Gynecological Oncologists

Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Conservative gyn oncologist who is familiar with endometriosis

June 2007

Does anyone have a recommendation for a very conservative gyn oncologist who is familiar with endometriosis? thanks

If you are looking for a gynecological oncological surgeon, I highly recommend Dr. Jenta Shen in San Francisco. I don't know if he is specifically expert in endometriosis, but he is a wonderful physician. On the flip side, I strongly recommend against going to Dr. Larry Strieff, an oncologist in Oakland. He is a nice enough guy, but his staff is uncaring, unresponsive and unhelpful.

Strieff's nursing staff never returned calls. When I was in the middle of chemo and was suffering bad side affects and had questions that needed answering right away, they didn't call back even though the answering machine message said they would return all calls on the same day. I had to call the receptionist and ask her to ask the nurses to call me back.

The nursing staff did not check my vitals when I came in for chemo. I think they performed visual checks only.

The nursing staff did not help me deal with side affects of chemo. I called to reschedule chemo because I was having a bad side affect (diarrhea). When I called they just said sure, we'll move it to Wednesday. They should have asked me how severe the condition was, what medication I was taking, and discussed what I could do to alleviate the problem. They didn't even ask me how I was feeling.

I only realized the degree to which Strieff's staff was not doing its job when I moved to another oncologist whose nursing staff was amazing, proactive, caring, and nurturing. anon

I just read the comments about Dr. Larry Strief and his office. I too was treated there for chemo, and had a different experience than the poster. I found the chemo nursing staff caring and concerned. I too had diarhhea, and when I called they immediately provided me with a protocol. One time I left the office only to make it as far as the bathroom on their office floor to vomit. When I went back to tell them they immediately sat me down and looked after me. One time when I mentioned that I had excessive menstrual bleeding they took my red blood cell count, when normally they only took my white blood cell count, which they did every time. They also frequently tried to give me a private room for chemo, because they knew I tried to work through the session. That said, I felt I got better care and follow-up from them than from Dr. Strieff himself. So if the poster commenting about Dr. Strieff could please post me separately with the name of your ''new'' oncologist I would appreciate it, just in case I have a future need. LRegberg [at] aol.com Anon

I would like to add one more comment regarding my comments about Dr. Strieff and his office (from LRegberg [at] aol.com). Dr. Strieff did do one very wonderful thing for me, which is he referred me to a geneticist at UCSF because of his suspicion there was a genetic basis to my cancer. He was spot on, and this referral resulted in extensive health-insurance funded tumor and blood testing and probable life-saving prophylactic surgery for me. So while I didn't necessarily feel I got the most comprehensive care from him (mostly, all the follow-up is left to me, to be proactive, and I sometimes wonder if more can be done for monitoring purposes), I did get the most medically appropriate care. I still have many cancer risks I can't do anything about due to my genetic predisposition, which is why I would like the name of the prior poster's ''new'' oncologist, because I figure I am by no means done with the need for oncological services. LR, aka Anon

Consult re Ovarian Cancer

Dec 2005

I\x92m looking for a recommendation for a gynecological oncologist to consult. I\x92d also like to speak to other women in my situation.

I have ovarian cancer, I\x92m almost done with chemo, and I would like to speak to a gynecological oncologist about the decisions I have to make now. I have gotten input from my current gyn/onc and would like to speak to another expert to get another perspective. If you have a doc you especially like or respect, please let me know.

I would also like to speak to other women with ovarian cancer about how they reached their treatment decision when chemo was over. Thank you very much. R.

Lee-May Chen at UCSF operated on me (along with Laurie Green, who's mainly an OB) when I had ovarian tumors last year.

Because they ended up not being cancerous I didn't have much continued contact with her, just a few meetings, but she was incredibly informative, patient, and relaxing to talk with.

I think this is still her number: (415) 353-9600.

Good luck finding someone and all the best with the next stages of your treatment. Anon