New MD Anderson Doctor...Dr. Jo Ishizawa

[Lisa-1959]

I have been going to MD Anderson since 1997, and my most recent doctor has been Dr. Philip Thompson. He is returning to Australia after the first of the year, and I recently received a notice that I have been assigned a new doctor, Dr. Jo Ishizawa. So far, I have been unable to find any reviews/ratings for him, and according to his research, AML appears to be his focus...not CLL. Has anyone had any experience with Dr. Ishizawa?

[J1015]

I haven’t heard of him. I go to Dr. Wierda. Wouldn’t hurt to ask if you can switch before you get established with Dr Jo

[Lisa-1959 in reply to J1015]

I have expressed my desire to have a CLL specialist with the nurse I always work with. She said she would discuss it with Dr. Thompson, but that was a couple of weeks ago and haven't heard anything more.

[J1015 in reply to Lisa-1959]

hopefully you will hear something back soon after the holidays. Wishing you the best.

[SeymourB]

Lisa-1959 -

I'm in a similar situation. I saw Dr. Thompson twice, and he himself picked Dr. Mahesh Swaminathan for me. Dr. Swaminathan's papers are on MDS and ALL. Both are in the Department of Leukemia, and see a variety of patients with different leukemias.

faculty.mdanderson.org/prof...

faculty.mdanderson.org/prof...

I'm hoping to start a trial soon that will be run by Dr. Jain. So the big issue for me is what is different about CLL in terms of emergency care on a trial during drug ramp-ups that Dr. Swaminathan might be unfamiliar with. I can't think of anything at the moment.

A few of the more senior staff list specialities, but I don't see specialities listed for Dr. Ishizawa or Swaminathan:

mdanderson.org/research/dep...

I had heard that Dr. Thompson had the highest patient load of any doctor in the leukemia department, so spreading the patient load was a significant task.

Please let me know what you find out.

=seymour=

[Lisa-1959 in reply to SeymourB]

I didn't know that Dr. Thompson had such a heavy patient load. Like you, I was told that Dr. Thompson along with other staff had assigned his patients to various doctors. Not sure if the criteria was based on the patient's diagnosis and needs...or just availability in the other doctor's schedule. My appointment is not until June, but I will report in if I hear anything.

[jj411]

Lisa,

I am glad you had luck at MDA. I tried in the beginning but was informed that MDA will decide what DR I see so I went to Texas Oncology in Willowbrook for treatment. I also went to Methodist in the Med Center but the DR I chose went to head up the bone marrow department.

[Lisa-1959 in reply to jj411]

I am sure all of the doctors are great, but the 2nd doctor I saw at MDA in 1997 was not a favorite, so some are definitely better than others. Glad you were able to connect with good doctors at Texas Oncology & Methodist.

[jj411 in reply to Lisa-1959]

Lisa, me too. I am lucky enough to start a soft remission in august so we’ll see what the new years brings. Still have a lot of joint and bone pain but don’t know if it’s from the year of steroids or the O&V.

[Lisa-1959 in reply to jj411]

I suppose a soft remission would be what mine is also called. In June 2021, I had not reach MRD undetected after 2 1/2 years on Venclexta with 6 Rituxan infusions early in that time frame. It was 0.02% so very low...in June of this year, it had risen to 0.04%. I was in watch and wait from 1997 until 2018, so I am praying this second watch and wait is a long time as well!

[SeymourB in reply to jj411]

jj411 -

They originally assigned me a doctor, too. I asked to change to Dr. Thompson, and they agreed. I saw him in August and again in November.

The big thing I will be looking for is communication skills - both in clinic, and outside, especially since I'm starting treatment. Being in a trial complicates it some, but I think it also motivates them a little more. We'll see. It's not just the doctor, but his nurses. In a trial, I believe there's a separate nurse.

=seymour=

[HopeME in reply to SeymourB]

Yes. In a clinical trial there is a research nurse who interacts with the patient’s regular care team and helps the patient with the clinical trial. At least that is the way it is set up at Dana Farber. I’ve found my research nurse to be accessible and helpful. I’m just getting into this so I don’t have all the answers on how the two teams interact. I have an upcoming meeting with the research nurse and my existing nurse practitioner. I assume the purpose of the meeting is to coordinate care? I’ll know better after the meeting. Good luck with your treatment a MDA.

Best,

Mark

[SeymourB in reply to HopeME]

Mark -

How far is your regular care team from Dana Farber?

=seymour=

[HopeME in reply to SeymourB]

My primary care physician’s office is just outside of Boston at a different hospital but both hospitals are part of the same group and on the same computer system so that helps. I haven’t had to have them interact yet but I assume it will work well 🤞. You are wise to focus on communication as this a key factor for successful outcomes. These days hospital staff have full case loads and they are under a lot of pressure which can make communication difficult. Good luck with your decision making process. I think you are on the right track.

Best,

Mark