A personal friend who recently discovered a lump on his neck, discovered after an excision biopsy, that he has lymphoma. A second opinion was sought and to his disbelief, the review of his slides showed no evidence of cancer. He remains well. His bone marrow examination was clear and his CT scan only revealed slightly enlarged cervical lymph nodes. Further investigations were then ordered.
So he seeked a third opinion. To my dismay, this specialist mentioned that he could try a couple of cycles of chemotherapy! All this when the diagnosis was so uncertain!! It is not like the drugs are free from side effects both short and long term. What is the basis of that decision?
I am utterly disgusted!
as a doctor, you feel apalled & disgusted with 3 differing opinions. What about layman ?
A relative was diagnosed with ‘lymphoma’ too (due to a lump found in neck) & also asked to go for chemo but she die hard refused. The so called biopsy said it was “cancerous” but no one can confirm for sure. After 3rd/4th opinion, a doctor diagnosed it as Kikuchi (named after Japanese doctor who discovered it) usually happens to people in 20’s and the swelling of lynmph node will go away on its own. Its been 7yrs already, she’s ok, but if she went for chemo we don’t know what will happen today.