Blog 6: Stage 4. And This Time, I Fired My Doctor.

The CT Scan Results.

The scan came back in July 2025.

There was a spot of concern that appeared malignant. My CEA level — which had been 6.6 the year before — was now 25.6.

The cancer was back. Stage 4. The tumor was encasing my left iliac artery.

The Appointment That Told Me Everything I Needed to Know.

I sat across from my oncologist — the same one who had cleared me at every follow-up without a single CT scan, the same one who had never flagged my rising CEA — and I watched him open my chart for the first time right there in front of me.

He hadn’t even reviewed it before walking in.

I had questions. He had very few answers. When I brought up a second opinion, he looked at my husband and said he would treat me the same way he would treat his wife. Some people might find that comforting.

I did not. Because by then, I already knew I was firing him.

I knew it when he walked in unprepared. I knew it when I realized I was the one pushing for answers. I knew it when I had to beg for a PET scan — to ask for something that should have already been ordered — and he only agreed after I requested it myself.

My New Team.

I reached out to a different Cancer Institute for a second opinion, and on July 31, 2025, I met what would become my new oncologist.

She already knew my case. She had reviewed my full history before she ever sat in front of me. She pulled up my actual imaging and walked me through it on the screen — something my previous oncologist had never once done in two years. She ordered CARIS genetic testing the first day, which the prior team had never even mentioned. She treated me like a whole person. Like my life mattered beyond the next appointment slot.

On August 12th, I met with my surgical oncologist. His bedside manner alone made me exhale. He told me he wanted 12 more rounds of chemotherapy first, and if no new spots appeared, he would present my case to the tumor board for surgery.

I had a new team. A new plan. A level of trust I hadn't felt in a long time.

And I still had fight left in me.

What I Need You to Hear.

You are allowed to advocate for yourself. You are allowed to ask for scans. You are allowed to question your doctor. You are allowed to walk out of that office and find someone better.

A second opinion is not a betrayal. It is not rude. It is not dramatic. It is you refusing to accept a level of care that is less than what your life deserves.

Your life is worth a second opinion, a third opinion, every opinion it takes to find a team that truly sees you.

I’m so grateful I finally found mine.

—Von Unfiltered

Stage 3 (2023) · Remission (2024) · Stage 4 (2025) · Remission (2026)

 

“Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” — Proverbs 11:14