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How to choose a Mayo doctor? (Rochester, MN)
My husband just received his biopsy results. He has prostate cancer. Gleason scores 3+3 and 3+4, Perineural Invasion in one sample. We have been thoroughly unimpressed with his current urology clinic. They seem to have the attitude of 'just trust us'. We have to scrape for any detail, there are no online records, few details ever provided. Needless to say, we are switching to Mayo, Rochester, MN. I have seen a few doctors names that seem to be highly regarded... Dr. Lomas, Dr. Frank, Dr. Tollefson. The doctors that were more available for his PET scan review were none of these doctors.
So, my question is this... how did you go about researching doctors? Is it best to take whichever doctor is available initially and then switch if needed, just to keep things moving and avoid delay? I know that all of Mayo's doctors are going to be highly regarded. We want the right doctor, but also realize that timing is important, especially since his does have PNI in one biopsy. This is all so overwhelming. Any guidance that could be provided would be greatly appreciated.
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I'm sorry this is happening but the good news is that those GS scores are within the category of early detection and so you should be envisioning a wide range of options. Sharing the age of your partner and their overall health will be helpful for this community to provide feedback and ideas that are relevant to this situation (I'm 52 and a 11 year survivor, as an example). In all cases, I do encourage you to embrace the role of self-education alongside the dual task of establishing a health team. Self-education is tremendously important so that you are asking the right questions and interpreting responses from an informed perspective. Stay positive.
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3 ReactionsThank you. I tried to edit my original post to include those pieces of information but didn’t see a way to do that. My husband is a very healthy 52 year old with no other health conditions. He exercises frequently and is in good shape. Over the past year he has had steadily increasing psa’s with his most recent being 10.3. He then did a 4k test that came back at 80. His did have an mri several months ago which came back clean. At that time he opted against the biopsy due to those results. Clearly, he now wishes he had done it back then.
I am glad to hear you are doing so well 10 years later. Hearing success stories definitely gives us hope.
I recently complete the first of 2 procedures for HDR Brachytherapy at Mayo. If you have not discovered at this time there are several treatment options available for your husband. After my diagnosis I initally met with several good urologists and a radaiation oncologist in the Minneapolis metro areas. They all made good recommendations but none could provide a full range of treament options. This combined with coordinating the care between the various providers created road blocks and delays in getting the needed treament.
The advantage with Mayo is they have all treament options and approach your care as a team. The radiation oncologist that is leading my care is one of the younger ones on Mayo's staff but I have full confidence in her care. My treament plan and care was determined by a team with years of experience, so whatever treatment plan your husband chooses he is in good hands. Mayo is also considered a Center of Excellence for prostate cancer. Good luck and I hope everything goes well for you and your husband.
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3 ReactionsThank you for taking the time to provide this insight. It really helps to reassure us that we are making the right decision in transferring care to Mayo. What you describe in the beginning is what we have experienced with his current Minneapolis based urologist group … completely disjointed, difficult to ask or get questions answered, and a strong attitude of ‘don’t ask questions, just trust us’. It has been beyond frustrating and doesn’t give us any sense of comfort that he isn’t just a number in their system. The Mayo is a couple of hours away but already the limited interaction we have had with them has been so positive. I do feel like we will be in good hands, and the collaborative team approach you have mentioned gives me reassurance that you are not putting all of your faith in just one doctor.
Thank you again, and I wish you the best of luck in your continued care as well.
Mayo, Rochester
Dr Khanna
Surgery 3/29/23
Almost Ready for 3 Month Blood Work
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1 ReactionI started at Mayo with Dr. Franks. I had prostate removed, radiation a year later. When my cancer progressed I was transferred to Dr. Kwon. Above responses about Mayo taking a team approach is correct from my experience. You will get appointments with doctors who will best meet your needs.
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2 ReactionsI am sorry you have had a difficult journey. It sounds like you are in great hands so hopefully they are able to help you win the battle soon.
I love that Mayo takes this team approach. When I initially scheduled my husband for transfer of care and pet scan review, they just assigned him with an available doctor. I didn’t think much of it at the time as I was just happy to get him transferred quickly. Then after thinking about it for a couple of days I started questioning going with just whoever was available. That was what prompted my initial post. I know all Mayo doctors are top notch. It’s so overwhelming to try to sort through bio’s and determine a doctor to move forward with based on a couple of paragraphs. He is now scheduled with Dr Boorjian, whose resume is quite impressive. Hopefully it’s the right choice, but I feel confident in seeing so many peoples posts here and on other threads that ultimately the goal of Mayo is to get him into the right hands, no matter who that will be.
Thank you for your insight and best of luck to you in your continued fight. 🙏🏻🙏🏻