Should we use local surgeon or Dr. Luketich.

Heeran
Heeran Member Posts: 171
in Esophageal Cancer #1
My mother is currently going through chemo/radiation and we just interviewed a surgeon in Omaha. Apparently, I went to high school with him so that would put him at 35 years old. He seems very confident, smart, assertive but I got a bit concerned when he said, "I've already done 10 esophagectomies this year." I asked how many he's done in his career and he said about 70. Do you guys think this is alot?

I called Dr. Luketich's office today and left a message. I know he's the best but am wondering if the travel, complications, and just the logistics will be hard on my mom. For those of you who traveled there, any thoughts on regrets or if you definitley thought it was well worth it? I just don't know what I'll do if let's say we get back to Omaha and there's complications. Not sure where to turn.

My mother is terrified of surgery and is wondering if opting out is out of the question. She keeps asking the oncologist if there's any possibility of not having the surgery. I've repeated many times that it's a priveledge to be able to have it but she keeps getting scared she'll die at the operating table. She knew a person who had this surgery but during the procedure, something went wrong with the lung and he died 3 months later.

Comments

  • LilChemoSmoker
    LilChemoSmoker Member Posts: 185
    #2
    Not just a privilege.
    Heeran,

    If there is any chance for you to get your mother to Dr. Luketich would be advisable in my opinion. But more than that, your mother needs to understand that surgery is so much more than a privilege, it is the ONLY chance at cure. I pray that the answers become clear for you and your mother.

    I am sure many others will place their opinions in response to your post as well.

    Regards,
    Michelle
  • chemosmoker
    chemosmoker Member Posts: 501
    #3
    NO DEBATE HERE!!!
    Dr. Luketech is not only the gold standard, HE INVENTED the MIE from what I have read.

    This, to me, is like asking should I go the the local cardiac ready-clinic, or the biggest teaching hospital in the county, to have life-saving open heart surgery?

    As Michelle said, this is her ONLY chance to survive this, the surgery.
    THERE ARE NO DO-OVERS!

    If there is ANY way to get there, get there!

    Personally, I think William is the expert here.
    Waiting for him to chime in and advise you.

    I am SURE there are many other surgeons that are capable, and many have done many of these procedures. But the doc you mentioned has not done enough of these at ALL!! That number scares me silly. Dr. Luketech has TRAINED many others in his technique as well, and you could have one of them with good results, but if you can see the man himself, why would you not??

    So again if you can get to UPMC, there should be NO debate.

    God bless and wishing you and yor mom the best!!
    -Eric
  • JimboC
    JimboC Member Posts: 264
    #4
    I agree
    I agree with Michelle and Eric. Dr. Luketich performed my surgery and I have done incredibly. I am now three months post op and people who see me can't believe what I've been through when I tell them. I am told all the time, I don't look like a cancer patient. I proudly proclaim the fact I am a survivor still fighting the battle and that I attribute much of my success to Dr. Luketich and the MIE. If there is any way possible for you to make the trip to Pittsburgh, I highly recommend it. If that is not a possibility, perhaps they can recommend a surgeon closer to you who trained with Dr. Luketich. If it helps any, there is a Family House available for 60.00/night. We found it to be incredible.
  • sammy123
    sammy123 Member Posts: 65
    #5
    JimboC said:

    I agree
    I agree with Michelle and Eric. Dr. Luketich performed my surgery and I have done incredibly. I am now three months post op and people who see me can't believe what I've been through when I tell them. I am told all the time, I don't look like a cancer patient. I proudly proclaim the fact I am a survivor still fighting the battle and that I attribute much of my success to Dr. Luketich and the MIE. If there is any way possible for you to make the trip to Pittsburgh, I highly recommend it. If that is not a possibility, perhaps they can recommend a surgeon closer to you who trained with Dr. Luketich. If it helps any, there is a Family House available for 60.00/night. We found it to be incredible.

    Add two zeros to his count!

    Dr. Luketich has done over 1000 MIE's. vs. 10. There is no one like him, if you really think about it go to the Dr. that pioneered the procedure, if it is physically possible. It takes work to get there though. Start by placing the call. They will direct you from there. He has a whole floor dedicated to him for his patients. What that means is that you are getting nurses that deal with post MIE's and complications all of the time. Also the ICU is top notch. So there you go you have my vote. My husband physically doing well. You wouldn't even know he had surgery if you would take a look at his skin integrity. On no pain meds, nothing, nada. If you can't get to him place a call and get a consult MD in your locality. I will end as Jimbo did. We found it to b incredible.
  • flmo
    flmo Member Posts: 65
    #6
    Another vote for Dr. Luketich!
    He and his staff are the greatest. My husband was 76 when he had the surgery in Feb. 2011. He is doing so well. He is actually playing 18 holes of golf today. When we talked to Chuck,Dr. Luketich's PA, he told us that Dr. Luketich had trained 2 doctors in Florida close to where we live,but they have only done a few MIE's and Dr. L has done over 1000. There was no further discussion. I wanted the real McCoy for my husband and I'm so happy that we made the effort to get to Pittsburgh. I do understand your mother's fear of surgery,but I hope you can convince her to at least contact Dr. Luketich's office. They arranged everything for us. Everything was seamless. We just had to get to Pittsburgh the day before the surgery. Shadyside Family House is incredible. They really treat you like family. They charge $60 per night for a 2 room suite.
  • hdwchisholm
    hdwchisholm Member Posts: 20
    #7
    JimboC said:

    I agree
    I agree with Michelle and Eric. Dr. Luketich performed my surgery and I have done incredibly. I am now three months post op and people who see me can't believe what I've been through when I tell them. I am told all the time, I don't look like a cancer patient. I proudly proclaim the fact I am a survivor still fighting the battle and that I attribute much of my success to Dr. Luketich and the MIE. If there is any way possible for you to make the trip to Pittsburgh, I highly recommend it. If that is not a possibility, perhaps they can recommend a surgeon closer to you who trained with Dr. Luketich. If it helps any, there is a Family House available for 60.00/night. We found it to be incredible.

    Dr Luketich
    Jimbo, I am glad to hear you are doing well. I am a throat cancer survivor for 9 months now. I am writing for my son who has a non-cancerous esophageal trauma. He was poisoned in Norway last summer when someone put an alkaline, caustic substance [lye?] in his beer. Lye has no odor or taste. The caustic substance caused extensive burns and inflammation in the hyper pharanx and esophagus. It appears that Reid will need a partial or full esophageal transplant or replacement as the inflammation has not decreased. Can I assume that there is little difference between cancerous and non cancerous esophageal surgery and Dr Luketich and his staff can perform non cancerous esophageal surgery? Best, Homer
  • JReed
    JReed Member Posts: 428
    #8
    hdwchisholm said:

    Dr Luketich
    Jimbo, I am glad to hear you are doing well. I am a throat cancer survivor for 9 months now. I am writing for my son who has a non-cancerous esophageal trauma. He was poisoned in Norway last summer when someone put an alkaline, caustic substance [lye?] in his beer. Lye has no odor or taste. The caustic substance caused extensive burns and inflammation in the hyper pharanx and esophagus. It appears that Reid will need a partial or full esophageal transplant or replacement as the inflammation has not decreased. Can I assume that there is little difference between cancerous and non cancerous esophageal surgery and Dr Luketich and his staff can perform non cancerous esophageal surgery? Best, Homer

    I am going to send this to William for his reply and info
    William is very familiar with Dr. Luketich - so I'm going to copy your post so that it doesn't get lost and as soon as he can, William will respond to you.

    Thank you,
    Judy Reed
  • hdwchisholm
    hdwchisholm Member Posts: 20
    #9
    JReed said:

    I am going to send this to William for his reply and info
    William is very familiar with Dr. Luketich - so I'm going to copy your post so that it doesn't get lost and as soon as he can, William will respond to you.

    Thank you,
    Judy Reed

    Luketich/UPMC, Reddy/Michigan, Sugarbaker/Boston
    Judy, Thank you for your reply. I have been reading a lot of posts on this site. I wish that I had found this site when I was diagnosed with throat cancer stage 3 last March 2011. I am doing well now. PET scan showed that I am clear. I am doing a lot of research to find the best doctor/hospital/treatment for my son who will probably need some form of surgery for his non cancerous trauma. We are seeing Dr Lukitech on the 31st.I saw your post about Dr Reddy and his team in Ann Arbor. Impressive. We have also been referred to a Dr Sugarbaker at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston who also practices at Mass General. How can I find out if Dr Reddy handles non cancerous patients? How can I find out more about Sugarbaker? Do I do a general post to the group? Many thanks for your help. Hope all is well with you and your family. Best, Homer
  • JReed
    JReed Member Posts: 428
    #10
    hdwchisholm said:

    Luketich/UPMC, Reddy/Michigan, Sugarbaker/Boston
    Judy, Thank you for your reply. I have been reading a lot of posts on this site. I wish that I had found this site when I was diagnosed with throat cancer stage 3 last March 2011. I am doing well now. PET scan showed that I am clear. I am doing a lot of research to find the best doctor/hospital/treatment for my son who will probably need some form of surgery for his non cancerous trauma. We are seeing Dr Lukitech on the 31st.I saw your post about Dr Reddy and his team in Ann Arbor. Impressive. We have also been referred to a Dr Sugarbaker at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston who also practices at Mass General. How can I find out if Dr Reddy handles non cancerous patients? How can I find out more about Sugarbaker? Do I do a general post to the group? Many thanks for your help. Hope all is well with you and your family. Best, Homer

    Hello Homer
    Homer:

    I have copied your post and put it on the board as a new subject for the 'pioneers' to reply to - you should receive wonderful advice from our members. They have been there, done that - literally.

    Re: Dr. Reddy - you may contact him at University of Michigan:
    Phone Numbers below are for the 'team' at Univ of Mich (GO Blue!)

    Patient Appointments(734) 936-4973

    Mark B. Orringer, MD(734) 936-4975

    Andrew Chang, MD, Section Head (734) 763-7418

    Jules Lin, MD(734) 763-0470

    Rishindra Reddy, MD (734) 763-7337

    Rest assured that you will receive information from the members of this site - it has been a true Godsend for me!

    Bless you and your son - please keep us posted also - we'd sure like to know how your son makes out and where he ends up going and his progress.

    Sorry I cannot respond to Dr. Sugarbaker or Dr. Luketich, but I'm positive that someone will.

    Best wishes,
    Judy
  • JReed
    JReed Member Posts: 428
    #11
    hdwchisholm said:

    Luketich/UPMC, Reddy/Michigan, Sugarbaker/Boston
    Judy, Thank you for your reply. I have been reading a lot of posts on this site. I wish that I had found this site when I was diagnosed with throat cancer stage 3 last March 2011. I am doing well now. PET scan showed that I am clear. I am doing a lot of research to find the best doctor/hospital/treatment for my son who will probably need some form of surgery for his non cancerous trauma. We are seeing Dr Lukitech on the 31st.I saw your post about Dr Reddy and his team in Ann Arbor. Impressive. We have also been referred to a Dr Sugarbaker at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston who also practices at Mass General. How can I find out if Dr Reddy handles non cancerous patients? How can I find out more about Sugarbaker? Do I do a general post to the group? Many thanks for your help. Hope all is well with you and your family. Best, Homer

    Hello Homer
    Homer:

    I have copied your post and put it on the board as a new subject for the 'pioneers' to reply to - you should receive wonderful advice from our members. They have been there, done that - literally.

    Re: Dr. Reddy - you may contact him at University of Michigan:
    Phone Numbers below are for the 'team' at Univ of Mich (GO Blue!)

    Patient Appointments(734) 936-4973

    Mark B. Orringer, MD(734) 936-4975

    Andrew Chang, MD, Section Head (734) 763-7418

    Jules Lin, MD(734) 763-0470

    Rishindra Reddy, MD (734) 763-7337

    Rest assured that you will receive information from the members of this site - it has been a true Godsend for me!

    Bless you and your son - please keep us posted also - we'd sure like to know how your son makes out and where he ends up going and his progress.

    Sorry I cannot respond to Dr. Sugarbaker or Dr. Luketich, but I'm positive that someone will.

    Best wishes,
    Judy
  • chemosmoker
    chemosmoker Member Posts: 501
    #12
    NOT a real question
    I think this is not a question but a lack of info. I would not think twice! Read the posts from the past!!!
  • hdwchisholm
    hdwchisholm Member Posts: 20
    #13
    chemosmoker said:

    NOT a real question
    I think this is not a question but a lack of info. I would not think twice! Read the posts from the past!!!

    Luketich & UPMC
    We [wife, son, and me] met with Dr Levy [Luketich's partner] today. Had very good half hour meeting. Luketich was tied up on an unexpected situation. We were encouraged to wait. Thought that it would be a quick hello since we had already met with Levy. Luketich spent almost 2 hours with us to explain in detail all of the different scenarios. He had read all of the previous reports and viewed all of the scans before he met us. He is so thorough and careful. He answered all of our questions, What an amazing man. My son is scheduled for an endoscopic exam next week and then will probably have the esophagus removed and replaced with part of his stomach. Thank you for your reply to my initial post.

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