How do you know that the diagnosis is correct and the treatment is appropriate?

How do you know that the surgeon is talented and experienced?

How do you know that the radiation therapist has the most available sophisticated and advanced technology?

How do you know that the oncologist’s chemotherapy therapeutic regimen is state of the art?

Equally important: How do you know that you will be treated “as a whole person”?

You, one person, confused, frightened and vulnerable. Where do you turn when the word “cancer” is uttered?

You turn to your physician, to the Internet, to others – even strangers – who are willing to share their experiences. You seek opinions, you gather information, you even listen to ads from a variety of hospitals claiming that their cancer care is the best cancer care anywhere.

It is confusing! Each case is different. The answers are not definitive. The variables are multiple. The opinions sometimes conflict.

I am a physician, a surgeon. I had seen the look of fear, confusion and vulnerability in my patients. And then I saw it in the mirror.

I did all the things my patients do. I assessed my choices and made my decision.

A decision based on opinion, research, reading, and the Internet. But in the end, I wanted to be where the doctors are the finest and where I would be treated as an individual, not as my disease. Where the physicians spoke to me and where they spoke to each other about me. Where the cure is as important as the healing.

MY CHOICE WAS THE PROSTATE CANCER PROGRAM AT WHITE PLAINS HOSPITAL.

And I thank them every day – for every day.

May God Bless.
Sincerely,

Jack Stern, M.D., Ph.D.

P.S. If you have been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and need someone to talk to, feel free to call me at 914-948-6688.