Experience with Virginia Piper Cancer Center

JKGulliver

We have been referred to the Virginia Piper Cancer Center in Minneapolis, which is part of Abbott-Northwestern in the Allina system.  Does anyone have experience with this institution and how does it compare to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota?

 

 

Josie60

I don't know anything about

I don't know anything about the mentioned cancer center but I know Mayo is ranked in the top 5 centers for EC. You want to work closely with a center that routinely works with EC especially if surgery is being offered. Personally I have worked with a local oncology center for radiation and chemo treatments. While they only see one or two cases a year they are following standard protocol and I have had second opinions from the UNiversity of Iowa confirming the selected protocol. You want to make sure if surgery is considered you go with a location and a surgeon that performs this surgery frequently. For me it was the UNiversity of Iowa where they performs esophgetomy surgery several times a month. When dignosed in March of 2012, I was staged as t3 with 7 lymph nodes involved. After my initial chemo, radiation and surgery, it appeared that we had eliminated the cancer, however 3 months later it reappeared in distant lymph nodes so I was restaged to 4 and started treatments again. I am hoping for good news with my May pet scan. If not I will be going up to Mayo to see what they recommend for moving forward. I want to be the one out of 4 to survived past 5 years after diagnosis.

callerid

Josie60 said:

I don't know anything about

I don't know anything about the mentioned cancer center but I know Mayo is ranked in the top 5 centers for EC. You want to work closely with a center that routinely works with EC especially if surgery is being offered. Personally I have worked with a local oncology center for radiation and chemo treatments. While they only see one or two cases a year they are following standard protocol and I have had second opinions from the UNiversity of Iowa confirming the selected protocol. You want to make sure if surgery is considered you go with a location and a surgeon that performs this surgery frequently. For me it was the UNiversity of Iowa where they performs esophgetomy surgery several times a month. When dignosed in March of 2012, I was staged as t3 with 7 lymph nodes involved. After my initial chemo, radiation and surgery, it appeared that we had eliminated the cancer, however 3 months later it reappeared in distant lymph nodes so I was restaged to 4 and started treatments again. I am hoping for good news with my May pet scan. If not I will be going up to Mayo to see what they recommend for moving forward. I want to be the one out of 4 to survived past 5 years after diagnosis.

Josie60

Hoping for terrific news for your May scan. Try not to let scanxiety get the best of you. 

Have you been to Mayo before?  If so, what doctor did you see?

Will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

JKGulliver

Josie60 said:

I don't know anything about

I don't know anything about the mentioned cancer center but I know Mayo is ranked in the top 5 centers for EC. You want to work closely with a center that routinely works with EC especially if surgery is being offered. Personally I have worked with a local oncology center for radiation and chemo treatments. While they only see one or two cases a year they are following standard protocol and I have had second opinions from the UNiversity of Iowa confirming the selected protocol. You want to make sure if surgery is considered you go with a location and a surgeon that performs this surgery frequently. For me it was the UNiversity of Iowa where they performs esophgetomy surgery several times a month. When dignosed in March of 2012, I was staged as t3 with 7 lymph nodes involved. After my initial chemo, radiation and surgery, it appeared that we had eliminated the cancer, however 3 months later it reappeared in distant lymph nodes so I was restaged to 4 and started treatments again. I am hoping for good news with my May pet scan. If not I will be going up to Mayo to see what they recommend for moving forward. I want to be the one out of 4 to survived past 5 years after diagnosis.

Thank you

Thanks for your input.  All the best to you.  We have not been to Mayo.  But will consider it in the future.

 

JKGulliver

callerid said:

Josie60

Hoping for terrific news for your May scan. Try not to let scanxiety get the best of you. 

Have you been to Mayo before?  If so, what doctor did you see?

Will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Starting Chemo tomorrow

You are correct.  We are very frightened.  I read the stories on this site and it cheers us a little.  But the enormity of the unknown is still overwhelming.

Josie60

I hope your first round of

I hope your first round of chemo went well today.  You might want to chat with your dr if you would benefit from having a port put in. My first 6 rounds of chemo were done by IV. When we had to start again I had a port installed to make it easier.

JKGulliver

Josie60 said:

I hope your first round of

I hope your first round of chemo went well today.  You might want to chat with your dr if you would benefit from having a port put in. My first 6 rounds of chemo were done by IV. When we had to start again I had a port installed to make it easier.

First round of chemo

We had the first round of chemo and all was well until 4:30 a.m. the morning of the second day.  Woke up suddenly with terrible nausea and threw up for three hours continuously.  Nausea has continued to be a problem since then.