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high volume hospital or closer to home?
My father has recently been diagnosed with bladder cancer. It’s stage 2 or 3 and grade 3 (highly invasive). We took him to Massachussets General Hospital to see if he would be a candidate for their bladder-sparing protocol but he is not due to him having hydronephrosis. Radical cystectomy is now recommended.
He can have the cystectomy done at Mass General, which is about a 6 hour drive away, or at a local hospital (about 45 minutes away). The local urologist performs 15-20 cystectomies per year. I do not yet have the number performed annually by the surgeon in Boston, but the hospital there in general left me with a very good impression, and the doctor in particular.
Here is the dilemma we are now facing. If we do the surgery in Boston, how difficult will follow-ups be, and what if there are complications after coming home? Will a 6 hour car ride be unbearable for him after he is released?
Have others on this list faced this dilemma and what have you decided?
Thanks for any advice. We don’t have much time left to decide.
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