Our Third 2nd Opinion

The past Tuesday was a long day.  We drove up to the City of Hope in Duarte-90 minutes with moderate traffic.  It was quite different than all the other second opinions we’ve received.  This was a big hospital.  Our check-in process was efficient and organized but long.  It involved several waiting periods and a walk through long hallways.  Their facilities and services are quite impressive and everyone we met was friendly, knowledgable and supportive.  The Oncology waiting room serviced patients for both exam and infusion so it was very crowded.  There was art work, plaques, marketing, light and color intermixed with the sanitary hospital setting.  Attractive but it still felt a bit impersonal.

They requested a full set of Satomi’s records and all of her Pathology slides. They were going to review it all.  After another long wait we met with Dr. Joanne Mortimer, Professor and Vice Chair of the Medical Oncology department.  After reviewing the documents, she confirmed that we got fine care.  We focused our discussion on the future.

Apparently our Oncologist, Dr. Tetef, worked there for 10-years and was a trusted colleague and friend of the hospital.  Her name was on a plaque on the wall in the waiting room.  The more and more doctors I speak to, the more fortunate I feel that we have Dr. Tetef in our corner.

Dr. Mortimer recommended biophosphonates for Satomi’s osteopenia.  Biophosphonates are the clinical name for Zometa which surprisingly is the same thing recommended by Dr. Chap and our own Dr. Tetef.  That’s enough confidence for me.  Our challenge now is getting it covered by insurance.

We’re done with our 2nd opinions.