Support Group meeting tonight

mrshisname

The support group meeting was for DaVinci patients. All of the guys there had already had the procedure except 2, one was my husband, the other was having his this coming Friday.
The men were in one room and the ladies in another so everybody could talk more freely. The guys actually had a DaVinci surgeon there. He trained at Loyola university and has relocated down here (Louisville, KY area).
Jesse got a lot out of the meeting, was even more convinced that DaVinci is the way for him to go. He is feeling more and more comfortable with his choice. Now we just have to figure out who to let do it!
The center is really nice. Its a cancer resource and support center affiliated with Norton Hospital. I actually had met the nurse running the meeting before, years ago when I worked at Norton.
Jesse and I can sign up for free massages! They also have yoga classes, all kinds of info, and in September for Prostate Cancer Awareness month we are invited to a support group meeting and dinner. Very nice.
I met some nice ladies who gave me some good advice, too. It felt really good to have other wives to talk to. I was the youngest one there at 49 years old.
We'll definitely be going back again next month.

lewvino

Go for experience on Davinci
Go for experience on Davinci it COUNTS. Have you checked out Dr. Smith at Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tn.) You will have to wait but he is top, top notch.

Larry

mrshisname

lewvino said:

Go for experience on Davinci
Go for experience on Davinci it COUNTS. Have you checked out Dr. Smith at Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tn.) You will have to wait but he is top, top notch.

Larry

Thanks Larry
Thanks Larry, that is exactly what Jesse is basing his decision on: experience.
How many has Dr. Smith done?
I looked at our 3rd opinion doc, Michael Koch at IU, who is the department head, specializes in prostate cancer. His CV is 30 pages long, has done massive amounts of research on prostate cancer, and is considered to be a leading DaVinci surgeon.
We see him on 3/16.
First question we will ask is : How many DaVinci's have you done?
Larry, you are always there with good advice and caring attitude. THanks so much.

randy_in_indy

mrshisname said:

Thanks Larry
Thanks Larry, that is exactly what Jesse is basing his decision on: experience.
How many has Dr. Smith done?
I looked at our 3rd opinion doc, Michael Koch at IU, who is the department head, specializes in prostate cancer. His CV is 30 pages long, has done massive amounts of research on prostate cancer, and is considered to be a leading DaVinci surgeon.
We see him on 3/16.
First question we will ask is : How many DaVinci's have you done?
Larry, you are always there with good advice and caring attitude. THanks so much.

Maria
If you look at some of Koch's research you will find many done with Dr. Joeseph Smith as Koch was down at Vanderbuilt with Smith. I'm not sure who taught who...that would be a good question to ask him on 3/16. I think Smith has more opens and Robotics than Koch. They are both teaching Dr's and both very well respected. And then.... there is my surgeon...LOL

Randy

lewvino

mrshisname said:

Thanks Larry
Thanks Larry, that is exactly what Jesse is basing his decision on: experience.
How many has Dr. Smith done?
I looked at our 3rd opinion doc, Michael Koch at IU, who is the department head, specializes in prostate cancer. His CV is 30 pages long, has done massive amounts of research on prostate cancer, and is considered to be a leading DaVinci surgeon.
We see him on 3/16.
First question we will ask is : How many DaVinci's have you done?
Larry, you are always there with good advice and caring attitude. THanks so much.

Dr. Smith has done somewhere
Dr. Smith has done somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 with Davinci. He will also do traditional each case is decided by him. He has a really great and caring staff.

I actually watched a video of him doing the Davinci on the web. I found it very interesting and his style and movements were so much smoother then some others I've watched.

I may be up in Louisville area in May for a 2nd cousin's wedding. Not sure on the date yet or if I'm even invited! LOL. My mom was telling me about it.

Good luck as you continue your research on finding who you think is right surgeon. Also enjoyed your post on 'faith' I'm a firm believer in prayer and had so many things that were pointing me to Dr. Smith and Nashville.

Larry

mrshisname

randy_in_indy said:

Maria
If you look at some of Koch's research you will find many done with Dr. Joeseph Smith as Koch was down at Vanderbuilt with Smith. I'm not sure who taught who...that would be a good question to ask him on 3/16. I think Smith has more opens and Robotics than Koch. They are both teaching Dr's and both very well respected. And then.... there is my surgeon...LOL

Randy

yep
Yes, we keep thinking about your surgeon...I want to go see him, Jesse wants to wait. I might just go on and get him an appointment, we can always cancell, right?

mrshisname

lewvino said:

Dr. Smith has done somewhere
Dr. Smith has done somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 with Davinci. He will also do traditional each case is decided by him. He has a really great and caring staff.

I actually watched a video of him doing the Davinci on the web. I found it very interesting and his style and movements were so much smoother then some others I've watched.

I may be up in Louisville area in May for a 2nd cousin's wedding. Not sure on the date yet or if I'm even invited! LOL. My mom was telling me about it.

Good luck as you continue your research on finding who you think is right surgeon. Also enjoyed your post on 'faith' I'm a firm believer in prayer and had so many things that were pointing me to Dr. Smith and Nashville.

Larry

Larry
Thanks Larry. If you are in Louisville give us a holler (my email is snooksmama@insightbb.com).
Do you know what weekend in May?
We feel God leading us in this decision, too. We are just trying to be open to where he is leading us ultimately! I am trying to keep my big mouth shut as far as Jesse making a decision he feels comfortable with. Its a fine line to walk, being there for him but not being too pushy...

bdhilton

like i said early on...
Like I said early on with Jesse’s grade etc…he seems to be in a good candidate for any treatment… in your search do not get sucked into any Marketing Hype from any procedure, treatments or snake oil…at the end of the day IMHO experience, experience, experience and actual excellent results says it all…be smart in this process…best to all

lewvino

mrshisname said:

Larry
Thanks Larry. If you are in Louisville give us a holler (my email is snooksmama@insightbb.com).
Do you know what weekend in May?
We feel God leading us in this decision, too. We are just trying to be open to where he is leading us ultimately! I am trying to keep my big mouth shut as far as Jesse making a decision he feels comfortable with. Its a fine line to walk, being there for him but not being too pushy...

It is hard to keep your
It is hard to keep your mouth shut!!! I knew I would get PC at some point in my life since my dad had it. Thought I would be out in Loma Linda getting Proton (like my dad) but God had other plans. I could list about 15 reasons why I believe I was led to Nashville. Follow the leading. My wife pretty much left the decision up to me.

randy_in_indy

mrshisname said:

yep
Yes, we keep thinking about your surgeon...I want to go see him, Jesse wants to wait. I might just go on and get him an appointment, we can always cancell, right?

Yes ...and he is booked pretty far out on appointments
So, if you want to see him you better call soon for a timely appt. Hey, Jesse could hate the guy...I feel much of the decision for me was personality in how they acted when I met them...and the feeling of confidence I read from them as I grilled them with hard questions.

Dr. Koch is a very calm and laid back individual very confident from a cerebral sort of way...as apposed to Dr. Hollensbe being more straigbt at you..but very confident in every answer without hesitation....you get the feeling he knows he's good...and you also get the impression he is very competent in understanding exactly what to do with Prostate cancer and then his results show it...plus the people around him that know him also echo his competence. My feeling is there are three people that if Jesse chose any one of them he would be in very good hands....Joseph Smith - Vanderbuilt Michael Koch - Indiana University and Hollensbe & Scott of Urology of Indiana.

Trew

bdhilton said:

like i said early on...
Like I said early on with Jesse’s grade etc…he seems to be in a good candidate for any treatment… in your search do not get sucked into any Marketing Hype from any procedure, treatments or snake oil…at the end of the day IMHO experience, experience, experience and actual excellent results says it all…be smart in this process…best to all

Good advice, BDH
With low to mid grade gleasons, I find don't understand why the proton treatment option isn't considered by more men.

But to each his own.

If my cancer was caught soon enough I never would have had surgery- it would have been proton therapy and nothing else.

lewvino

Trew said:

Good advice, BDH
With low to mid grade gleasons, I find don't understand why the proton treatment option isn't considered by more men.

But to each his own.

If my cancer was caught soon enough I never would have had surgery- it would have been proton therapy and nothing else.

Only Reasons I can think of
Only Reasons I can think of Trew are that Proton is only available in limited cities across the US and some insurance carries deny it (Mine denined BCBS-TN).

Also you have the commititment of Travel to a location plus that expense if you don't live near one and staying for about 6-8 weeks.

Larry

randy_in_indy

lewvino said:

Only Reasons I can think of
Only Reasons I can think of Trew are that Proton is only available in limited cities across the US and some insurance carries deny it (Mine denined BCBS-TN).

Also you have the commititment of Travel to a location plus that expense if you don't live near one and staying for about 6-8 weeks.

Larry

I should have looked closer at Proton Beam
As I was only about 40 minutes from one in Bloomington In. Oh well I'm still glad to be Prostate-less. Orgasms getting better just as you said Larry.

bdhilton

randy_in_indy said:

I should have looked closer at Proton Beam
As I was only about 40 minutes from one in Bloomington In. Oh well I'm still glad to be Prostate-less. Orgasms getting better just as you said Larry.

everything that glitters is not gold...
hey you are my poster child ...lol...you made the right decision 100% with the best results for you....