A friend has just explained the difficult situation his wife finds herself in: -
She had an operation 1 month ago to remove a, malignant tumor from her stomach.
Subsequent biopsy showed that they had removed the tumor and there was no cancer in the surrounding lymph nodes.
Last week they met the oncologist at Bangkok Pattaya hospital and she recommended a 12-treatment regime of chemotherapy over 24 weeks. They said that she would be infused and needed to stay in hospital for 2 nights each time. The cost per treatment was 150,000 THB or 1.8m THB.
On Saturday they visited again and they recommended she should have a pod on her chest to do the infusion, a 1-hour operation which would cost 120-150,000 THB.
They then got a call from the hospital saying the insurance had only given O.K for 1 night stay, and we had to pay the second night.
He asked the oncologist why she needed chemo if her results were clear. She said that there was a 70% chance of it returning within 5 years, but with chemo it was 30% chance.
She also had a PET scan in BKK and nothing was found outside of her stomach area, that was before the operation.
Questions
1. Is a 2 night stay necessary for an infusion?
2. Should she do the chemotherapy?
Can Sheryl or any other knowledgeable forum member give any useful advice for me to pass on to him.