Medical oncologist information--Chicagoland

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jessillinois
jessillinois Member Posts: 8
edited April 2016 in Just Diagnosed

I am looking for a medical oncologist in the area (Chicago)for a second opinion. I have Stage one, node negative, estrogen &progesterone positive, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. I am in search of an oncologist who doesn't just recommend chemo as a standard, but will look at my case specifically to see if it makes sense. Referrals appreciated. I am in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. Or, if  you are someone who has chosen to forgo chemo, I'd love to hear of your experience. Thank you!

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  • morelandks
    morelandks Member Posts: 51
    edited April 2016

    Hi there - I have had all of my treatment at the University of Chicago and I LOVE my doctors. The nurses have been fantastic too (with the rare exception here or there). The common theme is that I have always felt treated like a person and that my particular situation was being considered. If you're willing to deal with the commute, it's a great place to be cared for. My MO is Olwen Hahn (a woman).

    (PS - I too really, really struggled with deciding to do chemo - both of my parents died of cancer and I was more afraid of chemo than I was of dying of cancer - no joke. In my situation, I really needed to do it (see my signature block for details), and I will say that even though I had to go through all the "rough" chemo, it truly was no where near as horrible as I feared. I am not saying that it is not a serious undertaking - it is, and each person will have different side effects depending on personal biology and life situation, but I am living proof that you can get through it and get back to feeling great - truly.)

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  • Hopeful82014
    Hopeful82014 Member Posts: 3,480
    edited April 2016
    Jess, if you need more options you might PM ChiSandy, who lives in the Chicago area. I think I've got her name right - if not, check the Femara thread, as she is active there.

    Good luck with your search (as well as your treatment). Having a treatment approach that you are ok with is a huge part of healing and recovery.
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  • jessillinois
    jessillinois Member Posts: 8
    edited April 2016

    Thank you for your response.

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  • ChiSandy
    ChiSandy Member Posts: 12,133
    edited April 2016

    Jess, I am on the N. Side, so I go to Kellogg Cancer Center at NorthShore Evanston Hospital (part of U. of C. Med. Sch., Mayo-affiliated) for my care team. My MO is Teresa Murray Law. and she’s wonderful. I have the same kind of IDC as you, at stage IA. I walked in (not yet having my OncotypeDX results yet) with a laundry list of reasons I didn’t want chemo, and she laughed and said, “Whoa--why don’t you tell me about yourself first: who you are, what you do, how you live and what you love to do.” She then told me that she was 90% certain to recommend against chemo in my case, but because my tumor was 1.3cm she’d wait for the ODX score. When it came back 16 (not as low as I’d hoped), she said that adding chemo to rads & letrozole would lower my recurrence rate by less than 2%--shortening my survival by about a yr. or so. When I said that wasn’t enough of an advantage at my age (64 at the time) she agreed.

    She has a colleague, Elaine Wade, who is also quite good though I don’t know her benchmarks for chemo. Since you are in the W. suburbs, I’d take a look at either Advocate Good Samaritan in Downers Grove (U of I-affiliated), Central DuPage--part of the Northwestern Medicine system, which is Cleveland Clinic-affiliated, or Rush Copley in Aurora. Though my husband is an Advocate physician, I’d lean toward a Northwestern or UC-affiliated breast cancer center. If you can get into the city, Lynn Sage (NWM) is a world-famous breast center.

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  • elleredux
    elleredux Member Posts: 45
    edited April 2016

    Hi Jess,

    I'm in the western suburbs, too. I had my surgeries and have most of my MD's downtown at Northwestern. I had second opinions at University of Chicago and Loyola back in 2012 when I was diagnosed. However, the medical oncologist I chose is at Northwestern Medicine Cancer Center in Warrenville (formerly Cadence). I was given his name by an MD who said to make sure I saw him even if other MOs had earlier appt openings. His name is Dr. John Ayers :

    https://www.cadencehealth.org/find-a-doctor/find-a...

    He did his fellowship at Loyola, with Kathy Albain who is considered a foremost authority on breast cancer and is one of the lead MD's for Oncotype studies. Actually, I did meet her at Loyola, but still found Dr. Ayers to be more for me.

    My situation was that I had a small amount of cancer in 2/15 nodes and an Oncotype of 4. He spent a lot of time with me going over various data/studies. I ultimately did not do chemo, and I had a good understanding of why that choice was made. Also, he has a personal connection/interest in breast cancer, and is always up to date on the latest study results and new treatment choices.

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  • jessillinois
    jessillinois Member Posts: 8
    edited April 2016

    That is great to hear, he was on my list of top 2 to try, him and Katherine Kabaker who is a part of Rush in Lisle. Thanks so much for responding. Hope you are doing well.

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