New Doctor

[Mary Jo]

Hello All,

For those of you who saw my post when I was going through the process of getting a new oncologist I thought I'd let you know what happened. By the way..............thanks to those of you who had advice to offer me in helping me through that process.

My onc. is leaving and I was "assigned" a new oncologist to "help make the transition smooth for me." Anyway, the onc. I was "assigned" was not the onc. for me - at least in my opinion. I preceded to do some research on who I was "assigned" and other oncs. at the hospital I go too. That's where my questioning of you all came in.

Anyway, I ended up calling my nurse practitioner, Julie, to question her on things that were bothering me about the new oncologist I was assigned and asking about other oncologists I had done some research on. I asked her if it were true that the onc. assigned to me was not board certified in anything and she said that was true as he was just completing his fellowship as an oncolgist at Froedtert. I then preceded to ask her about 2 other oncs. I was considering. Thankfully Julie and I have a great relationship and she was honest with me as I was with her about my feelings and what I wanted. She did tell me that she was instrumental in the "assigning" of patients with 3 different oncs. and her thought process with me was that I was fine and wouldn't see an onc. much more than 2 or 3 times per year. I told her that I hoped and prayed that was really true and God willing never had to face this beast again BUT if recurrence was part of my future this new onc. wasn't really the onc. I wanted to have. She said after listening to my explanations and reasoning that I was right and that my personality isn't the type that would just "settle" for what I was given if I had doubts or questions and felt that the match wasn't right. So..............................the good news is this................ my nurse spoke to Dr. Chitambar today. He is a 2007/08 best doctor - board certified in hematology - medical oncology and internal medicine. Care emphasis is breast cancer a long with a few others. My nurse Julie assured me that he was very nice and communication with him would be open and honest. Also, my nurse goes a long with him. So, I feel blessed on both accounts. A great replacement for the great onc. I had and my wonderful nurse practitioner gets to stay with me.

Thank you to those who helped me through this process. I am so happy I spoke up and looked out for myself.

Mary Jo