Hi Murphy1 and Vafan and all.
Went back to work full time and had computer problems at home. I have not been on site for a little while.
Murphy1 my email is listed so contact me directly any time.
I will give the long and short of my experience.
I started out with a family Urologist (local community hosp) that I never was thrilled with. He did the biopsy which I was always concerned with the accuracy and skill in doing it. My two other opinions were from well known Universty Hospitals Northwestern and University of Chicago.
Universtity of Chicago was and is known for their cutting edge treatment and experience. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate my Doc as a 8. He was surprised at the amount of cancer and the location was not close to where he thought. It was a gleason 7 not a 6. He is not yet playing the blame game with my original Doc yet but I am waiting.
Surgical team I would rate a 9.
Post op care I would rate as a 6. I had to go to Cardiac not Urology floor and they did not know what to do except watch my heart. I was out of Hosp in 30 hours. I complained and my Doc said his floor would have been much better but it is the Anethesiologists call where I go.
Hospital in General
This is a huge City Hospital that is busy and doesnt have fancy carpeting or private rooms, although mine was in fact. They brought a bed for my wife also. I have a friend who repairs all types of surgical and lab equipment. UC and Northwestern buys new equipment when it gets dusty and has back ups and complete service agreements for all their stuff. They sell their used stuff to community hospitals. Good People, Good tools.
Four things I would do differently. I would ask more questions in regards to the biopsy that everything is based on. Is there any other test we can do so you know more going in no matter what option you choose. Two, I would have seen a radiologist or oncologist or someone other than a Surgeon. I am 98% sure I would have choosen surgery however in my case. Three, on more than one occasion the staff at UC kept assuming I wanted another Doctor to do the surgery and it was odd. I had the Chief surgeon and everyone thought I wanted the assistant. I would have taken the hint and checked out both of them. Four, with biopsy I had a 1% chance that my lymph nodes were involved but because pathology was somewhat a surprise in hind site I would asked that we check them. I still dont know why they cant be checked and not removed. The procedure took 4 hours. I was in recovery 4 hours. I had unexpected heart complications suspected from electrolyte imbalance from fasting and possably my Gerd. In DaVinci your head is lowered alot. I dont know about open surgery in this regard but if you have Gerd you better give that some thought. I had terrible heart burn when I woke up.
I would definetly recomend you check out this Hospital. That is if you want to stay local. There are many other Hospitals you will learn on this site that have equal or greater experience.
Northwestern Memorial
I had a great experience at this location. Talk about plush. This is the Ritz of Hospitals I have seen. It was tough choosing between UC and NWMEMorial. I was set on DaVinci and the Doc here had 170 under his belt where my Doc at UC had 700 and was the big boss. The support system seemed to be better here (NWMH). Lots of interaction with team approach. Funny thing, I found out my potential surgeon has a country home by mine in Wisc. and very similar interests in cross country skiing. He was at a race 6 hours away where my father in law was and my surgery was the next day. Yikes!! Huge race 6 hour drive and then I assumed he would say, hey lets get that thing out, what do ya say. He, his wife and children placed very high. Great Guy truly. I called his office and he called me back on my cell and talked to me on the phone for over an hour. I would definetly recomend him and/or others at this Hospital. I am likely to fish with this Doc this summer.
I hope I did not go on too long. Please email me and I will give you my phone number. I have been talking to a few brothers and sisters as of late. By the way, I am located in the western suburbs of chicago.
Vafan, your the best I am so happy for you and your hubby. Keep in touch.
God Bless
Frank