Dr. Ostroff at UCSF (Gayle)

[Guest guest]

Gayle,

I hope your appointment with Dr. Patti goes well. I was wondering

what you think of Dr. Ostroff. After my surgery with Dr. Patti, I was

hoping to find a better GI doctor than the ones I've been to.

Vicki from Palo Alto

>

> ...I appreciated hearing from you via this forum. An update--I too

am

> seeing Dr. Patti this coming Tuesday. I can't have my endosc/colons.

> with Dr. Ostroff until July 10th so I figured I would check in with

> Dr. Patti, have him look at the upper GI & chest CT results and

> perhaps give me an idea if I'm looking at 1) another dilation 2)

> another heller or other type of surgery or 3) a player to be named

later.

>

> Wishing everyone a regurg & stress free weekend!

>

> Gayle in San Fran

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Vicki,

I have mixed feelings about Dr. Ostroff. His bedside manner leaves alot to be

desired and

I've waited as long as 3 HOURS beyond my scheduled appointment to see him. That

being

said, I too have been through the ringer with prior misdiagnosis from different

gastro

docs and Dr. Ostroff works closely with Dr. Patti. There are not many gastro

docs who are

very familiar with achalasia treatments so once you find one, it's difficult to

make a switch.

You need to find an internist who will act as your advocate/traffic control

manager. SO,

I'm biting the bullet and waiting for Ostroff to do my colons/endo (2nd time

around-I had

him do these tests for me in Dec 2004 and he did my dilation as well). I'm

being as

upfront with you, Vicki, as I can possibly be.

One bit of advice to all who are having upcoming surgical procedures... this is

especially

essential at teaching hospitals such as UCSF. Make certain that when you sign

the consent

form for surgery, you " cross out the " and Associates " portion of the consent.

Otherwise,

it's possible (or likely) that you will have a teaching fellow perform some

portion of the

operation. I asked Dr. Patti directly prior to mysurgery if only he would be

operating on

me. He told me, in no uncertain terms, that the heller myotomy is the ONLY

surgery that

he does " skin to skin. " I will not give permission for anyone other than

Ostroff to do my

upcoming tests because if a doc/resident/et al works on me and ruptures

somethin', I'm

up a sh** creek. (sorry to be very blunt about this)!

Another " random " thought...for those of you who may also suffer from IBS or

bowel issues

due to poor digestion/nutrition, drinking Kefir on a regular basis, the Lifeway

brand (a

natural probiotic similar to yogurt) has helped me to restore my digestive

health naturally.

Also, taking a seratonin based anti anxiety/anti depressant can also help

because our

bodies are delated from that chemical which should occur naturally in our gut

(and our

brain).

Best,

Gayle in SF

> >

> > ...I appreciated hearing from you via this forum. An update--I too

> am

> > seeing Dr. Patti this coming Tuesday. I can't have my endosc/colons.

> > with Dr. Ostroff until July 10th so I figured I would check in with

> > Dr. Patti, have him look at the upper GI & chest CT results and

> > perhaps give me an idea if I'm looking at 1) another dilation 2)

> > another heller or other type of surgery or 3) a player to be named

> later.

> >

> > Wishing everyone a regurg & stress free weekend!

> >

> > Gayle in San Fran

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Gayle,

I really appreciate the information about Dr. Ostroff. Given the

stress of having achalasia, I was hoping to find a more caring GI;

however, my main concern is having someone more knowledgeable about

achalasia. So, I will probably try out Dr. Ostroff after surgery.

Great advice about having only the surgeon operate. I was going

to ask Dr. Patti about this when I see him a few days before

surgery. I was worried how he would take it.

I asked Dr. Lowe at Stanford before he did my very first endoscopy

if he could be the only one doing the endoscopy. He got rather

annoyed and said a resident would be helping him. I asked what

parts of the endoscopy the resident would do, and Dr. Lowe didn't

really answer. When I asked how many endoscopies the resident had

done before, he did said I could ask the resident right before the

procedure. I was planning on insisting that just Dr. Lowe do the

endoscopy when I went in for it (althought I was skeptical if I

could pursuade him), but luckily the resident ended up being too

busy to " help " with my endoscopy. I realize that residents need to

learn by practicing on patients but I don't want one rupturing my

esophagus.

Vicki from Palo Alto

> > >

> > > ...I appreciated hearing from you via this forum. An update--

I too

> > am

> > > seeing Dr. Patti this coming Tuesday. I can't have my

endosc/colons.

> > > with Dr. Ostroff until July 10th so I figured I would check in

with

> > > Dr. Patti, have him look at the upper GI & chest CT results and

> > > perhaps give me an idea if I'm looking at 1) another dilation

2)

> > > another heller or other type of surgery or 3) a player to be

named

> > later.

> > >

> > > Wishing everyone a regurg & stress free weekend!

> > >

> > > Gayle in San Fran

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I didn't realize that was a possibility with an endoscopy - the

rupturing the esophagus. Does anyone know how likely that is?

Joy in sunny San

> > > >

> > > > ...I appreciated hearing from you via this forum. An update-

-

> I too

> > > am

> > > > seeing Dr. Patti this coming Tuesday. I can't have my

> endosc/colons.

> > > > with Dr. Ostroff until July 10th so I figured I would check

in

> with

> > > > Dr. Patti, have him look at the upper GI & chest CT results

and

> > > > perhaps give me an idea if I'm looking at 1) another

dilation

> 2)

> > > > another heller or other type of surgery or 3) a player to be

> named

> > > later.

> > > >

> > > > Wishing everyone a regurg & stress free weekend!

> > > >

> > > > Gayle in San Fran

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Joy,

Sorry if I scared you. My impression is that the risk is very

small from just an endoscopy. Dr. Lowe mentioned he had been doing

them for 20 years and never had a ruputure.

So my concern was mainly having a brand new resident try an

endoscopy on me as one of her first patients.

I am becoming a tad paranoid about medical issues but don't worry

about complications from an endoscopy. I have now had four of them.

The risk is higher for a ballon dillation since force is used to

cut the sphincter muscles. I think the risk is about 5% for a

performation. But they can do emergency surgery to fix it if this

happens. I know someone who needed the emergency surgery so they

did a heller myotomy while they were operating. He has been doing

well ever since.

Vicki

> > > > >

> > > > > ...I appreciated hearing from you via this forum. An

update-

> -

> > I too

> > > > am

> > > > > seeing Dr. Patti this coming Tuesday. I can't have my

> > endosc/colons.

> > > > > with Dr. Ostroff until July 10th so I figured I would

check

> in

> > with

> > > > > Dr. Patti, have him look at the upper GI & chest CT

results

> and

> > > > > perhaps give me an idea if I'm looking at 1) another

> dilation

> > 2)

> > > > > another heller or other type of surgery or 3) a player to

be

> > named

> > > > later.

> > > > >

> > > > > Wishing everyone a regurg & stress free weekend!

> > > > >

> > > > > Gayle in San Fran

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>