Doctors in Chicago

casp42
casp42 Member Posts: 79
in Esophageal Cancer #1
Just wondering if anyone has any experiences with the Dr's in Chicago? My dad saw Irvin Waxmann, Marco Patti and will be seeing Victoria Villaflor and Renuka Malik all out of Univ. of Chgo.

Carolyn

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • oriontj
    oriontj Member Posts: 375
    #3
    Tom and I just saw Dr. Villifor
    She's my husband's oncologist at the u of chicago. We both like her very much though I wasn't as thrilled at the beginning of his treatment. Tom was diagnosed between III and IVa but the surgeon there is ve4ry conservative and said he wouldn't do surgery due to wear it was in a lymph node nearby. Well this was in July of 2009 and he's still around. He was canceer free for a year and a small spot came back at the original site in the esophagus. He's been doing chem and our last visit and results from the tumor board were great. He did decide to continue chemo. But if he needs time off, she says fine.

    She's extremely knowledgeable. She's kind and pleasant. You could ask about clincial trials also. Tom was in one and it helped him.

    If you are treated by her you will be in good hands. Also the infusion unit there is really great. Bright, unless you want your lights off..superior monitoring of the patients and they are attentive to their needs.

    jan
  • oriontj
    oriontj Member Posts: 375
    #4
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Hi William
    Yes Dr. Furgeson does the MIE buthe is very conservative on who he does the surgery on...only drawback to that team. I know, twice he said no to Tom. It didn't bother either of us since he's done fine and has a good quality of life...lots of trips etc.

    But that's always a consideration. Dr. Villifor is super good...

    jan
  • DanaMB3
    DanaMB3 Member Posts: 98
    #5
    Hi Carolyn - my dad, 66
    Hi Carolyn - my dad, 66 years old, Stage T3 N1 M0 saw Dr. Vilaflor when he was first diagnosed in December. She came highly recommended to us from the first oncologist they saw. (They asked him for a recommendation to get a 2nd opinion, and he had high praise for her). She was recently made head of the department and is supposedly a very aggressive doctor. I went along for the appointment - I have nothing bad to say. My dad was excited to get into a clinical trial she had running, but unfortunately it was put on hold. She then developed a chemo/radiation plan for him that was carried out for my dad at the oncologist's office/hospital closer to their home (they are in the NW suburbs).

    Jumping ahead to the surgeon (though you didn't mention his name - he will be next in the line for your appointments there...)I will second what the others have said about the surgeon, Dr. Ferguson, being very conservative. At the end of my dad's treatment he had a scan which did not show a great deal of shrinking in the tumor, and therefore Ferguson would not operate on him. My dad was desperate to have the surgery and we then went to Mayo Clinic for a second surgical opinion. The surgeon there (Dr. Wigle) had a more aggressive approach and performed the surgery. (It has been 2.5 months since his surgery (he had the more invasive Ivor Lewis) and he has recovered extremely well and just had a clean scan last week).

    I think if your dad is able to meet Ferguson's parameters for surgery you will be in very good hands. But keep his conservative reputation in mind and get a 2nd opinion if he says no.

    If you have any other questions feel free to send me a message!
  • Bunnymom
    Bunnymom Member Posts: 212 Member
    #6
    DanaMB3 said:

    Hi Carolyn - my dad, 66
    Hi Carolyn - my dad, 66 years old, Stage T3 N1 M0 saw Dr. Vilaflor when he was first diagnosed in December. She came highly recommended to us from the first oncologist they saw. (They asked him for a recommendation to get a 2nd opinion, and he had high praise for her). She was recently made head of the department and is supposedly a very aggressive doctor. I went along for the appointment - I have nothing bad to say. My dad was excited to get into a clinical trial she had running, but unfortunately it was put on hold. She then developed a chemo/radiation plan for him that was carried out for my dad at the oncologist's office/hospital closer to their home (they are in the NW suburbs).

    Jumping ahead to the surgeon (though you didn't mention his name - he will be next in the line for your appointments there...)I will second what the others have said about the surgeon, Dr. Ferguson, being very conservative. At the end of my dad's treatment he had a scan which did not show a great deal of shrinking in the tumor, and therefore Ferguson would not operate on him. My dad was desperate to have the surgery and we then went to Mayo Clinic for a second surgical opinion. The surgeon there (Dr. Wigle) had a more aggressive approach and performed the surgery. (It has been 2.5 months since his surgery (he had the more invasive Ivor Lewis) and he has recovered extremely well and just had a clean scan last week).

    I think if your dad is able to meet Ferguson's parameters for surgery you will be in very good hands. But keep his conservative reputation in mind and get a 2nd opinion if he says no.

    If you have any other questions feel free to send me a message!

    Dr. Villafor

    I am seeing Dr Villafor at U of C and so far, don't like her very much. I was told she uses 3 drug combo for chemo and they do this because, that's the way the do it. In patient only. 5 days in 9 days out and repeated 4-6 times. 

    Can you tell me the name of the hospital in the suburbs where your dad's treatment was carried out?

    thank you

    bm

     

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