Anyone with experience with Dr. Gerald Schaffer in CA?

July 22, 2011

Hello everyone,

I was an active member of this group over 5 years ago but have " neglected " my

achalasia for about the same period of time. To recap:

Dr Patti performed a Heller in Sept 2004 while he was still at UCSF and Dr

Ostroff did 2 post op dilitations in 2005/06.

Well, most of you know the story. I'm having problems again. I had the barium

swallow last week to confirm the sticking. Unfortunately, I no longer live in

SF and my insurance is based out of Reno, NV so Ostroff is considered Out of

Network. I now live in Truckee, CA (in between Lake Tahoe and Reno) So, here's

the pickle that I'm in:

1) Do I start with someone new, ie Dr Gerald Schaffer? He now practices 2 days

a week here in Truckee and the rest of the time in the East Bay (San Pablo, CA)

I saw him at the beginning of the week and he was nice enough and easy to talk

with but I'm concerned because he mentioned BOTOX right out of the box. I don't

want that now or ever, if I can help it. I'm 48 years old and have researched

the heck out of this disorder and was very put off put his suggestion. This

made me feel uneasy overall. He said he is fine to do the dilitation but I know

he hasn't performed as many as Ostroff. However, he would be covered in network

at 90% vs 70% of 'usual & customary' for Ostroff. Should I take this kind of

risk? On the one hand, my experiences at the Truckee Hospital have been

favorable but for some reason, I'm feeling skittish about starting with someone

new.

Does anyone have any firsthand experience with Dr. Schaffer? One member of the

group back in 2003, Kirk, references him but the email that I sent to her

bounced back. I just looked on the member list and I see a phone # for her so I

will try to call her this weekend. I'm looking for any help that I can get.

Or:

2) Pay out of pocket for Ostroff (who is extremely caustic and whom I have to

'fight' to ensure that an intern doesn't perform the dilitation on me at UCSF, a

teaching hospital) Seriously, I have to cross out " And Associates " on the

consent form because I am put under to make certain that I'm not a teaching

subject. Extremely stressful.

I'm very overwhelmed by this situation as I now care for my elderly mother full

time. Part of me wants to keep denying that my " A " has returned with a

vengeance but I am feeling too unwell to stay in denial.

Thanking you in advance for your words of wisdom.

Gayle in Truckee CA

mrshmllw2001@...

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