Phoenix Mayo?

Hello all! Any recommendation for Phoenix area oncologists? We will be moved in August and had planned on Mayo - after reading thru some of the comments about Mayo I’m thinking we may need to look at more doctors? Looking for recommendations, or what doc you’re with at Mayo? Thanks, stay well!

[Hidden]

We Love Dr Pariminder Singh . He saved me and is a prostate cancer specialist now at Mayo Scottsdale .

[Fairwind]

Banner Cancer Research Center, 3836 N. Campbell Ave. is packed full of first rate oncologists..Banner Health pretty much runs the show in Phoenix in partnership with The University of Arizona..Have your insurance ducks lined up and in order or you won't get past the front door..

[Hidden in reply to Fairwind]

I’m at banner in Tucson . I’m on Medicare and Medicaid . Things are paid by my test drug plan that I’m on . I don’t need any treatments right now. I’m t hank God !

[Hidden]

All I can add is another question, as I live in the Phoenix area. Anyone have experience with the Cancer Treatment Center of America facility in this area, with regard to prostate cancer oncologists?

[Scoofer33 in reply to Hidden]

I’ve only been under the care of two medical oncologists in my cancer experience (both of whom I have respect for) so take this for what it’s worth. Please know I’m aware the information I’m giving you is anecdotal In nature and for every story I share there exists, I’m sure, another one to contradict it.

I live in South California and the day after my 55th birthday I decided to get a second opinion at CTCA in Goodyear, AZ in December of 2015. After some compassionate phone counseling which included research into the intricacies of my insurance plan, CTCA flew me and my wife out to Phoenix, and put us up in a nice hotel in Goodyear. The purpose of this trip was for a team of doctors to examine me, the slides from my prostate biopsy, the pathology from my Robotically-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy, and the imaging from my recent MRI’s. Three days later they were to give me a treatment plan. However, when that day arrived, they declined, stating that they still needed additional information! They asked if I would agree to let them drill a core sample of bone out of my vertebrae (T11) and grow a culture from that in a Petri dish before giving me their treatment plan. I agreed and soon was knocked out with some dreamy Propofol while they took what they needed.

Several days later (after a side trip with my wife to the snow-sifted red rocks of Sedona) it was confirmed that I had extensive metastatic prostate cancer lesions throughout my hips, pelvis and spine. I was told that they could treat my symptoms and keep me comfortable for many years to come but that, unfortunately, my cancer had developed to the point where there would be no remission, no cure.

During this stay in Goodyear, my wife and I availed ourselves to the shuttle bus to and from the hospital. Every morning on the bus patients, learning that we were first-time visitors, would break into unsolicited testimony of the loving care lavished upon them by the patient-centric staff of all departments at CTCA, including some contrasting stories of ill-treatment endured at other world-renowned medical facilities across the United States. “They nearly killed me at MD Anderson” claimed one person. Another stated, “When I went to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota I felt I was being mined for data. I felt like they were very efficient at treating the disease, but very bad at treating the patient.“

No facility or physician is flawless, but I’ve felt very well served by the caring folks at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. I was randomly assigned an oncologist at intake, at least as far as I know, but I’ve been very pleased with the choice. My medical oncologist there is the very photogenic Ashish Sangal, who seems to make an appearance in every television ad aired in Southern California. I believe he has my absolute best interest in mind and a genuine care for me in this hard road I’ve been tasked to travel. I’ve explained to him that quality of life is more important to me than quantity of life. However, I have two darling granddaughters whose lives I’d dear love to see develop for as long as possible before I ultimately leave my wife and adult two children.

CTCA seems to have relationships with drug manufacturers and have often written successful letters on my behalf to ask for many of these extremely expensive medicines to be donated free of charge. I have Anthem Blue Cross PPO medical coverage through my wife’s former employer, and even though CTCA is outside my network, they’ve waived the out-of-network fees they should be owed and additionally accept my in-network deductible as my out-of-network deductible as well. They also have several satellite offices in various parts of the Phoenix area which may be very useful, especially if you might need radiation treatments Monday through Friday, or some other similarly scheduled treatment.

CTCA patients will tell you that the patient-centric model of treatment there is not just given lip service but is a philosophy embraced all the way from your oncologist to the cashier at the cafe, who, by the way, is referred to as a “stakeholder” since a casual comment of encouragement by him or her could be the most important factor in your mental state before an operation or procedure that day! A very special radiation oncology nurse that works at CTCA after years at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, says he much prefers the ability this model allows him to truly serve his patients, and this is a guy who has truly gone above and beyond to see to my comfort during lengthy sessions of nuclear medicine treatments.

Thank you for your patience with my ramblings!

[Hidden in reply to Scoofer33]

Thanks for all the info! It is greatly appreciated- stay well!

[Hidden in reply to Scoofer33]

Dear Scoofer ! This a brilliant review. What you’ve been through is a lot . Wow! Besides my Ill bed side mannered urologist , every dr and nurse and tech that’s helped me in five years were great people trying to save me I feel . You sound happy with your care . That’s big time good news. I think you’ll continue to get great care and kick this freakin can down the o bumpy road .?

[Scoofer33 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the encouragement, whimpy-p! I had to laugh when you talked about your urologist. I had a supposedly gifted surgeon (For my ethmoidectomy) many years ago with such a horrible bedside manner that other doctors In that healthcare system would shudder when I mentioned her name! Are you being affected by wildfires in your area?

[Hidden in reply to Scoofer33]

My urologist is a gifted surgeon . He was pissed off and told us so, that he wasn’t able to make money off of me because I was not a candidate for an RP.🥺

[Scoofer33 in reply to Hidden]

Yikes!

[Hidden in reply to Scoofer33]

Prescott is at the same fire risk as paradise Cali that burned to the ground. The west is a tinder box this year .🔥

[Scoofer33 in reply to Hidden]

Our family has elderly friends who had a compound of five structures on their property in Paradise; one house for them to live in and four cabins to rent. They were terrified to leave knowing it all would burn, but there was only one way out and they took off immediately driving through walls of flames on both sides of the road. Devastating.

[Hidden in reply to Scoofer33]

The horror!🥺

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I do not . I e see their adds on tv. Looks like a nice place .

[jbairdjr]

We live in the Phoenix area (Fountain Hills) and worked with Mayo for about 3 years. Overall the experience was very good: they're incredibly well-organized, our MO Dr. Alan Bryce is extremely knowledgable, and they have a lot of resources so they can provide many different treatments in-house. We left them for two reasons: they are (in our opinion) too closely tied to standard of care and unwilling to consider anything "out of the box," and they would only tell us about things (clinical trials, for instance) Mayo is doing - they try to keep everything in-house. Now we're working with Arizona Oncology (Dr. Amber Flaherty) and we're quite happy with her, but the "captain" of our team is Dr. Fabio Almeida at the Center for Integrative Health. He's not only knowledgable but very open-minded and creative, plus he has contacts all over the world and has been able to get us in quickly for treatments others typically wait months to receive (e.g., a robotic lymph node dissection at the U of Southern Cal). When Snuffy Meyers retired several of his patients went to Dr. Fabio. I can't recommend him highly enough.

Best of luck to you! Shari and John Baird

[Hidden in reply to jbairdjr]

I share that feeling about Mayo strictly "staying in their lane" and not offering any treatment not considered standard of care.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

😩

[Hidden in reply to jbairdjr]

I like the sound of Fabio and integrated med.🤙🏽

[Hidden]

How’s the Mayo?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

We’re not there yet...end of next month - gonna start with Dr. Bryce at Mayo. He is partnered with our current doc here at NW. so much going on... cancer, move, kid moving moving out on his own, .. really been a whirlwind. Really appreciated Scoofer33 review, gave us lots to consider. Still on Zytiga, PSA rose but other Numbers still ok 🙏🏻🤞. Stay safe with those fires, we’re in Anthem so far ok.. 😳

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

You could do alot worse than mayo. You will survive !🙏🏼