After a biopsy is completed, the tissue or fluid is sent to a specialized doctor called a pathologist. Pathologists’ field of study is the origin and cause of disease. They look at the cells from biopsies under the microscope and are responsible for deciding whether cancer cells are present. The pathologist who studies your biopsy will generate a report about what he or she has found and send it to your doctor. This usually takes about five days to complete. You should make an appointment for a follow-up office visit with your doctor after this time period. He or she will the go over the pathologist’s results with you. It is important to bring someone along with you to this appointment if possible. This person can help you remember all the information that is given to you by your doctor, which can sometimes be overwhelming. He or she can also be a support to you during this stressful period.
You need to make sure that the diagnosis in you case is correct, and you have every right to ask certain specific questions about the biopsy. Since mesothelioma is not a common disease, your primary doctor should make sure that all the appropriate testing has been performed on the specimen, including special stains (those immunos we talked about before), in order to distinguish mesothelioma from other cancers like adenocarcinoma of the lung. If there is any question, a common practice is to send the slides of the biopsy to specialists in mesothelioma, who can consult and render an opinion on the case.
Heyya. Nice information you have here! Thank you very much for sharing. Anyways, if you have this kind of symptoms; shortness of breath caused by expanding pleural effusion and persistent dry cough, then you need to work with your doctor to be diagnosed. It’s a tough thing to have to watch a loved one go thru the stages of death and dieing. Sharing is caring right? Sorry if out of topics.
07.31.10 at 8:37 am
Nice blog. I stumbled upon it on Google Blog Reader. In my opinion, it was a well thought out post, but I must admit that I don’t totally concur with you. Your post has surely been noted, however. I’m constantly welcoming fresh ideas. I will keep a few of your ideas in my brain for sure.
08.06.10 at 12:48 am
really helping article. thanks
08.07.10 at 12:38 pm
You seem very chuffed about this subject and it comes across. Looking forward to future posts. Thanks
08.28.10 at 7:10 pm