clinics vs hospitals?

[cynnycal]

i've read alot on here about places such as mayo clinic, cleveland clinic, etc.
i was just wondering, is there alot more of a benefit going to a place like that as opposed to your own hospital?
For instance I'm at Rush North Shore in Skokie (near Chicago) which is affiliated with Rush University Hospitals (my surgeon is actually there at Rush Univ. downtown, as is supposed to be tops in the field in colorectal cancers and surgeries and such)
So is there something i might be missing by being at my hospital as opposed to going to a mayo clinic or cleveland clinic? (i know my pathology results were sent to a mayo clinic for further testing before being sent back to my surgeon with their opinions on them. but i didn't even know they were being sent there.)
what is the consensus on the pros and cons of either or?

[Sweet Peg]

Sounds to me like you have a very good surgeon to me. If they have sent everything to be looked at to Mayo then unless you aren't happy or satisfied with the results, I would stay there. I guess it also depends on how comfortable you are with the Oncologist. If you trust him/her and can get all the answers to your questions then why not stay. If there is something REALLY different about your situation and NEED a specialist or someone who deals with the really unusual, then check out other places. My surgeon told me that if there are new treatments out there that all the Oncologist and surgeons know about them as well. He said that you could travel thousands of miles to get the same treatment as you would right where you are at so why stress yourself and waste time doing this when you could be attacking the cancer ASAP!!! He really has a point you know? I really feel that is why I have done so well...because i got at the Chemo right away not giving the little cancer cells anymore time to spread!!! This is just my thought about it all and how I decided where to go and what to go with. Hope it helps!!!

Peg

[cynnycal]

well, i kinda thought the same. i mean, i figured i was getting the best i could get already. but i was just wondering if there was something about these clinics that made a difference.
i guess my case is somewhat unique in that it was caused by the genetic disorder FAP, but i thought that would make me more of a curiosity or case study to most. not necessarily help me in treatment.
who knows
just curious.
thanks peg

[Alex Parikh]

As long as both the hospital and the surgeon does a lot of those cases, you'll be in good hands. A few studies have certainly shown that high volume surgeons at high volume hospitals have the best outcome. hope that helps - Rush would be a good choice.

Alex Parikh, M.D.
Surgical Oncology
Vanderbilt University