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Just diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma 23+ and looking for input
Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: May 4, 2022 | Replies (12)Comment receiving replies
Thank you for the link. Yes, I would truly appreciate to know more how your Mayo team works closely with your oncology team back home. I look forward to your reply later when you're back online.
Regarding your question about being confident in my team, my wife and I are in Thailand and being treated at a renowned hospital in the region which also happens to be listed as one of the top 150 hospitals in the world by Newsweek. To be honest, I feel my oncologist is very knowledgable in blood cancers and oncology in general, he's also a professor at the top medical school here, and he did an anatomic / clinical pathology fellowship at Mayo twenty-five years ago. And perhaps it's a cultural thing, but I feel he doesn't particularly appreciate it when I ask a ton of questions that I've researched online or a web site about my disease and treatments etc, and prefers I put 100% trust in his experience and treatment recommendations.
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From my experience, the collaboration between my local clinic and my Mayo transplant team has been flawless. I was undergoing the final phases of chemotherapy for my AML back home and knew a bone marrow transplant was required. My local hematologist/oncologist worked with Mayo-Rochester to make necessary arrangements for the transplant. At that point my local doctor graciously pointed out that “From now on, your doctor at Mayo will be calling the shots. I’ve gotten you as far as I can take you in treatment but I will continue to work with your transplant team on this end for as long as you need me.”
Well, that continues to this day, 3 years later. I have labs done locally, and any medications or infusions orders from Mayo can be administered at my local infusion lab. I had a couple of instances occurring during my transplant recovery which required prompt treatment by my local doctor, who then called my transplant doctor for direction. There’s no chest thumping or any feelings of intruding on each other’s territory. It’s a flawless collaboration. Obviously I can’t answer from the perspective of you team in Thailand but Mayo Clinic makes every effort to work with local providers for the benefit of the patient.
Though I have to say, it’s not that easy with every doctor. My new primary care provider sees things differently! He doesn’t appreciate being second in command. Fortunately my Mayo and my oncologist are usually all I need. 😅
It does sound as though your doctor is very knowledgeable and esteemed in his profession. And being in one of the top medical schools/hospital in the world is very impressive.
I’m not sure if it’s a foreign cultural thing, as you mentioned, or if it’s the age and revered position of your current doctor that has him less appreciative of fielding questions. I admit I’m spoiled because it’s not a situation I have with my team. They encourage questions and are forthcoming with information. But again, it’s part of the Mayo culture to be open.
You asked about continuity of medications between Thailand and the US or vice versa. I don’t have experience with that first hand. But I have mentored a young woman who lives in India with a parallel cancer/transplant journey. She’s shared her medication list with me and they are mostly all the same. She had rituximab and that was the same as mine. So I think that would be something to discuss with your doctors wherever they are.
How soon does your doctor want to begin treatment?