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July 17, 2006
- Day 6 - Week 15 - Searching For the Right Doctor
for You
I am delighted to be able to
report that Jennifer and Mark have found a wonderful
oncologist near-by their home in Huntington Beach.
To the credit of both, they have done the homework
required to find someone with whom they can relate,
and a person who has both competence and good
bedside manners. Dr. Brewster in Dr. Desai’s office
won them over with her professionalism, ability to
explain what was needed for treatment for Jen and
why, and her ability to make something complex and
scary understandable and doable.
Mark has been the research
specialist extraordinaire as they have sought out
second and third opinions as to next step options.
If Jen were 12 she could have taken the newly
authorized vaccine for cervical cancer, but
prevention was not an option, so who best to do the
follow up chemo and radiation therapy was the quest.
At a recent gathering someone
remarked that we spend hours getting 2nd
and 3rd opinions about washing machines
or tires, and it is commonplace that our homework is
extensive and exhaustive for something a simple as a
steel belted radial tire. We consult consumer
reports, check out the ads in the paper and shop
till we drop just to save a few bucks for the best
tire for our SUV.
Mark put that kind of effort
and more into finding the right doctor for
Jennifer. Jen will begin radiation following the
family vacation with the children on Cape Cod at the
end of August. She will travel one half hour daily
for five weeks to create a protective barrier
because there is the likelihood that cancer cells
may have broken through the walls. With confidence
growing daily that she will beat this disease,
Jennifer now feels that her team is complete.
My search was not as exhaustive
because my situation was more acute and I relied on
the counsel and advice of Dr. Ernie Prudente. I
will admit I did some after the fact research and
looked at Dana Farber in Boston, MD Anderson in
Houston and Hutchinson in Seattle, but that only
confirmed that I was in good hands at the Angeles
Clinic in Santa Monica under the watchful eye of Dr.
Larry Piro and Nellie.
Expressing satisfaction with
our doctors, this father and daughter duo face
cancer together knowing that we are there for each
other, while acknowledging and appreciating the
support and love expressed by Katy and Mark;
invaluable and restorative on a daily basis.
The Kreitler Compact is now all
about two members of our family getting well. We
both feel good about the team and with a team
anything is possible.
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