The final piece in my OHSU tour last week was a sit down with Dr Sandler (Dr S). It confirmed, once again, he is the perfect oncologist for me at this point in my life.
I really enjoyed how he got right to the point. Which is pretty much how I roll too. The conversation between Dr S and Chris Draft began with Dr S asking, “So, I’m sure you’ve been to lots of cancer centers. What are you looking for here?” That is when Chris explained he had been to 56 centers since December 2011. Holy moly. Then I began to wonder too, what are you doing here?
Chris was looking for a unique service that OHSU offers lung cancer patients. He found it when Dr S explained how OHSU has initiated a program to work with community oncologists to provide mutation testing services. OHSU will perform the testing with the intention of only suggesting the patient transfer care if OHSU can offer a drug that targets the specific mutation detected. The result – the best care for the patient. The even better part, the patient does nothing. All of the necessary coordination will be done between the medical staff. Win – win!
1/18 Update: Want to do this? You or your doc can contact Knight Diagnostic Laboratories at 855-KDL-1LAB (535-1522)
Chris was pretty impressed by this. He asked Dr S to repeat what he said, this time in front of his iPhone. Below is the video I borrowed from the Team Draft blog.
Aquarius vs. Cancer 
Currently, I don’t have any tumor for testing – but on progression that will be my next step. I wonder if they will work with oncologists outside of the Portland area – in my case the Rogue Valley? Thank you for putting this information out there.
dwilliams,
I will begin to track down who you need to talk to at OHSU tomorrow. Now I’m thinking I should have got this info before I posted about it. Hind sight is 20/20, right? An email will be coming your way soon.
If it’s easy to get, great — but if not, please don’t spend a lot of time on it. I am just grateful to know that option is out there when the need arises. Thanks for that!
Oh no… I’m not going to stop until I get the info. I plan to update my post with the contact info instead of “leave a comment” as I have it now.
Got it!
Contact Knight Diagnostic Laboratories at 855-KDL-1LAB (535-1522)
That’s great!! Thanks so much for this info. I see my onc next week here locally and will make sure she has this information. There are a number of other patients here locally might also benefit — so thanks again as this will benefit others as well.
Looks like your individual piece from Fox is also up on the Team Draft site now. How cool to see your bit of the interview. I am so very impressed with Chris Draft and Dr. S!
Yes. I need to add the link to my site too. I’ve been a slacker this week.
hi, havent seen a post from you in a few days, so just saying hi. have anice week! 🙂
Hi Gwendolyn, I’ve been very social lately. Good for relationships; bad for the blog. 🙂
Have a good week too!
thanks 🙂