Immunology therapy?

Okay I am back here to ya'll with a question.

My Oncologist just called me and threw me for a loop.

Monday his assistant will be calling me to make an appointment for me to go to another facility to talk to them about immunology therapy.
"If" I am a candidate (is this a clinical trial?) and "if" I decide to do this he will no longer be treating me and I will be taken off the Avastin.

From what he said the whole 3.4 minutes he was on the phone with me and from what I got out of what he said is, if I am a candidate and if I agree to go through this treatment, they will take a part of a cancer cell from me (like a biopsy of the cell maybe?) and make a vaccine which will then be injected into me.

I have no knowledge of this stuff and called his PA, am waiting for her to call me back so can get a better explanation.

I am scared, first he changed the "game plan" of six months of chemotherapy (Folfox-6) to after three months of chemotherapy to only Avastin, now he wants me to go do this "immunology" stuff and take me off the Avastin.

Help please if anyone has any???? I am scared, he says and my boyfriend says this is all good things cause the PET scan showed such good results but I am still scared, why all the changes????

I don't know if this is the site or not but this is information I have found so far and seems like it might be although the oncologist did not mention the cryoblation.

http://www.immunocare.net/

Edit:


I just heard back from my Oncologist's PA. She knows nothing about this except the Oncologist has one other patient a male in this clinical trial and he seems to be doing well (whatever that means)

She in confidence said to me if I did not want to go through with the clinical trial her personal advise would be to get a second opionion from another Oncologist not associated with where my Oncologist is, perhaps UCSD medical center.

I am going to read the whole website of the immunocare.net (which is where the clinical trial is) and try to find a contact number to call and get more information from them.

I always said I was not a hero, or the type of person to be a Guinea Pig with a clinical trial that was not proven and side effects were not all known, now I don't know what to do?

I guess just research then go to see them after I get an appointment set through my Oncologists assistant next Monday, and who knows maybe I won't even qualify?

I just have lost confidence in my Oncologist as I feel he is not being truthful, he lied in the beginning (I can cure you), and has changed the game plan three times now without really giving me a reason why, what do you all think?

UPDATE:


I am so pissed right now I could chew nails.

So this morning I wake up and first thing I do is call Medicare (I have Medicare/Medical and TriCare for Life) (BTW if anyone needs to call Medicare they are open 24/7)

So they pay for the usual costs with clinical trials but not for the experimental drugs itself, Tricare I don't know about as they are not open until Monday. So I called on an off chance the clinical trial, I talked to the woman I talked to yesterday. THEY DON'T EVEN ACCEPT INSURANCE! They want $15,000 UPFRONT for the drug and it can go to $20,000.

I told her take my name off the list as I am on disability and have no way to pay for this (I thank God for my Medicare/Medical and Tricare for Life as without them I would be screwed)

So then I got mad and I called my Oncologist's exchange, a different Oncologist called me back, told me of course I know with my type and degree of Cancer there is no cure (Flashback to my Oncologist first visit and his first words to me "I can cure you" GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) and proceeded to give me a few reasons why he thought my Oncologist may have thought this clinical trial would be good for me.

I AM LIVID. First and foremost he knows I am on disability, he knows my insurance, he knows I DON'T have $15,000 and even if I had it I would not spend it on a phase I clinical trial that is at this point only checking for toxicity in patients (side effects). What the hell was this man thinking?

Or was he not thinking? Not thinking of me as a human being, as an individual, as someone who went through my first bout of chemo relatively okay and was looking forward to the next three months to get this chit down to where it could be ablated or surgery or something, a person who had hope of being given a bit more time when I still know the reality I will not beat this, but I had hope dammit! And he destroyed me yesterday, all day I cried, I worried, I fretted, I did research and for what? For something I never even had a chance of being included in even if I had decided I wanted to?

I found out he will be in the office this coming week and Monday am calling and demanding the soonest appointment, then I want to talk to him face to face, ask him WHY he thought this clinical trial would be the best for me and why with my financial condition I would even qualify.

Then I want to find out what he plans to do now with me.

Just for my own curiosity because this weekend? This weekend I start researching other Oncologists, not for a "second opinion" but because I don't see a shred of humanity in this Dr and feel I will be better off with another.

So, thank you for letting me get that off my chest, I took a valium and will be okay, forward on I march I say!

Sincerely,

Marsha