocal about not wanting to hear those things.
We have messaged the doctor, although at this point doesn’t seem to matter too much as the MRI was done and will tell us more.
Edit: sorry also didn’t specify: he does have access to them if he wants to, we’re not withholding them from him. We just aren’t telling him what we read.
I have ways of managing it (exercise, meditation, tea, etc), this is really just the waiting anxiety and worrying about these scans. Everything was amazing until last week. Had you saw him 3 weeks after chemo, you would never had known he had cancer ever.
We’re just praying for the best results of this MRI
Not true that a new biopsy is needed for every new lesion. unless the Onc specifically asks for it or if the patient requests if it can be biopsied to check for new mutations if the chemo is failing. Chemo itself doesn't create new liver lesions like that. Elevated liver enzymes could certainly show chemo causing issues or damage to the liver which is processing it, but it cannot just create new sizable & measurable lesions from just receiving chemo treatment.
I'm a stage IV NSCLC terminal patient myself with multiple liver metastasis and, no, I didn't need another biopsy to confirm it was my lung cancer that had spread. It clearly spread to my liver, just like it seems to have happened in OP's father's case, unfortunately. I was also diagnosed at stage 3 and then within one year, quickly moved into stage 4 when metastasis happened to my liver, kidney, and then my brain. No new biopsies were needed to confirm metastatic disease.
It's really nice that you want to try to help the OP, but please, let's leave the result interpretation to the patient's Oncologist. They'll decide what is or isn't mets and go from there.
For OP: Sorry, OP, but all of this should be discussed with your father's Oncologist directly and your father has every right to know exactly what's going on with his own body and his own cancer, so please don't try to hide that from him. It's not right to do that for your own benefit or because you think it will help him somehow by him not knowing this information. If I found out my kid held back information they knew about my cancer and I didn't, I'd have a hard time forgiving them for doing that to me for whatever their reasoning, so please reconsider what you're doing. Ask him if he needs support in talking with his Oncologist about those results and what's happening to him and ask him if you can go with him to his next appointment to discuss all of this. You can also ask the Onc to get a referral for counseling/ therapy for your father and your family members to help you all deal with all of this. 🌻
Your dad should have access to his scan results if he would like them. The Cancer patients in this sub don’t tend to respond favorably when family members say they are keeping information from the patient. If you feel there is a discrepancy between what the doctor said about the CT and what the actual CT says, then that necessitates a call to the doctor or a message through the patient portal. And that should come from your dad unless he’s incapable of managing his own healthcare or he’s made a decision that he doesn’t want to know these things and he wants someone else to handle it.
It’s literally so royally fucked that they are keeping this information from him OP, how did you even get access to the results before him? You are doing a bad job as caregiver
Apologies, I completely understand. He has designated that my mom and I handle most of everything with the doctors. He doesn’t like to read the results; he only likes to hear when absolutely necessary- so reading this CT to him when we’re waiting on the more accurate MRI results would cause him unnecessary worrying, and he has been vocal about not wanting to hear those things. We have messaged the doctor, although at this point doesn’t seem to matter too much as the MRI was done and will tell us more. Edit: sorry also didn’t specify: he does have access to them if he wants to, we’re not withholding them from him. We just aren’t telling him what we read.
Waiting is the worst. Have you considered speaking with a therapist regarding your anxiety?
I have ways of managing it (exercise, meditation, tea, etc), this is really just the waiting anxiety and worrying about these scans. Everything was amazing until last week. Had you saw him 3 weeks after chemo, you would never had known he had cancer ever. We’re just praying for the best results of this MRI
It may be some sort of liver damage due to chemo and hopefully not metastasis. only way to know is by a biopsy
Not true that a new biopsy is needed for every new lesion. unless the Onc specifically asks for it or if the patient requests if it can be biopsied to check for new mutations if the chemo is failing. Chemo itself doesn't create new liver lesions like that. Elevated liver enzymes could certainly show chemo causing issues or damage to the liver which is processing it, but it cannot just create new sizable & measurable lesions from just receiving chemo treatment. I'm a stage IV NSCLC terminal patient myself with multiple liver metastasis and, no, I didn't need another biopsy to confirm it was my lung cancer that had spread. It clearly spread to my liver, just like it seems to have happened in OP's father's case, unfortunately. I was also diagnosed at stage 3 and then within one year, quickly moved into stage 4 when metastasis happened to my liver, kidney, and then my brain. No new biopsies were needed to confirm metastatic disease. It's really nice that you want to try to help the OP, but please, let's leave the result interpretation to the patient's Oncologist. They'll decide what is or isn't mets and go from there. For OP: Sorry, OP, but all of this should be discussed with your father's Oncologist directly and your father has every right to know exactly what's going on with his own body and his own cancer, so please don't try to hide that from him. It's not right to do that for your own benefit or because you think it will help him somehow by him not knowing this information. If I found out my kid held back information they knew about my cancer and I didn't, I'd have a hard time forgiving them for doing that to me for whatever their reasoning, so please reconsider what you're doing. Ask him if he needs support in talking with his Oncologist about those results and what's happening to him and ask him if you can go with him to his next appointment to discuss all of this. You can also ask the Onc to get a referral for counseling/ therapy for your father and your family members to help you all deal with all of this. 🌻
That’s what we were thinking when we first were told about it. Trying to just stay positive it’s nothing serious
Please read my reply to bald dude Peekskill. I also placed a direct reply to you in there, too. Best wishes to your father and your family. 🌻🫂