Topic here listing surgeon hospital experiences?

FairRider

Regular Member

Joined : Jan 2008

Posts : 32

Posted 1/31/2008 9:36 AM (GMT -7)

Hello -

For so many of us, we are searching for treatments that 'match' us. The same would be true for choosing a surgeon. I am new here (1st post) and wondering if there is a topic about surgeon/hospital experiences. I have put it in search, but find more reading through the posts. but I can't really read all 70 threads, so thought I'd ask. I see some members list doc & hospital in theri profile - that is very helpful.

Thank you,

FairRider

Will create profile with stats - that seems helful...

Age 54
PSA 2.8 in 1999, PSA 2.88 in 2004 - did not follow-up until 12/2007 :(
PSA 5.6 1/2008, but 4.37 on repeat
DRE - unremarkable
Free PSA ratio 0.11
Biopsy 1/25/2008 - 10 Cores - 5 each side. 4 with adenocarcinoma (2 each side)
Gleason 3+3=6 and 3+4=7 - No Stage given on report, maybe T2c?
Planning Robotic Surgery
DECIDING SURGEON & location - INPUT WELCOME!

Post Edited (FairRider) : 1/31/2008 9:43:53 AM (GMT-7)

James C.

Veteran Member

Joined : Aug 2007

Posts : 4463

Posted 1/31/2008 10:04 AM (GMT -7)

Welcome to the group. It'd probably help to know where you are in the world, so people can suggest nearby possibilities....

Tony Crispino

Veteran Member

Joined : Dec 2006

Posts : 8128

Posted 1/31/2008 10:42 AM (GMT -7)

Hi FairRider,
James is correct, if you state where you are or where you are willing top go, you will get excellent input. Welcome here to the best place to go on the web to get first hand support and experience. I was treated at the City of Hope near Los Angeles. While I have heard of some people travelling out of California to get treatment by surgery, I don't know why they did. I received excellent care and great surgical results with no side effects worth mentioning. Because I had advanced disease I received addition adjuvant therapy at the Nevada Cancer Institute. Still a young place but top notch doctors. I appear to be bucking the odds and am well.

Tony

Age 45 (44 when Dx)

Pre-op PSA was 19.8

Surgery on Feb 16, 2007

Post-Op Pathology was poor: Gleason 4+3=7, 4 positive margins, Stage pT3b (Stage III)

HT began in May, '07 with Lupron and Casodex 50mg

IMRT radiation for 38 Treatments ending August 3, '07

My PSA did drop out after surgery to undetectable. It has not returned and I will continue HT until January '08.

My Life is supported very well by family and friends like you all.

Visit my journey at:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tonycrispino

STAY POSITIVE!

wd40

Regular Member

Joined : Jan 2008

Posts : 218

Posted 1/31/2008 10:44 AM (GMT -7)

Once you put the word out on uour cancer, people wil come out of the wood work taht have either had the surgery or they are close ot someone that has.
Just start asking and look for urologist groups that have been around for awhile. If Davinci. their web site has a list of doctors by zip code I think.

12/06/07 DaVinci and open prostate surgery after difficulties in breathing stopped the davinci.
Walked a lot
90% control the day the catherter removed.
pad only for a sneeze before the week was out
No pads most of the second week.

FairRider

Regular Member

Joined : Jan 2008

Posts : 32

Posted 1/31/2008 1:39 PM (GMT -7)

Thank you all for the replies. We are in Michigan and have great options at Henry Ford. We have a consultation with Dr. Mani Menon, who we know is a pioneer. We also really like our contacts with Dr. Vipul Patel, who has relocated to Florida (he was at Ohio State until Jan 1, so was an option when we first inquired) We have family there and could travel, but the cost coveredt by our insurance is a factor. The insurance isn't willing to divulge the "approved" amount unless we schedule with someone and then they fill out forms and we will learn what our "out of pocket" will be. That seems rather backward to me. We are finding a huge range in Surgeon charges, so the out of pocket could be nill or many thousands.

In the end, we just hope to hear enough great reviews about our possibilities. Then we go forward about figuring out the funds.

One question for those who have traveled to their surgeon....we wonder about that difficulty. Is is just so much easier being 3 hours from a doc than a flight away?

Thanks for all your efforts here. We are only in this one week and have come so far down a road we never imagined we would be on. I know that is how is is for everyone and send prayers to all reading.

FairRider (actually, his wife - I am the tech one in the partnership)

Paul1959

Veteran Member

Joined : Nov 2007

Posts : 598

Posted 1/31/2008 3:15 PM (GMT -7)

If you are in Michigan, stay there, would be my opinion. Yes, the flight home for me would have been absolutely miserable. Some guys bounce right back. I thought I would - 47, had two surgeries before, no big deal. HAH! The drive in NYC from 100th St to 56th St. was about all I could handle. I had a fantastic doctor www.roboticoncology.com I stayed at Eleven West, the concierge floor at Mt. Sinai Hospital. It cost me $600.00 out of pocket, but it made an otherwise miserable experience for my wife, a very comfortable one. For a one night stay, I recommend it highly. Dr. Samadi is one of the leading surgeons in the country for this procedure. He is the one responsible for making Columbia Presbyterian one of the best hospitals in the nation. He left there for Mt. Sinai cause they gave him the moon.

Henry Ford is as good as you can do, I think. If I could offer one piece of advice in all this... In the midst of all this, simplify, simplify, simplify.
Paul

47 at Diagnosis.

Father died of Pca 4/07 at 86.

1/06 PSA 3.15

1/07 PSA 4.6 (Biopsy 3/07 just suspicious)

10/07 PSA 5.06 (Biopsy 11/07 1 of 12 with 8% involvment) (1mm)

Da Vinci surgery Jan 5, '08 at Mt. Sinai Hosp. NYC www.roboticoncology.com

Saved both nerve bundles.

Path Report: Stage 2cNxMx

-Gleason (3+3)6

-totally contained to prostate,

-10% involvement in L & R Mid lobes

wd40

Regular Member

Joined : Jan 2008

Posts : 218

Posted 1/31/2008 8:23 PM (GMT -7)

We drove 2 hours home after open surgery and it was tolerable with medication. You don't have to stop to pee.

montee

Regular Member

Joined : Mar 2007

Posts : 315

Posted 1/31/2008 8:58 PM (GMT -7)

we drove 3 hours to Atlanta and home after the operation, no problem traveling, had a little discomfort, we even stopped about 1.5 hours from Atlanta to get a coffee at Dunkin, as I was told to stop half way and stretch the legs, they wanted me to do that to avoid blood clots sitting in one spot for a while.

My surgery was performed at Emory by Fray Marshall, who has done over 4,000 RP and one of the top 5 prostate surgeons in the country. Sounds like you can't go wrong at Henry Ford with the experienced surgeons they have and with this kind of surgery you want to feel comfortable with your choice.

Wish you well

Ron

diagnosed sept 06

gleason 3+4=7, right lobe only

psa 4.7 (psa rose 1 point per year for 3 years, urologist said still under 4 and no concern. If I can find out about PSA velocity, why didn't he know!)

Told not to have surgery at Dana Farber as cancer had already penetrated prostate, in seminal vesicles, would have positive margins. Would only treat with radiation and HT

RP Emory Atlanta December 2006

Path-negative margins, negative lymph nodes

negative seminal vesicles, multifocal perineural invasion, both lobes involved

40% gland involved

gleason 3+4=7

Fully continent 2 weeks post catheter removal

1st psa April 2007-<0.04

6 Mos PSA <0.04

9 mos PSA still <0.04

12 mos PSA still <0.04

Swimom

Veteran Member

Joined : Apr 2006

Posts : 1732

Posted 1/31/2008 10:42 PM (GMT -7)

Fair,

We're in Michigan. Paul had plenty of good choices right here! He stayed with U of M choosing Dr. David Wood as his surgeon. Henry Ford, Beaumont Royal Oak, St. Joe's Ypsi, U of M, St. John's .... pick one. Michigan is a great state for medical care. Can't think of a better place to be than Henry Ford so if you like Menon, consider him.

Good Luck to you :>)

swim

Cedar Chopper

Regular Member

Joined : Mar 2007

Posts : 432

Posted 2/1/2008 5:02 AM (GMT -7)

Fair Rider,

As Ms. Swim said, you will be hard-pressed to find better care than is available in the Detroit area. Dr. Menon at Henry Ford is top ranked. (I still recommend a second opinion, reading slides and such, regardless of whom you choose.)

Travel for the surgery is not so much a hassle to be a deal-breaker - but then you will likely transfer your post-surgery follow-up back to your locale. That is don't completely insult your local practitioners if you do decide to travel!

One caveat, if after surgery you find you need radiation, then you might shop again for the best fit for treatment. For example, while I had my prostatectomy done in Austin TX, if there had been capsular penetration, I was seriously weighing driving back and forth to Houston to M.D. Anderson.

Godspeed!

C^Cedar
ICTHUS!

2 Years of PSA between 4 and 5.5 + Biopsy 23DEC06

Only 5 percent cancer in one of 8 samples. + Gleeson 3+3=6

OPEN R P 16FEB07 at age 54. 1+" tumor - touching inside edge of gland. + Confined. :)
Pad Free @ 14 weeks. Six Month PSA <.003 :) Nine month PSA <.008 :)
At 9 months, ED treated with Pump Exercises & 100mg Viagra Daily

Texas Hill Country FRESH Produce Department Manager
Have you had your 5 colors today?

Cedar Chopper's Page & Updates ~ Radical Prostatectomy ~ Feb '07
"Zen and the Art of Orchestral Erectile Function"

"Zen and the Art of Symphonic Continence"

Nasha

Regular Member

Joined : Dec 2007

Posts : 42

Posted 2/3/2008 9:32 AM (GMT -7)

My husband did extensive research after his diagnosis, and we decided that we'd go with the best, which in our opinion was Dr. Mani Menon at Henry Ford.
We're in Florida, so obviously the travel was a huge issue, very draining for my husband.
We stayed in the hospitals resident apartments which is right next to the hospital for a nominal fee.

fibro, PTSD, depression/anxiety, mitral valve prolapse, high blood pressure,

peripheral neuroma (3 surgeries on right wrist)

accupril, xanax, percocet, wellbutriun

Swimom

Veteran Member

Joined : Apr 2006

Posts : 1732

Posted 2/3/2008 11:46 AM (GMT -7)

Remember...the "best" has been cloned over and over since Menon first started doing robitic operations. There are over 130,000 surgeries done a year in the U.S, every year. Menon is not the only game in town but he is good.
Every major hospital in the country is fighting to be a money maker. Supply and demand has made it so there are hundreds of reputable surgeons all over the country. Treatment should be decided on what best suits to the condition followed by what a person wants no matter what method is used.

Cpt. Paul

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