› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Oncologist recommendation?
- This topic has 27 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 9 months ago by
DZnDef.
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- April 8, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Hi all,
I have been diagnosed Stage IV melanoma, unknown primary (melanoma found in my lung). Does anyone have a recommendation for a good "melanoma speicalist" in my area? I live in Orange County, California (that's Southern California). I am willing to travel if necessary, but given all the sunshine here, I would expect we would be crawling with melanoma specialists locally, no?
I asked my Thoracic Surgeon for a recommendation to a melanoma specialist and he referred me to Dr. Jakowatz of UCI Medical. He is a surgical oncologist. Is that the right "type" for me to see? I have my first meeting with him tomorrow (Wednesday) but I have heard mixed reviews about him so I may want to keep looking.
Everyone on this board seems to stress the importance of finding a good "melanoma specialist". I'm all ears for recommendations.
Thanks,
Maggie
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- April 8, 2014 at 8:57 pm
Hi there,
Dr. Michael Wong in Los Angeles at USC Norrris Center and he is a melanoma specialist and he covers a large area of California, not just LA. His office is 323-865-3360. I have a list of most of the melanoma specialists for the state, if you want to send me a message I can send you the other names. Hope this helps.
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- April 8, 2014 at 8:57 pm
Hi there,
Dr. Michael Wong in Los Angeles at USC Norrris Center and he is a melanoma specialist and he covers a large area of California, not just LA. His office is 323-865-3360. I have a list of most of the melanoma specialists for the state, if you want to send me a message I can send you the other names. Hope this helps.
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- April 8, 2014 at 8:57 pm
Hi there,
Dr. Michael Wong in Los Angeles at USC Norrris Center and he is a melanoma specialist and he covers a large area of California, not just LA. His office is 323-865-3360. I have a list of most of the melanoma specialists for the state, if you want to send me a message I can send you the other names. Hope this helps.
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- April 8, 2014 at 9:06 pm
I have been very impressed with what I have read about Omid Hamid at the Angeles Clinic. However the only personal experience I have had with that clinic is 2 phone calls and I was impressed as well.
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- April 8, 2014 at 9:06 pm
I have been very impressed with what I have read about Omid Hamid at the Angeles Clinic. However the only personal experience I have had with that clinic is 2 phone calls and I was impressed as well.
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- April 8, 2014 at 9:06 pm
I have been very impressed with what I have read about Omid Hamid at the Angeles Clinic. However the only personal experience I have had with that clinic is 2 phone calls and I was impressed as well.
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- April 9, 2014 at 12:08 am
I have been a patient of Dr. O'Day for many, many years. He has continued to save my life. He will never give up on his patient. He will continue to find a treatment that will work. He is very likely and has a terrific bed side many.He makes you feel like you are his only patient. The Beverly hill Cancer Center is very nice with a infusion center that gives a patient lots of privacy. The nurses are very accommadating and make you feel like a family member.
As for Dr. O'day, he is compassionate and a brilliant melanoma specialist& researcher. He was one of the primary doctors that did the research & trials on IPI now known as Yervoy. I highly recommend him to you.
If you are interested, here is Dr.O'Day's contact information:
soday@bhcancercenter.com
The Beverly Hills Cancer Center
8900 Wilshire Blvd
BH,CA 90211
310-432-8900 -
- April 9, 2014 at 12:08 am
I have been a patient of Dr. O'Day for many, many years. He has continued to save my life. He will never give up on his patient. He will continue to find a treatment that will work. He is very likely and has a terrific bed side many.He makes you feel like you are his only patient. The Beverly hill Cancer Center is very nice with a infusion center that gives a patient lots of privacy. The nurses are very accommadating and make you feel like a family member.
As for Dr. O'day, he is compassionate and a brilliant melanoma specialist& researcher. He was one of the primary doctors that did the research & trials on IPI now known as Yervoy. I highly recommend him to you.
If you are interested, here is Dr.O'Day's contact information:
soday@bhcancercenter.com
The Beverly Hills Cancer Center
8900 Wilshire Blvd
BH,CA 90211
310-432-8900 -
- April 9, 2014 at 12:08 am
I have been a patient of Dr. O'Day for many, many years. He has continued to save my life. He will never give up on his patient. He will continue to find a treatment that will work. He is very likely and has a terrific bed side many.He makes you feel like you are his only patient. The Beverly hill Cancer Center is very nice with a infusion center that gives a patient lots of privacy. The nurses are very accommadating and make you feel like a family member.
As for Dr. O'day, he is compassionate and a brilliant melanoma specialist& researcher. He was one of the primary doctors that did the research & trials on IPI now known as Yervoy. I highly recommend him to you.
If you are interested, here is Dr.O'Day's contact information:
soday@bhcancercenter.com
The Beverly Hills Cancer Center
8900 Wilshire Blvd
BH,CA 90211
310-432-8900 -
- April 9, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Hi Maggie,
I am sorry that you find yourself in this position. But there are wonderful new drugs for melanoma treatment.
I agree with the melanoma research search nurse about Dr. O'DAY and would like to add Dr. Boasberg at the Angeles Clinic. Dr. Boasberg & Dr. O'Day started of the Angeles Clinic.
Dr. Boasberg has been my doctor for years and has a wealth of Melanoma experience, probably even more than Dr. O'Day. I believe that Dr.Boasberg is the BEST of all the Melanoma Specialists in So. California but I am biased. Not only is he very experienced (seen it all) but is a very caring doctor. He treats all his patients like a family member.
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- April 9, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Hi Maggie,
I am sorry that you find yourself in this position. But there are wonderful new drugs for melanoma treatment.
I agree with the melanoma research search nurse about Dr. O'DAY and would like to add Dr. Boasberg at the Angeles Clinic. Dr. Boasberg & Dr. O'Day started of the Angeles Clinic.
Dr. Boasberg has been my doctor for years and has a wealth of Melanoma experience, probably even more than Dr. O'Day. I believe that Dr.Boasberg is the BEST of all the Melanoma Specialists in So. California but I am biased. Not only is he very experienced (seen it all) but is a very caring doctor. He treats all his patients like a family member.
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- April 9, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Hi Maggie,
I am sorry that you find yourself in this position. But there are wonderful new drugs for melanoma treatment.
I agree with the melanoma research search nurse about Dr. O'DAY and would like to add Dr. Boasberg at the Angeles Clinic. Dr. Boasberg & Dr. O'Day started of the Angeles Clinic.
Dr. Boasberg has been my doctor for years and has a wealth of Melanoma experience, probably even more than Dr. O'Day. I believe that Dr.Boasberg is the BEST of all the Melanoma Specialists in So. California but I am biased. Not only is he very experienced (seen it all) but is a very caring doctor. He treats all his patients like a family member.
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- April 10, 2014 at 6:01 am
We saw many of the physcian's recommened here. All are great, but two stand out. Dr. Peter Bosaberg and Dr. Mike Wong.
My Mother was diagnosed at stage IV and at our thrid consult we met Dr. Bosaberg. He was the only oncologist to look at my Mom's MRI of her brain. That was when we found out that she had brain cancer. If not for him and his throughness my Mom would have entered a PD1 trial with brain cancer and not been treated for many months.
My Mom had gamma knife treatment 2 weeks later to treat 8 tumors, but still could not make up her mind if she wanted to see the orginal oncologist or Dr. Bosaberg. She like both the orginal oncologist and Dr. Bosaberg and just couldn't make up her mind… We were refered to Dr. Mike Wong at USC and met with him the day after her gamma knife treatment.
It was a hard decision to make, but she choose Dr. Wong and started treatment 2 days later. He is a compaitionate man who will do everything he can to make sure you get the best chance. He's pushed the limits of treatment for my Mom and she is doing better than expected in many ways. He also helped us advert ANOTHER issue with brain cancer this week. – On a followup appointment with another doctor we learned that my Mom had another brain tumor. Dr. Wong had her meet with Dr. Chang (one of the best radiologists in the country and who has helped develped the guidelines used for treating brain cancer/brain metastasis) at USC. He identified not 1, but 5 brain mets that will be treated with gamma knife radiation. All thanks to Dr. Wong.
The first tumors treated are believed to be nectoric and we are holding out hope that my Mom's positive reaction to Yervoy and what is to follow will be enough to give her many years to come.
Regardless of who you choose, I recommend that you make sure that you like the doctor, that you watch to see if they look at the MRI's or just read the reports. I would then ask to see the MRI's taken. And get a second or third opnion. If it wasn't for finding not one buy two doctors who activly looked at the images and wanted another opinion my Mother's outlook could be much worse.
Good Luck.
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- April 10, 2014 at 6:01 am
We saw many of the physcian's recommened here. All are great, but two stand out. Dr. Peter Bosaberg and Dr. Mike Wong.
My Mother was diagnosed at stage IV and at our thrid consult we met Dr. Bosaberg. He was the only oncologist to look at my Mom's MRI of her brain. That was when we found out that she had brain cancer. If not for him and his throughness my Mom would have entered a PD1 trial with brain cancer and not been treated for many months.
My Mom had gamma knife treatment 2 weeks later to treat 8 tumors, but still could not make up her mind if she wanted to see the orginal oncologist or Dr. Bosaberg. She like both the orginal oncologist and Dr. Bosaberg and just couldn't make up her mind… We were refered to Dr. Mike Wong at USC and met with him the day after her gamma knife treatment.
It was a hard decision to make, but she choose Dr. Wong and started treatment 2 days later. He is a compaitionate man who will do everything he can to make sure you get the best chance. He's pushed the limits of treatment for my Mom and she is doing better than expected in many ways. He also helped us advert ANOTHER issue with brain cancer this week. – On a followup appointment with another doctor we learned that my Mom had another brain tumor. Dr. Wong had her meet with Dr. Chang (one of the best radiologists in the country and who has helped develped the guidelines used for treating brain cancer/brain metastasis) at USC. He identified not 1, but 5 brain mets that will be treated with gamma knife radiation. All thanks to Dr. Wong.
The first tumors treated are believed to be nectoric and we are holding out hope that my Mom's positive reaction to Yervoy and what is to follow will be enough to give her many years to come.
Regardless of who you choose, I recommend that you make sure that you like the doctor, that you watch to see if they look at the MRI's or just read the reports. I would then ask to see the MRI's taken. And get a second or third opnion. If it wasn't for finding not one buy two doctors who activly looked at the images and wanted another opinion my Mother's outlook could be much worse.
Good Luck.
-
- April 10, 2014 at 6:01 am
We saw many of the physcian's recommened here. All are great, but two stand out. Dr. Peter Bosaberg and Dr. Mike Wong.
My Mother was diagnosed at stage IV and at our thrid consult we met Dr. Bosaberg. He was the only oncologist to look at my Mom's MRI of her brain. That was when we found out that she had brain cancer. If not for him and his throughness my Mom would have entered a PD1 trial with brain cancer and not been treated for many months.
My Mom had gamma knife treatment 2 weeks later to treat 8 tumors, but still could not make up her mind if she wanted to see the orginal oncologist or Dr. Bosaberg. She like both the orginal oncologist and Dr. Bosaberg and just couldn't make up her mind… We were refered to Dr. Mike Wong at USC and met with him the day after her gamma knife treatment.
It was a hard decision to make, but she choose Dr. Wong and started treatment 2 days later. He is a compaitionate man who will do everything he can to make sure you get the best chance. He's pushed the limits of treatment for my Mom and she is doing better than expected in many ways. He also helped us advert ANOTHER issue with brain cancer this week. – On a followup appointment with another doctor we learned that my Mom had another brain tumor. Dr. Wong had her meet with Dr. Chang (one of the best radiologists in the country and who has helped develped the guidelines used for treating brain cancer/brain metastasis) at USC. He identified not 1, but 5 brain mets that will be treated with gamma knife radiation. All thanks to Dr. Wong.
The first tumors treated are believed to be nectoric and we are holding out hope that my Mom's positive reaction to Yervoy and what is to follow will be enough to give her many years to come.
Regardless of who you choose, I recommend that you make sure that you like the doctor, that you watch to see if they look at the MRI's or just read the reports. I would then ask to see the MRI's taken. And get a second or third opnion. If it wasn't for finding not one buy two doctors who activly looked at the images and wanted another opinion my Mother's outlook could be much worse.
Good Luck.
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