New Jersey Semi~Colons?

Born and raised in NJ
Now I live in Orange County NY, I work in NJ

punch_vj said:

HI~
Well, Hello

Your posts are some of my favorites: funny, smart and with just the right amount of "attitude"...hey sort of sounds like me!

the water???
maybe it was something in that NJ water???
Thank you for the compliment, I've been in the game a long time.
-p

punch_vj said:

Hi
My family and I are in Middlesex/Somerset counties. I hear good things about MSK, we may need additional consullts, too. Do you go into NYC or to Basking Ridge sattellite? We saw someone briefly @ CINJ for a trial. Probably would not go back.

NYC
When I was first diagnosed I went to Morristown Carol Simon Cancer Center where I met an oncologist that I wasn't crazy about. My husband's cousin is a GI doctor and told us to go to MSK (specifically to a well-known and well-regarded female oncologist that deals ONLY with colon cancer/liver mets). He knows her personally and lobbed a call into her and I saw her within 10 days of being diagnosed.

My oncologist (who is also doctor to a couple of others on the board here) is not a particularly warm person but she is highly competent and specializes in a form of treatment called the HAI pump which pumps chemo directly to the liver. When I met her I did ask about receiving treatment in Basking Ridge (which would be a heck of a lot more convenient) but she told me I would be under another doctor's care/direction and I did not want that. So instead of an easy 10 mile drive to Basking Ridge I do make the 25 mile commute into the city via the Lincoln Tunnel. When I need CT scans I will go to Basking Ridge. One benefit to going into NYC is that the clinic days (Mon and Wed) when the DR is in the waiting room is packed with people who have the same exact diagnosis as me. It is GREAT to meet people that are there for routine bloodwork or scans after being diagnosed with Stage IV years ago. My oncologist has Stage IV study data on people spanning more than 15 years. That's impressive.

I am not familiar with CINJ.

About whether the care is personal...

Well, on my second visit to see my oncologist the receptionist used my name (Hi Mrs T) as soon as she saw me. The scheduler also said "Hello Mrs T. When my oncologist's assistant came out to call me in she picked me out in a room filled with about 50 people. So while I get the benefit of a large institution I really feel like I get very personal service. As much as one could say they "love" their oncologist office, I can....

HTH,
Amy

punch_vj said:

Hi Again
Thank you for the great feedback. We have that kind of feeling with our Onc's office, too. The staff at CINJ was friendly/professional.

The problem was the hectic rigors of the facility, and being on a study there. It was like... way too many cooks in the kitchen~constant calls, extra tests, abrupt sessions with Onc doc.

I also found that unlike at our Onc's office, the doc there wasn't very good with discussing treatment in patient-as-advocate kind of way. This was for like two months, we're back with original Onc now. We been in this fight for a couple of years now, and that was the only time that we felt our hope "broken" Not good, because it's one of the weapons/armor that we families use in this affair.

South
Hi all,

Born and raised in South Jersey - still living here. My husband is from Pennsylvania, but moved to Jersey when we got married.

Donna

Hello from New Jersey
We live in Keansburg and my husband had his surgery at Riverview. All of his doctors go there and he will get his radiation at the cancer center there. He gets his chemo treatments in Little Silver. We cannot say enough good things about all of his doctors.
Cheryl

mom_2_3 said:

NYC
When I was first diagnosed I went to Morristown Carol Simon Cancer Center where I met an oncologist that I wasn't crazy about. My husband's cousin is a GI doctor and told us to go to MSK (specifically to a well-known and well-regarded female oncologist that deals ONLY with colon cancer/liver mets). He knows her personally and lobbed a call into her and I saw her within 10 days of being diagnosed.

My oncologist (who is also doctor to a couple of others on the board here) is not a particularly warm person but she is highly competent and specializes in a form of treatment called the HAI pump which pumps chemo directly to the liver. When I met her I did ask about receiving treatment in Basking Ridge (which would be a heck of a lot more convenient) but she told me I would be under another doctor's care/direction and I did not want that. So instead of an easy 10 mile drive to Basking Ridge I do make the 25 mile commute into the city via the Lincoln Tunnel. When I need CT scans I will go to Basking Ridge. One benefit to going into NYC is that the clinic days (Mon and Wed) when the DR is in the waiting room is packed with people who have the same exact diagnosis as me. It is GREAT to meet people that are there for routine bloodwork or scans after being diagnosed with Stage IV years ago. My oncologist has Stage IV study data on people spanning more than 15 years. That's impressive.

I am not familiar with CINJ.

About whether the care is personal...

Well, on my second visit to see my oncologist the receptionist used my name (Hi Mrs T) as soon as she saw me. The scheduler also said "Hello Mrs T. When my oncologist's assistant came out to call me in she picked me out in a room filled with about 50 people. So while I get the benefit of a large institution I really feel like I get very personal service. As much as one could say they "love" their oncologist office, I can....

HTH,
Amy

Special "K"
Hi Amy,
I just saw her this morning. I even got her to smile and almost laugh...
We went over my scan. Everything is stable. That's good news to me and she was grinning ear to ear and was very happy.

PhillieG said:

Special "K"
Hi Amy,
I just saw her this morning. I even got her to smile and almost laugh...
We went over my scan. Everything is stable. That's good news to me and she was grinning ear to ear and was very happy.

Thank you
I think she's the greatest. I trust her 100%.
I'd love to see you two hug or better yet, a high 5.
-phil

Another NJ Survivor Here
I grew up in Bergen County, then lived in Passaic, Morris, and Somerset counties. I go to NYC to Sloan Kettering and my doctor is the same diva that some of you use. She has yet to smile at me, but I wouldn't trade her for anyone else. I use the Basking Ridge facility for scans, and they are very friendly and professional. I got my chemo locally in NJ. I was diagnosed three years ago, had surgery, chemo, more surgery, more chemo and have been NED since 12/06. I'm happy to have found this site. I'm 62 years old and about to be a grandma!