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Center of Excellence questions/recommendations for CA resident
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: May 14 8:37am | Replies (37)Comment receiving replies
Greg52, nice question about Centers of Excellence. There is no national standard. The designation comes from various sources. It can come from insurance companies as a cost saving measure, which I find frightening.
More importantly, it sounds as though you've spoken with an oncological surgeon. If you haven't yet you might want to consult with a radiation oncologist and a chemical oncologist. The skilled usually recommend their speciality because they are doing what they believe in. On the other hand you may be thinking what many people think with a cancer diagnosis--get it out of me. If you've decided on surgery then find the best surgeon. I wouldn't risk this surgery with someone less experienced because the area is so sensitive to damage
For the same reason I'd check out radiation before deciding on surgery.
If you can manage, don't consider distance as an obstacle. You can get initial appointments by zoom. UCLA is only several hours from the central valley --Kishan has such a reputation that other ROs recommend him. Percy Lee at Lennar Irvine Cancer Center is another great choice for radiation. Rossi at CA Proton in La Jolla has the most experience with prostate cancer--no surgeries there.
Avoiding surgery, I've no information on surgeons.
Anyone out there with an excellent surgeon in California? We could use some names.
Replies to "Greg52, nice question about Centers of Excellence. There is no national standard. The designation comes from..."
I was diagnosed gleason 3+4 =7 PSA 4.1. At age 60. I decided to wait to do anything after doing much research. As my PSA increased over the next 5 years to 10, Idecided to have the Robotic Prostatectomy. I chose to use Dr. Ahlering at U C Irvine. I did have to pay more by using him, but my health was worth it. Here is a little bit about him:
Dr. Thomas Ahlering is a highly regarded surgeon in Urologic cancers. He received his medical degree at St. Louis University School of Medicine, followed by a residency in urology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and a two-year fellowship in urologic oncology under the clinical training of Dr. Donald G. Skinner. Following his training he was the Chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology at the City of Hope (1986-1992) when he was recruited as Chief of the Division of Urology at UC Irvine in 1992-2002. His years of experience in treatment of prostate, bladder, kidney, and testicular cancers has placed him as one of the original America’s Best Doctors since his selection in 1994. He has received local, national, and international recognition for his expertise in urologic oncology, particularly in the development of Robotic radical prostatectomy with the da Vinci robot. He has performed more than 2500 such surgeries, including the first robotic prostatectomy surgeries in Southern California, Denmark, Australia, and Canada.
I have an appointment with Percy LEE Monday, March 18th. Lennar center is just 15 minutes from my house. But when I looked up his experience is in Lung cancer not prostate cancer!
Do you have any information that he treats PC patients often?
I also have an appointment Kishan at UCLA next Friday at UCLA, about 55 miles from my house, not a problem.
I have G9 PC with no Metastasis from PSMA Pet scan just yesterday.
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Dr Lee at UCI claims he has done 6300 RP surgeries. Please check it out. He is doing my Biopsy on March 5th.