I can't imagine why there aren't hundreds of reviews of people detailing their cancer treatments on here... weird. I guess it's probably because going on and on about that new restaurant and taking pictures of your food is probably a lot more fun that going on and on about that weird tumor they found... ;-)
I'm not going to go into vast detail about my experience. Just know that I'm fine and it all turned out to be nothing and hopefully I don't ever have to come back here.
Here's what to expect at Duke Cancer Center:
Lets start from the beginning- which is not the waiting room.... You need to arrive to this area about 30 minutes before your appointment. I know Duke's MyChart reminders ALWAYS say that, but in this case, it's very true. Navigate around the Duke Medical campus, which is huge, sort of locate your building before you park in the castle (it's a parking deck, but it looks like a castle. Duke is so cute). All the buildings are kind of side-by-side and numbered by 10's so it's not terribly hard to figure out. Once you park, be sure to note the floor and area you're in so you don't come back out 45 minutes later with no idea. This parking deck is huge. Ok, now, if it's raining then you'll want to go to the second floor to the bridge so you don't have to walk outside. If it's not, then go ahead outside. It's pretty out there, lots of plantings, doctors and students chattering, you can laugh at how overwhelmed all the valet parkers are at the front of the building...
Follow the signs to the Cancer Center, go up the color coded elevators, etc. There may be a bit of a wait to even check in for your appointment. I know this is annoying. They need to work on having more people at the front desk checking people in. After you check in, they will put a bracelet on you with your name and a QR code, and give you a pager. Yes, a pager. Like at a cheesy Applebees on a Friday night with a table wait. Don't let it freak you out (I freaked out- how goddamn long am I going to have to wait that they need to give me a pager!?). Apparently the pager is VERY popular at Duke. Someone high up in administration had this brain child of an idea years ago and they are handing you pagers left and right. Ok, anyways, so you get your pager and you go find a spot in the waiting area. The waiting areas are fairly large and have comfy chairs and lots of outlets and TVs. Waiting sucks, but be smart a bring something to entertain yourself with in case you do have to wait for a bit. I got lucky and never really had to wait very long. I had 3-4 appointments here.
Your pager will go off and you'll give it to the nurse and they'll do the whole height, weight, blood pressure thing for the thousand millionth time in your life. Then you'll see your doc.
My experience:
I saw Dr. Robertson who is a Uro-oncologist. He was very pleasant and to the point, which I liked. We discussed our next steps, my concerns, his concerns. It was a generally good experience in a generally bad situation.
I ended up having some tests done and eventually having a biopsy done, also at Duke Medical Center. One thing that REALLY pissed me off was that my biopsy was on a Monday and Dr. Robertson told me that I should have the pathology report in MyChart by Friday. Well Friday came, and I had no pathology report, which got me nervous. So I called. Did not hear anything back. Called back on Monday and threatened to cancel my Tuesday morning Appt. because without test results- what the hell is the point? I finally got a (rather curt) phone call back telling me my pathology report was available and not to cancel. I checked MyChart and magically, there it was. Problem is- it had been done on the WEDNESDAY after my biopsy... bastards. If I'm paying all kinds of money for tests/biopsies/whatever, I want the damn results ASAP. I shouldn't have to chase them down.
So generally I had an OK experience. The facility is very nice, clean, offers free coffee/food inside, the doctor was very good, as was the staff in the surgery department that handled my biopsy (the nurses, the anesthesiologist, the girls from OB). read more