Your Medical Team
As you begin your treatment for malignant mesothelioma or any other asbestos disease, you will encounter an array of medical specialists. In addition to your family doctor or primary care physician you may be treated by pulmonologists, surgeons, oncologists, and pathologists. Together, these doctors and medical professionals make up your medical team. Each will be responsible for a different aspect of your care.
The first member of your medical team is your primary care physician (PCP), who serves as the “gate keeper” to your medical team. PCPs monitor their patients’ general health and treat them for acute and chronic conditions. They also make referrals to specialists when necessary.
If you develop an asbestos-related lung disease such as pleural mesothelioma, your primary care doctor will probably refer you to a pulmonologist, a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of lung conditions. They will do a more extensive lung exam, which will usually include chest films, chest CT scans, and pulmonary function studies. If there are suspicious findings on your chest films, he or she may decide to follow you with serial chest x-rays.
The pulmonologist or PCP may also perform a biopsy and send the tissue to the laboratory for examination by a pathologist. The pathologist is the physician who specializes in the microscopic examination of tissues and fluids to determine the nature and cause of your disease. If the pathology results indicate that further tissue is needed for a diagnosis, or that surgery might be indicated to remove the tumor, the pulmonologist will refer the patient to a thoracic surgeon for evaluation.
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, or cancer is suspected, you will be referred to a medical oncologist for evaluation. This referral is usually made by the pulmonologist or by the patient’s PCP, or it can be made by both physicians, and sometimes it is made prior to the referral to the thoracic surgeon.
Some patients have only a very brief encounter with an oncologist – a consultation or evaluation – and then return to their primary care physician, who resumes his or her role as the main care provider. However, if you have been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma or other cancer, your oncologist may become the most important member of your team. If radiation therapy is a part of your treatment, your medical oncologist will refer you to a radiation oncologist, a doctor who specializes in radiation therapy.
The oncologist and his or her staff, including registered nurses, some of whom also may be certified oncology nurse practitioners, will be a source of information about treatment options, clinical trials, cancer centers, social workers, home health aides, community resources, and hospice care. As with your primary care doctor, it is very important that you are comfortable with this doctor and that you feel free to ask questions and discuss your concerns. The office itself should be a place where you feel at ease and are treated with dignity and respect. There should be an atmosphere of confidence and one that promotes optimism and hope. Because it is true that while there is life, there is hope!
