Priscilla

I wish this question was as much fun as most of the posts on this site, but you have to do what you have to do. I will be in Florida in the Vanderbuilt Beach area for the months of February and March. I will need to receive radiation treatment for breast cancer while I am there. I am looking for quality care in the Naples area. If anyone can help me out and recommend a good hospital and radiologist, I would be so greatful. First hand advice is the best. Hope I will be able to enjoy all those wonderful restaurants. Thanks
Priscilla

Sarah

Hi Priscilla,

My sister in-law just went through radiation treatments for brest cancer. She described it as very taxing. She was tired all of the time after the period of precedures. What about inquiring at sloan Kettering in New York about reliable facilities in Naples. She actually asked friends who had been through the procedure also and opted to go to another area hospital (Beth Israel) to avoid the masses of patients at Sloan Kettering. Just knwo that Sloan has the best reputaion in NYC. Know that from a former aquatence that was a radiologist.


Sorry that is the best I can do. Other than tell you to purhaps look up a cancer survivor chatroom on the internet. They have got to be out there. I know that Sloan kettering has a good website had to visit it for other reasons, perhaps there is a link.

mamajo

Have you checked with your doctor and/or treatment center where you live? It was my Nephrologist who helped me out when we came to Florida for a winter when I needed dialysis help. We had also gone to the Cleveland Clinic and they recommended a good Nephrologist here (We are living in SW FL now).
There is also a new Cleveland Clinic in the Naples area and that might be a good place to start, AFTER you talk to your doctors.

ParrotMom

Priscilla...I've "Googled" for you
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...=Google+Search

That done..Sarah is right.. ask your Oncologist for a strong recommendation...if he has none...perhap you might forgo your trip and stay in your area .

Sarah

mamajo that is good idea but I can understand Priscilla wanting to go outside of a physicians advice also. I have had a number of doctors just refer me to facilities that they do business with rather than NATIONALY recognized facilities in the area when it comes to mamographies. Also from my sister in-laws experience some people also want feed back from people that have been through the process. That is why I think you should search for cancer survivor chatrooms in addition to what others (clinical advice)are suggesting Priscilla.

Patrick

I don't want to start a debate about the care and quality of the long established and for many years only hospital in Naples -- Naples Community Hospital, but I will say now that we have the Cleveland Clinic I'd definitely go there!

Incidentally, I have just recently decided to turn all my health care over to the Cleveland Clinic, switching to a regular staff doctor there as my personal physician, partly because when I need to see a specialist I will be able to see one immediately -- not wait a month or two.

For what it's also worth, if you are looking for an Oncologist while here, I can't say enough good things about Dr. Lillian Love. She has done amazing things for quite a number of my friends who are cancer survivors (and in some cases non-survivors).

ParrotMom

Sad to say that working in a small community hospital more than 20 years that the M.D. with the best beside manner isn't always the best M.D. Now that there is a satellite of the Cleveland Clinic I would look to to a referral to that group.

gplimpton

Priscilla, I know several of the radiation oncologists in Naples. I believe there are only 6 in all in the city.
Contrary to some of the above advice, the most prominent rad oncs there trained at MGH (Harvard) at some point in their careers (or Michigan or MD Anderson in Houston, which have top oncology programs) so you need not necessarily travel to get good quality care. Also, breast cancer radiation therapy is, from a technical standpoint, one of the most straightforward types of radiation therapy to administer, with only minimal potential risk for complications.

Also, if you'd be receiving radiation therapy only to the breast, without chemotherapy, the fatigue factor is not typically too bothersome if you're in otherwise good health. It's typically very well tolerated with no significant change in lifestyle. Chemotherapy toxicities vary greatly depending on the drugs being used, and there's great variability in tolerance from one patient to another.

If you go to www.astro.org you can search through the board certified rad oncs in Naples by entering it in the physician search box.

At Naples Commumity Hospital, Debra Freeman would be the person you would want to see for breast cancer radiation therapy. She is the director of the department, and specializes in breast cancer management.

If you leave an e-mail address at which I can reach you I will offer more specific insights.

gplimpton

Also, the Cleveland Clinic's Naples facility doesn't offer radiation therapy services (yet) I don't believe.
I'm sure they will be integrated eventually, but at present I don't think there are firm plans for a center.

Priscilla

Many thanks to all that responded to my question. To gplimpton, my e-mail address is [email protected].......I would appreciate your recomendations. I will be having chemo in Boston area before I go to Florida, and then follow up with more chemo when I return to Boston in April. I will not go to Florida unless I feel that I can get quality radiation treatments while I am there, but we really want to go. This is a big decision for me to make. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks
Priscilla

mamajo

Priscilla, what ever you decide, good luck and my prayers are with you. Hope you can come down here this winter. There are many excellent doctors in SW Florida..guess it's cause they have all us 'older' ones to take care of

gail

In my opinion the best way to get the kind of care you want is to back up a little and instead of looking directly for a radiation center, first identify an oncologist in that area - your local Boston MD should be able to help with this.

Since patients do not self-refer for radiation, an oncologist is usually the point of entry into the system. You will need an MD in Florida, or at least one of record. It is possible that you may need to have an appointment with someone in Florida ahead of time - or at least your MA MD will have to do a record transfer/referrel.

I think what you are attempting to do is great. Be careful with "first hand advice" - while patient satisfaction evaluations are important to your quality of life, sometimes they are not the best guage of quality of medical care.

Wise to be doing this search now - when my father was having chemo in Georgia and needed routine blood work in Massachusetts 2 weeks after, it was incredibly complicated to get this done - turns out he needed a Massachusetts MD since if his bloodwork was abnormal, someone had to assume responsibility. (And I am an RN who should have been able to efficiently navigate the health care system)

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

ParrotMom

Priscilla...coming from Boston I would highly recommend you call the Breast Clinic at at the Faulkner or the M.D.s at the Beth Israel for a recommendation..PERIOD. Being from this area myself I would do exactly that..Since the Faulkner is THE BEST there is do doubt that they will give you a recommendation, perhaps somebody who studied there. A dear lady I know is going to be having a breast MRI next week there...being sent by her specialist in Worcester. [email protected]

diversityjobber

I recommend you check out the Dattoli Cancer Center in Sarasota. Dr. Michael Dattoli treated me for prostate cancer very successfully. It's worth the drive from Naples to visit him.
http://www.dattoli.com/

TedTurner

Dattoli is not a breast cancer specialist. He is a prostate cancer specialist.

Patrick

I know this isn't a funny issue, but it is sort of funny, someone recommending a breast cancer patient to see a prostate cancer specialist.

Priscilla

Thanks to everyone who responded to my request. My Radiation Onclogist in Boston has me all set up in Naples to receive my treatment. It looks like it is all going to work out and I feel very comfortable with the arrangements. Thanks again, Florida here I come.
Priscilla

Patrick

Out of curiosity, Priscilla, mind mentioning whom your doctor has set you up with?

Best of luck to you. I think it is wise to work at this through your own doctor.

Priscilla

Patrick
My doctor at Mass General arranged for me to be treated by Dr. Michael Hanus. He is with 21st Century Oncology. He comes highly recommended and has an outstanding background. He was trained at MD Anderson in Houston, which is the largest single specialty cancer hospital in the world. It is one of the 3 or 4 best training programs in the USA. I feel very lucky to have him. My treatment will be with IMRT, the newest technological advance in radiation oncology. I will only have to go 2 miles for my radiation. My husband kidingly (I think) said that I will be able to ride my bike. I start Chemotherapy this coming Tuesday in Boston, and will be finished just in time to go to Florida. I will have daily radiation while I am there, and then come back to Boston and have three more months of chemo. Timing is perfect and I feel very lucky. We love Naples and I feel like I am going to have my cake and eat it too. I will be back to Naples the following year, good as new. I enjoy all your posts Patrick. I read this Fodors chat all the time, usually for more fun things than cancer treatment, but the group came through for me, even with this subject. What are you going to be in this year with the Players? Thanks for your interest.
Priscilla

Patrick

Thanks for your reply, Priscilla. From mid January to mid February, I'll be doing a great, fun, and difficult role in ART for the Players. It's the role played by Alan Alda on Broadway and Albert Finney in London.

So by all means come see ART in February, and stop backstage and say hello after the show.