So I'm six weeks out from my pleurectomy and my oncologist at the VA here in Norfolk mentioned a couple trials I could get into. Stage II pleural, no spread yet. I get that trials are how medicine moves forward and I'm not against it, but I need to know what questions to actually ask before I sign up for something.
I was on the Oriskany from 71 to 91 doing hull work, so asbestos exposure was pretty much baked in. Got my diagnosis in June after a routine VA screening caught something on the chest film. Surgery went clean in August, no complications. Recovery's been solid.
But yeah, the trial thing. I've got maybe three options my doc mentioned and I don't want to pick wrong because I'm scared or because the facility is close by or because it sounds good. What actually matters here? Is it the drug protocol itself, or the center doing it, or how many patients they've run through? Do I need to know the phase of the trial or does that not really matter for my situation? And honestly, if a trial doesn't work out for me, can I drop it and go back to standard treatment or am I locked in?
I know this forum has guys who've been through this already. What did you actually look at when you had to decide?