Any tips? Kaiser San Francisco RALP scheduled 18 Dec '14 Dr. A. Martinez

SciLife:

I can't speak specifically to Dr. Martinez, but had my RALP done by Dr. Hsu at Kaiser Santa Clara back in May. He is incredibly experienced with the procedure (does a ton of them), and I felt like I was in good hands all the way through the process with him. I have been generally pleased with my care throughout the process (from discovery to treatment to follow up), with only a couple of provider changes to find a more suitable match in philosophy.

I didn't have to do too much navigation of the system (though that's sometimes part of being successful at Kaiser.....advocating strongly for yourself.) I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have (you can email me by clicking the icon to the left), and give you all the details on my journey thus far.

I would say that first and foremost, you should (if you haven't already) know what level of experience your surgeon has with this procedure, as well as generally what his results are. Your 3+3 pathology is definitely favorable for a good outcome. The second thing would be to ensure that you have a Urologist for your follow up who you feel you can connect to from the perspective of his/her outlook on various approaches to treatment, and how that matches with yours. Post-surgery, that's been the biggest positive for me. My Uro is the Chief of the department at Redwood City (Dr. Kwon), and he's great.

Hit me up anytime. Welcome, by the way, and certainly sorry you need to be here.

Cheers,
Rich

Hi there, I hope all goes well with this. Would be interested in learning more about Kaiser out there in San Francisco as we are thinking of venturing out there for a consult. I understand they are conducting PCa research out there and want to get connected with that.

I might not have time until after holidays as up to my eyeballs preparing the house for a pack of girls and poor Paul alone with the only (rogue) prostate in the house... but hey if it grows any bigger it will make up for the lack of testosterone and even out his playing field, right?! ;)

We have had our good and bad here in GA with Kaiser but it seems that some docs are definitely some of the most amazing here, a couple others ought to be tossed into an active volcano.

Please keep us posted and tell us more about your journey so far, I would really like to hear it.

I must admit at first I wasn't a Kaiser fan but have found them to be extremely easy to work with. As long as I consult with my primary care physician things move very quickly.

Hi All,

Thank you for your responses. I have been very vigilant since understanding the strong history of PC in my paternal family. I have been doing the Total PSA tests since 1991 and Total and Free PSA tests since 2007. My employer used to have good private health insurance, but currently we have a choice of catastrophic, ultra-catastrophic or Kaiser. So even though Kaiser was my last choice, it is the only choice that normal people can afford. Despite being my last and only choice, I have been quite pleased with the quality and skill of the doctors that have provided my care. Kaiser does try to cut corners, but as a somewhat medically educated person who will be heard (polite, professional and persistent), the care is better than I expected.

Over the years since Dad's diagnosis with T4 disease that could not be cured by surgery; I had made a default decision that when (not if) I developed PC, that I would opt for RALF. My surgery is scheduled for 16 days from now. The risk of urinary incontinence is very real, but I am hopeful due to my age and the skill of my surgeon.

Some of the information on BT appears to show higher survival rates. This surprises me. I will do some more research and reading on BT. I am biased against the chance of radiation damage to the rectum with BT.

I am Catholic and understand the value of prayer. I will pray for all of you and ask you to pray for me.

Thanks, SciLife

__________________________________________________________________________________
Strong Family History of PC
Younger brother: PC at age 45 T2, PSA=2.95, + DRE > open Prost, doing fine now
Father: PC T4, age 55, PSA=20, Met to Lymph Nodes and Bones, Hormone, Rad, passed at age 64
GrandFather, Great Uncles all died of PC at age 62-64
Me: Year of Birth 1959
Diagnosed Oct 2014, Negative DRE, PSA=1, no symptoms, T1c
Biopsy shows 3 of 12 cores Adenacarcinoma 5mm, 2mm, 1mm max 3+3
Preemptive Biopsy due to Family History and age=55

Scheduled RALP 18 Dec with Dr. A. Martinez

Scott Moe - welcome to HW.

I was interested in doing brachy myself and Santa Clara Kaiser told me I'd have to go to Roseville if I wanted to do that. The cancer clinic down here points up there as the brachy experts. I almost did the bachy there but decided to stay closer to home and there was some concern about margins that the RO thought he'd hit better with a beam than the seeds.

Andrew

Hi all, thanks for the replies about Kaiser. Will read in more detail and do some digging maybe this weekend.

Andrew, It's really easy when coming from another Kaiser region- you have the same benefits as in your own region. You just have to call to get a visiting member number in the region you are visiting as the member numbers are not the same. This has to be renewed every 6 months. Very handy indeed. They can then pull your records from their care everywhere section and have your files right there for review. Unsure if films actually cross over but I will check on this.

Given the amazing things they are doing out on the west coast, it may be worth a trip to check them out.