Talk Cancer

Question:

It’s a stretch for me Bev.  I wouldn’t be able to commute.  I’d have to get a hotel room and stay there the whole time – which would be hard in terms of lost work, living cost, and most importantly, I’d have to go through it without the presence of my wife, or else ask her to close down her counseling practice for that time – which would be hard for her and very hard on her clients. I’ve been seen at the National Cancer Institute (where I work as a computer programmer), and the doctors there are truly superb.  I’m thinking very seriously of joining one of their clinical trials. The upside is superb care, and incredibly, it’s free.  The downside is that I have to take the therapy being tested in the trial and can’t just have something specifically tailored for me. Ah well, as Curtis says, we have to play the cards that are on the table. Thanks.    Alan

Is Richmond ,Virginia too far away? Bev I belong to an HMO and don’t know that I will have any choices through them, but if anyone knows someone they think is very good, I’d be very pleased to hear about it.

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Response:

Is Richmond ,Virginia too far away? Bev

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I belong to an HMO and don’t know that I will have any choices through them, but if anyone knows someone they think is very good, I’d be very pleased to hear about it. The HMO, Kaiser Permanente, seems to provide concerned staff physicians, but they’re a big organization and they have the typical bureaucratic snafus. Asking for a referral to a rad onc specialist almost a week ago, it finally came through today – and was a recommendation back to the same surgery practice I had already seen.  Needless to say, they don’t have any radiation people.  So now I’ve gone back to the bottom of the hopper. And for this we pay over $8,000 per year.  Argghhhh.

Response:

I belong to an HMO and don’t know that I will have any choices through them, but if anyone knows someone they think is very good, I’d be very pleased to hear about it. The HMO, Kaiser Permanente, seems to provide concerned staff physicians, but they’re a big organization and they have the typical bureaucratic snafus. Asking for a referral to a rad onc specialist almost a week ago, it finally came through today – and was a recommendation back to the same surgery practice I had already seen.  Needless to say, they don’t have any radiation people.  So now I’ve gone back to the bottom of the hopper. And for this we pay over $8,000 per year.  Argghhhh.

Response: