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Posted 11/17/2013 3:49 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all,

Yesterday, I called and talked to a consultant about going to their center.  Monday, they're checking on my insurance (Cigna) and said everything should be covered at 100% as I believe I've met my deductible for this year!!

They will fly my wife and I (first trip) and thereafter only myself to Tulsa.  Will only cost us $75.00 for 1 or up to 6 nights (not each night) stay at a local hotel.  They will provide shuttle service as well.  This will be a 3-5 day out-patient evaluation.  I talked with them over an hour about their treatments and all.  Sounds good to me.

Has anyone had treatments or heard of this center??  Thinking I should look beyond and maybe go outside the box of my existing treatments.

DO I EVEN NEED TO INTERTAIN THE THOUGHT OF THIS CENTER?? idea

Again, thank you all, you're the greatest!  tongue

Dave in Bartlett, TN

Posted 11/17/2013 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
Dave, I have no personal knowledge at all of CTCA, but at one point with my rising PSA, I did look into them.

All I can say is that I found much more negative information about them than I found positive.

FTC fines and actiions, employees negative reviews, claims of misleading stats and stories from patients who were rejected outright because their stats would not look good or their insurance would not pay enough. Some patients were dismissed from treatment when their insurance ran out. Remember that this is a "for profit" group.

As I said, I have no personal knowledge, but I did do a fair amount of research on them. While I found much positive info, I found much more negative.

Just for what its worth,

Sonny
Posted 11/17/2013 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
Sonny,

Thank You very much for your comments. Having only started looking into them, not had much time to do my homework/research. That's why I'm asking my HW friends for help. Tomorrow, I'll start looking on their site and reading as much as I can.

Thanks again,

Dave
Posted 11/17/2013 5:08 PM (GMT 0)
I also considered them. They did not make the final cut for me. Somebody has to pay for all their marketing. Their commercials always showed some poor slob given almost no hope but finding a miracle there. The fine print always indicated that this was an exceptional case. Turned me off. They just didn't pass my smell test.

they were very strong... on marketing.

Mel
Posted 11/17/2013 5:52 PM (GMT 0)
I agree they do a lot of marketing, and the kind of marketing they do sets off alarm bells with me: infomercials. In this area, they run plenty of them, a quick check of my tv listings shows. Something seems off.

"What sets CTCA apart is that rejecting certain patients and, even more, culling some of its patients from its survival data lets the company tout in ads and post on its website patient outcomes that look dramatically better than they would if the company treated all comers."
...

"The selection process begins when a prospective patient first contacts CTCA, by phone or web chat, and speaks to an oncology information specialist. 'The first thing you do is be kind and greet them, but you're qualifying them,' said Carolyn Holmes, the former oncology information specialist. "You ask, ‘How old are you?' meaning, ‘Are you Medicare-age?'""
...
"'You don't want them," Holmes said about Medicare patients. Medicaid? "Absolutely not.'"

Special report: www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/us-usa-cancer-ctca-idUSBRE9250L820130306
Posted 11/17/2013 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
i would suggest a medical center that is part of a good university in your state.
Posted 11/17/2013 7:16 PM (GMT 0)
I live a mile and a half from a CTCA hospital in the Chicago area. My wife actually worked there as an R. N. years ago when it was called Midwest Regional Medical Center.

We know a lot of people who work there, and they don't seem to be the charlatans portrayed in some of the other postings here.

I'm not recommending them, but they might be worth a look. I also don't know if they do DaVinci robotic surgery. My wife says one should bear in mind that many of their patients are advanced stage cancer patients who have chosen CTCA as a last resort, and that certainly affects their success statistics.

When I'm at the local golf course, I've often met with husbands whose wives or loved ones are being treated, and I've never met one who was dissatisfied, but again, please remember that for insurance reasons, and because my doctor wasn't associated with CTCA, I went elsewhere.

I would say, keep an open mind, but talk to a number of places, choosing the one that best meets your personal needs. Good luck.
Posted 11/17/2013 7:55 PM (GMT 0)
I have personal knowledge and personal experience with CTCA, but its all negative, and will only discuss what took place off line, since we are talking about a "named" center.

Be happy to discuss it with you, but only by e-mail or phone, if interested, drop me an e-mail first. I have had experiences with them twice in my life, about 12 years apart, and both were negative.

David in SC
Posted 11/17/2013 8:04 PM (GMT 0)
I've had a couple of their patients in the support groups I work with. They were all very gung-ho about their treatment and the staff they worked with. None had anything bad to say other than parking issues.

And of course those patients would have been accepted, so not part of the negative focus of the article.

All that said, the nearest one is not the least bit convenient to me, and I had what I still believe to be very good cancer centers nearby, so I did not see a need to investigate them.

Do the research, talk to your current oncologist. Get feedback from your local professionals. Do they send people there?
Posted 11/17/2013 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
Just my opinion but I flew up to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to have RP. They are ranked number 1 for urology which is why I chose them. The entire process was superb and they have many great surgeons and pathologists. If you have to travel anyway why not go to one of the best in the country? All recovery rooms are private and your wife stays in room with you. I stayed in recovery only two nights. I'm on Medicare and it didn't cost me a dime except for pre and post op hotel, taxis and air fare.
Bob
Posted 11/17/2013 9:01 PM (GMT 0)
I saw the Doc 8 days post op to get the tube out. I was probably so elated to have that out I forgot to bring up Ed plan. At 12 days sent him a text he replied but no call. I will definitely be a squeeky wheel Monday. Will also call my urologist (same practice) and discuss with him. Next appointment is at 5 weeks for PSA.

Anyone have any experience with acupuncture for ED or and imcontinence. Mine is not so bad 1 pad per day leak only when standing up. As an aside Friday had my first couple drinks at happy hour with friends. I won't repeat very soon as my bladder control seemed to really be impacted by alcohol.
Posted 11/17/2013 9:02 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone, Didn't feel like going to church today, so have been spending the past few hours reading on CTCA website and the links sent to me by Galileo.

compiler: Thanks, Marketing sometimes are misleading!!

Galileo: Thanks for the link!!! I didn't feel like going to church today so had time to read up on CTCA's website and the link.

MauiVin: Thanks, I do have a lot more options in the Memphis, TN area to choose from when that time comes. Yesterday, seen the 30 minute run of adds and decided to give them a call.

Thanks again everyone.

Dave
Posted 11/17/2013 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
FWIW during my intensive search I contacted the CTCA center - and I found the same things that Galileo found so they quickly fell off of my list - and they are within an hour of my house.

Continued best on your journey!
Posted 11/17/2013 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
A Yooper,

Thank You for your input. Now, tomorrow, hoping they won't call me back!!! But, I know how to say "NO"!!

Yesterday, guess I was just having a "MOMENT"! HT will do that!!

Dave.
Posted 11/18/2013 4:35 PM (GMT 0)

Galileo said...

"The selection process begins when a prospective patient first contacts CTCA, by phone or web chat, and speaks to an oncology information specialist. "

The words "The selection process begins" are a matter of concern. I would think a medical organization would do the best it possibly can for all who come to it for help and not "select" its patients.
Posted 11/18/2013 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
Inspector, the reason Galileo worded it that way is because unfortunately there has been a fair amount of press about the CTCA doing just that; some say it is because they want to "pad" their success rates, while others say it is their way of deciding whether or not they will be successful with treatment - for the benefit of the individual.
Posted 11/18/2013 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
That paragraph was quoted from the Reuters article.
Posted 11/18/2013 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for clarifying, 142. Most of my post was an extended quote from the Reuters piece.
Posted 11/18/2013 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
about 15 minutes ago, I received a call from CTCA and talked to the oncology information specialist I talked to Saturday. He told me I was accepted and had met all my deductibles for the year and would only have to pay the $75.00 hotel fee (this also includes my wife traveling with me). After reading all the comments, reading their website, I informed him that I will wait until after the first of the year to make a commitment!

As I've already stated, we do have several cancer centers within a 2 hour drive. Also, my wife wouldn't be able to travel at this time because of her job (I'm on her insurance and we need it) and other commitments.

Thank You again for everyone's input and honest opinions. I do feel that I still have some time before I need a center like CTCA.

Dave in Bartlett, TN
Posted 11/19/2013 5:04 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Grandpa

When I was diagnosed with PC I sought treatment at Tulane University Urology. They have a comprehensive team of physicians including the surgeon who performed my RP. He graduated from medical school at Johns Hopkins and underwent six years of surgical and urological residencies at Brady Urological institute at Johns Hopkins. He is a professor of medicine at Tulane and director of one of the few fellowship programs in the nation in robotic laproscopic urologic surgery. He specializes in kidney and prostate cancer surgery. One of his colleagues is the only oncologist in the state who specializes in prostate cancer only, Dr. Oliver Sartor. Dr. Sartor is renowned in research and handling difficult cases. Another colleague of his has developed complex urologic reconstruction procedure. This group of doctors is remarkable in the skill and experience they bring to the table. I was blessed to get very good post surgery pathology with negative margins, as well as good continence. My thinking was that if I was not so lucky I had a highly renowned prostate cancer oncologist available to me in the same clinic.

Bottom line, I did not need Cancer Centers of America. I sought care at a major university cancer center specializing in prostate cancer.

New Orleans is as close if not closer to Bartlett, TN than Tulsa. You might want to make some inquiries about Dr. Oliver Sartor at Tulane University. Here is a little blurb about Dr. Sartor -

"... Lee, Sartor and Thomas are overseeing the prostate cancer program that offers state-of-the-art clinical and surgical care. Before joining Tulane’s faculty, Sartor was an associate professor in the Lank Genitourinary Oncology Center at Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He is also chair-elect of the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Integration Panel, which directs over $70 million in federal funding for prostate cancer research."

Good luck, and God Bless you and your family.

Post Edited (Joseph43) : 11/18/2013 10:11:07 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/19/2013 6:20 AM (GMT 0)
Dave,

Looked like I might have gotten an e-mail from you today? Picked it up, scrambled on my Windows Phone, and when I got home, couldn't read it on my regular computer.

If it was you indeed, could you please re-send it, not trying to ignore, couldn't read it.

David in SC
Posted 11/19/2013 10:42 AM (GMT 0)
Joseph43, Thanks for your time and comments. Yes, just North of N. O. Sounds like you are/were well taken care of.

Thanks again, God bless you and your family.

David In SC;
No problem, I'll resend it. Yesterday, I worked 6 hours (first time working in about two weeks) at the funeral home and worked many a 10-12 hour days at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (maint. dept) and not think anything about it. Boy, PCa has changed my life! Thank God I'm on SSD and even though my wife still works, Dec. 3rd, she'll start drawing her first SS (age 66) check. Because I was so tired, last night I went to bed at 8PM and awake and up at 1:15AM, still up at 4:40AM!!

Dave
Posted 11/28/2013 4:20 AM (GMT 0)
Grandpao4(from a grandpaof6)Sorry i did not see your post earlier. I have read with interest many of your other posts and feel empathy with you and yours. I do not want to even get into it with any one of my brothers about the "issues" most have brought up here on this post,everyone has their opinions. Everyone trys to help. Just wanted to give you my opinion, for what it's worth. From my perspective, it was exactly one year ago today I became an "outpatient",t hat is,continuing patient at CTCA,in Goodyear,Az..
I have seen various doctors there, nurses, employees,and heard and read about all those "issues" others have brought up. I for one have faith in the professionalism of their oncologists, their team and my treatment so far. I have advanced prostate cancer, stage 4, so I have little margin for error for my treatment. I would love to be a patient of one of the handful of experts oncologists cited frequently, but so far, I have not been inclines other than a consult at Loma Linda University. Nearly every veteran poster (I am only a novice),they can tell you advice of what might be or what might not be best for you. But for me and my family ,I am trusting in CTCA. I am not naive(and I am not swayed by that and story to the negative. For me It is about faith, which might be (in combination with)/ as strong as medicine or procedure, or drug , or specialist can offer. That's why sometimes sign my endings, keep the Faith!!and keep a positive attitude. Learn as much as you can, I am still learning everyday, thats one reason I am on HW!
Posted 11/28/2013 10:52 AM (GMT 0)
Dear Wings of Eagles,

Thank You very much for your empathy, kind comments and concerns. You've touched my heart! I'm so glad you found CTCA and are doing much better. The past few days, I've been thinking about what to do if my current HT becomes refractory! Last November when I talked to my oncologist, he told me that when and if my current treatment becomes refractory, he will take over my treatment and said there are other meds of which we will proceed with.

A couple months ago, my urologist told me I was doing better than average with my current treatment and was very happy for me. However, not knowing when and if the time comes when my PSA starts going upwards, what next and should I go ahead and go to CTCA (which I was approved); find a local "Cancer Treatment Center", or just stay on my current path!! With all the prayers and faith going up for me and my family, (all around the world), at this point and time, I just don't know what direction to go! I'm taking it one day at a time. Thanks again for your input!

My wife and I have faith and try to practice it! Yes, I have some bad days, but the good days out weights my bad days!

Praying for you and your family. Have a happy Thanksgiving and God Bless you!!

Dave in Bartlett, TN
Posted 11/28/2013 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
Joseph,

Good suggestion on Tulane. I decided some time ago that If I have a recurrance I will be going to see Dr Sartor. I am in Atlanta and my med onc and urologist each have collaborated with Dr Sartor in other cases.

Good luck Dave on your search.

Jack
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