It's my turn...unfortunately

Suffice to say I've been meaning to start this for a few weeks now, the cancer diagnosis being the catalyst. Having lost my dad and brother to cancer years ago, mine was pretty much expected.

I'm three weeks in to the diagnosis ("MALIGNANT" and "CANCER" neon signs flashing in my head non-stop). What I found surprising is that on the day my 'nurse navigator' informed me of the diagnosis/bad news, she handed me a piece of paper with three things to do:

1. schedule the MRI
2. schedule appointment with the surgeon
3. schedule appointment with the oncologist

Now, if you don't know much about cancer, you do as told, right?

But this made no sense to me: why would I see a surgeon before talking to the cancer doctor about what is wrong and discussing the treatment options (and especially whether or not surgery is even in the mix)? I booked the oncologist first.

And now I need to research the alternatives - anything I can do to avoid chemo. So far, I'm looking into the Gerson Institute and cryoablation. And in that research found out that my second opinion doctor is an advocate of the latter...halleflippinlujah.