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MDS Center of Excellence in NJ

This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by joanne.

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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March 8, 2018 at 2:29 pm #35930

Rich
Participant

I am looking for a second opinion in NJ and understand Rutgers and Hackensack are Centers of Excellence. Can anyone refer a great doctor that I seek out? Any help will be appreciated!

March 10, 2018 at 10:34 am #35944

mdsfound
Moderator

Hi Rich, I know this is a difficult situation for you and I would recommend that you go to one of our Centers of Excellence in MDS for a second opinion. Dr. Dale Schaaar at Rutgers and Dr. Stuart Goldberg at Hackensack have this designation. Following is a link to our Centers of Excellence worldwide https://www.mds-foundation.org/mds-centeres-of-excellence/. We also have a wonderful information program called the Building Blocks of Hope which we can send you via postal mail. If this is something that you would be interested in, please forward your mailing address to patientliaison@mds-foundation.org. In the meantime, you can also view this video https://www.mds-foundation.org/bboh/. I hope this information helps.

March 19, 2018 at 4:17 pm #35977

joanne
Participant

Hi Rich. Have you chosen where to get your second opinion yet? And if so, why did you pick that one?

My local oncologist wants me to go to Rutgers/RWJ to meet with the transplant team for evaluation. He trained there and was on the transplant team until about 12 years ago. It’s closer to where I live, too. Otherwise, I don’t know how to compare them other than Hackensack does more transplants than RWJ. Or, at least, did the years when the statistics were available.

Joanne

March 25, 2018 at 11:25 am #35997

Rich
Participant

Joanne, I am now with Dr. Dale Schaar. After reaching out to the AA-MDS Foundation and the MDS Foundation here, he is the leader in the field for our area at Rutgers. Dr. Schaar, on my first visit sat with me and went over EVERYTHING in detail for two hours. He not only covers every possible topic related to your condition but also will tell you why he asking certain questions and actually educates you. At Sinai, I would get a nurse practitioner or other doctor and for the last 2-3 minutes my oncologist would pop his head in and say, let’s have you come back in a month or two. I hope this helps and keep me posted!

March 25, 2018 at 3:25 pm #35998

joanne
Participant

Thank you for your reply, Rich. I just had a BMB last Tuesday and will have some of the results back this coming Tuesday. Then I guess it’s time to make an appointment.
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