second opinions

So I just got to work about 20 minutes ago, and as usual, went on nytimes.com to see what is going on in the world today, and I saw the tagline about "doctors being divided on Sen. Kennedy's options", namely the surgery he had at Duke. (Which apparently, Mass Gen isn't too happy about, that he chose Duke over them). It turns out that days after receiving the news about his malignancy, Sen.Kennedy got a group of doctors from prominent cancer centers and insitutions together to discuss a possible plan of action - he did the same thing when two of his kids had cancer. You can read the article for yourself here. While, obviously, this is not an option for most of us, I think this highlights the importance of getting a second opinion - or third, or fourth, if that's what it takes. Most doctors - if they're good doctors - will not object to patients getting another opinion, and the really good doctors welcome it. This is your life you're dealing with - no time to worry about "hurting their feelings".
But what got me - and what I suspected, and what an oncologist friend commented on back in May - was that apparently, the glioma Kennedy has is a glioblastoma. This is the most deadly form of brain cancer. I've cared for patients with glioblastomas, and in all honestly, they were all dead within a year; more likely 6 months. This tumor is notorious for growing back after resection, being resistant to chemo and radiation, and it's just a nasty, nasty tumor to have. It's devastating.
And of course, this brings me to the whole "quality vs quantity" debate, and so forth. I honestly don't know what I would do if, G-d forbid, I was in his situation. My first instinct would be that I would do exactly what he is doing - fight like hell and get as many opinions as I could. But I'm not sure if fear would keep me from doing that.
At any rate, it's an interesting article, and one I think worth reading.