Dr Bhat (Richmond Hill ON)

Mantra

I just posted this in another thread and realized I should have started a new one. My sister was just diagnosed and her family doctor has made an appointment for her to see Dr. Bhat at York Central Hospital . I want her to see my surgeon at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto but she is in no mood to discuss anything and wants to just go to whomever her GP referred her to. I read one review on ratemd.com about him and it wasn't good; but there was only one review so who knows. I thought I'd check in here to see if anyone else knows of this doctor. Thanks

Caya

If your sister is in the GTA and can get to a dr. at Princess Margaret Hospital, I would do my utmost to convince her.  PMH is one of the top five cancer hospitals IN THE WORLD - Dr. Leong was my breast surgeon there, and my onc. was next door at Mount Sinai - Dr. Martin Blackstein, a world reknown breast cancer and sarcoma oncologist.  Dr. Blackstein told me that as of Sept. 2011 he will no longer be treating BC patients, focusing only on the sarcoma cases, so unfortunately I can no longer recommend him. 

Nothing against Dr. Bhat, but York Central is a regional hospital - downtown at PMH and Mount Sinai they are cutting edge - Dr. Ellen Warner at Sunnybrook is also supposed to be excellent.

crazy4carrots

Mantra -- There are a few things (IMHO) to consider when choosing either a downtown teaching hospital or a community hospital with an oncology clinic.

The first is accessibility and available time.  The local hospital is convenient, and I guarantee the waiting times will be much less than PMH or Sunnybrook.

The second is building a relationship with the oncologist.  At a teaching hospital, you will be seen initially by the staff onc, and thereafter probably by  his/her residents-in-training (which will change throughout).

The third is checking qualifications and asking questions about the onc at the first appt.  Where did they train, did they do any research, who do they go to when THEY are not sure etc.

I mention these things because, when I was dx'd, I immediately thought of going in to PMH (an hour and a half drive away) because I'd been a volunteer there for years and also had spent the last years of my working life at UHN.

But I decided to first give my local general hospital a try (14 miles away).  I was referred to a wonderful female onc (Head of the Oncology Clinic) who, I discovered, had trained at PMH, had done 7 years of straight research, and kept in close touch with several PMH oncs I knew personally.  So, I felt secure with her.  As it turned out, the Clinic was a warm, loving place, I see her at every appt., we talk about the latest research, and I've never waited longer than an hour!

Of course, this is only my experience! 

bethen

Mantra- please do not discount York Central Hospital or Dr. Bhat.  After seeing my family doctor, I was referred to Dr. Bhat whom saw the next day.  During the next ten days he had me undergo a whirlwind of test, mammogram, CT, MRI, bone scan, muga, bone density and punch biopsy.  I could not believe how quickly I was diagnosed and had a treatment plan in place, as I said from the day I first saw Dr. Bhat until I was told of my official diagnoses was ONLY 10 days.  The oncologist at York Central is wonderful and straight to the point, which I really appreciated, she has even given me a hug in the past.  The nurses in the chemo ward are extremely friendly and knowlegable, they really do become your friends.  I have never had to wait more that one week for repeat tests to be done.  I am so glad that I was able to go to that hospital, it was truly a blessing for me.  One last bit of information, on the scheduled day of my mastectomy, I was lying on the operating table and I started to cry because I was so afraid, the nurses and anesthesiologist looked at me an smiles, but Dr. Bhat saw me and actually came over to me and touched my shoulder and said "please don't worry, you will be OK", it actually made me feel good knowing that someone just acknowledged how I was feeling at that moment.  Take care and good luck......Betsy

Mantra

Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences. My sister is not on this site (yet) so I'm sending her a copy of each of your replies. In the meantime we have put two different plans into place.

First, she is going to see Dr. Bhat on Thursday. I spoke to his office today and I did have one big concern. They said he will not be able to do the surgery until August. Given the cancer is in her lymph nodes, she cannot wait this long. I told her that perhaps when she sees him, he may infact move her date forward but of course she won't know this until Thursday.

I've also called my surgeon's office at PMH. The secretary said she can squeeze my sister in on May 25 and surgery would be a maximum of two weeks later. Of course she needs a referral before anything can be done and depending on what happens Thursday, she will get the referral if she decides to go to PMH.

After discussing all of this with her today, she said that her GP wants her to go to Sunnybrook for her treatments and that Dr. Bhat would do the referral to an oncologist at Sunnybrook. If that's the case, she said her first choice would be to have a surgeon at Sunnybrook. 

I guess I have one big concern I just can't get past. She has been seeing Dr. Bhat for over a year and has had a biopsy, ultrasounds etc. She has very dense breasts with many cysts and given my own breast cancer history, her GP decided it would be best for her to be followed by a breast cancer surgeon on a regular basis.

Six months ago was her last checkup with him and at that appointment he said everything was fine and whatever cysts etc that were found, were benign. She went for a routine 6 month follow up ultrasound this week and suddenly she now has a very large mass and likely cancer in the lymph nodes. He has referred her for a needle biopsy for the mass and for her lymph nodes but she doesn't have an appointment yet. I just keep wondering how this was missed. I just can't wrap my head around how she was supposed to be followed so closely and just 6 months ago was told she was fine and now she has this large mass and likely positive lymph nodes. Is it possible that six months ago she really was cancer free or is it more likely that someone dropped the ball and didn't find what they should have.

crazy4carrots

Mantra -- I'm a little confused by your last post.  According to your last paragraph, your sister is going to have needle biopsies to actually determine whether or not the mass (and nodes are malignant.  So, it is still to be determined? 

If this is so, then it may turn out that the mass (and nodes) will be benign.  Hoping for the best possible outcome.

Hugs,  Linda

Mantra

Hi Linda, yes, she only had a ultrasound as part of her regular breast exam. The report from the ultrasound leaves little doubt that she has cancer but until she has her needle biopsy, there is always a chance that the biopsy will come back negative.

We are hoping and praying that things will turn out to be negative although we've been told it is cancer. I'm very anxious for her to get this biopsy done so we'll know what we're dealing with. I know I had my needle biopsy within days of my mammogram and my doctor called me the very next day to tell me the not-so-wonderful news. I'm not a patient person and waiting until we hear about biopsy date is driving me crazy.

Anonymous

Run away from Bhat, from personal experience. Just leave him. Get her to the PMH as soon as possible. If you want more details - too many letters to type. PM me and I'll give you my phone number.

barbe1958

Mantra, as the cancer is growing it is too small at the beginning for ANY screening technique to pick it up. It is possible that the new growth is cancer, but until the biopsy comes back, you know that 80% of biopsies are benign. I think whoever said the word 'cancer' should have their knuckles rapped at the very least! I had 3 biopsies before my cancer diagnosis and no one said the word cancer. I had my biopsy done while I was still on the table with my ultrasound. I pray she gets an all-clear, you are both in my prayers.

Mantra

My sister met with Bhat today. He said although he can't really say with complete certainty that it is cancer until after the biopsy, he told her there is little doubt that it is cancer and little doubt that it is in the lymph node too. He assured her that none of this showed up 6 months ago which means this cancer is growing very quickly.

That said, he told her that things must move very quickly. He told her that he cannot get her in fast enough for surgery and therefore needs to refer her. He also said there is no use wasting time getting a biopsy from York Central since it is normally done through the doctor she will be referred to.

So I called my surgeons office at PMH to double check that she will see my sister. She said that after we spoke last Monday, she tried to hold the May 25th date open but it is now gone and  the earliest date she can see her is June 1 with a surgical date the following week.

Bhat went ahead and sent the referral and the secretary at PMH told me she will keep her eye open for it and do whatever she can to move things along as quickly as possible. I imagine within the next day or two she will receive a call along with appointments for whatever tests are required.  I actually have an appointment with the same surgeon on June 1. It's just a follow up appointment made 6 months ago. It's unfortunate it isn't earlier because I would have given my appointment to my sister.

Also, Bhat recommended a book called the Intelligent Patient Guide that is supposed to explain chemo etc. I told her to hold off until she meets with the surgeon at PMH but I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with this book. If so, would you recommend it? My sister has asked me to handle as much as I can for her. She said she is so appreciative of the info she's getting from everyone on this website even though emotionally she's unable to log on herself.  I did tell her there is a forum about chemo but I've never been on it. I feel it will probably be more informative than a book, but I don't really know. 

Mantra

Leprechaun, thanks for the info. It turns out that Bhat had to refer my sister because he doesn't have surgical time available and said my sister's cancer is very aggressive and will require surgery ASAP. I am beyond annoyed with him!! He obviously knew a week ago he would have to refer her. So why did he waste an entire week. He could have just called my sister, spoke to her on the phone and said he would have to refer her. Instead, he booked an appt to see her a week later and wasted a complete week. Originally my surgeon at PMH had a May 25th opening. Now that Bhat wasted a week, her earliest appointment is June 1. I am just beyond aggravated over this unnecessary waste of time.

Anonymous

Good thing you're working with PMH already. We've done the same back in 2008. Bhat ordered a liver biopsy which came back negative andhe wanted to try again. We said no, it's just a waste of time. Olga's tumor was growing so fast! So he made a face of a kid that was robbed of his toys. We ran to PMH then.

Dr. Leong was Olga's surgeon and he's very VERY thorough and serious. 

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to PM, please.

Good luck and take care,

Yan

barbe1958

I'm wondering if Dr. Bhat was the doctor that took over when my doc was in the hospital  himself. The referred doctor, if it was Bhat, didn't order any pain meds for after my biopsy!! I was in agony in Recovery and the nurses were beside themselves as they couldn't give me anything. Then my blood pressure wouldn't go down because of the pain and they couldn't let me go. I finally booked myself out against their better judgement but I told them I had pain meds at home if they weren't going to give me any!!

I found out that HE DIDN'T FREEZE MY BREAST before the biopsy as it would have given me a bruise!! I was horrified at my follow-up appointment and he begged me not to tell anyone in his waiting room. Does that sound like Dr. Bhat???

Now I wonder who my oringal angel of a doctor was.....

Mantra

Wow Barbe that sound absolutely brutal. I wonder if it was infact Bhat? I went on the York Central website to see if I could find a photo of him. If so, I was going to send it to you to see if you recognized him.

In the meantime I've been pushing my way through the PMH system. We've now managed to get her biopsy booked for May 25 (earlier if a cancellation comes in), and an appt with the surgeon on the 27th (earlier if the biopsy is done earlier).

barbe1958

Mantra, I just asked my DH as he is so good at remembering names but he remembers Dr. Bhat, but not which one it was! (the before or the after) My first 'bad' mammo was October 1st and with MRI's, ultrasounds, repeat mammos etc, I didn't get surgery until December!! Finally diagnosed for sure on the 10th and then double mast on the 16th. Everything happens a lot quicker once diagnosis is nailed down. Good luck!