Hi Kenny
You sound as if the second oncologist has left you and your sister feeling more optimistic which I agree will help immensely in fighting cancer.
Once someone earns the right to use doctor before his name, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that some graduated at the top of their class, some at the bottom of the class, and the majority somewhere in between. We all want one that graduated at the very least somewhere in the upper section - but no one tells us that he/she is Dr. --- and he/she graduated 416th out of 420 in the class. I think my FORMER primary care doctor graduated 420th out of 420. I had a doctor in emergency care on a Sunday ask me if anyone had ever told me I had an extremely enlarged left tonsil. I went home and looked in the mirror at the back of my throat and could see a mass that took up half of my throat. I went to my primary care doctor a few days later and he looked in my mouth and said absoltely nothing. Thank God he did give me the referral to a cardiac doctor that I asked for because when I went to her she asked me to open my mouth and said "We need to get you to an ENT immediately and they may want to biopsy that." I was in surgery and diagnosed w/ SCC of the left tonsil less than a week later. My diagnosis was clear cut ONCE I got to the ENT but I still went to two different cancer centers for treatment assessment. They were close but I chose Cancer Treatment Center of America for various reasons. One - the machine they used is called TOMO Therapy which after research I believed would give me the least permanent side effects. Second - they treat the "whole" body - nutrition, naturopathic, mind-body, etc. I even tried acupuncture for a sever nausea I experienced w/ chemo. Third - even though the first facility tried to talk me into going there by telling me their radiation therapy was as good as TOMO (called Trilogy - after research I found it is better for radiating an organ that moves - like our lungs) and that CTCA was only out for more money by charging my insurance company for 2 treatments a day. When I asked CTCA about 2 treatments a day versus one they said it lessened the amt of radiation being directed at one time and helped reduce the side effects. It made sense to me and sometimes you have to go with what makes sense to us as the patient.
If you aren't completely satisfied w/ your second oncologist don't hesitate to get a third opinion. Time is of the essence but not only the diagnosis but the treatment can affect your sister's health for life. We owe it to ourselves to have the very best.
Kenny, please keep us updated as to how your sister is doing - and please tell her that she has many prayers being sent from here.
Diana