When you hear “Cancer” - head directly to NYC. Not so fast.
Around these parts (these parts being the New York City Metro area), the instinctual reaction when you first receive a cancer diagnosis is to get to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. I can understand how the response has been formulated: big city, best hospital, best doctors – ergo best results.
But here are some things to consider. Many oncologists don’t want to live or work in NYC. They may have trained at MSKCC but they’re motivated to take their skills and ply them in a slightly more civilized, slightly more intimate, slightly less manic environment. Like, say for example, nearby bucolic New Jersey.
It turns out that the two top oncologists specializing in Multiple Myeloma both happen to have trained in the City, both did time at MSKCC, and both now have set up shop in nearby NJ. One of them, mine, is headquartered at Rutgers University at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ). I’m sure no one starts off thinking, “I’m going to Rutgers for my world class cancer treatment.”
After interviews, exploration and numerous recommendations, I ended up at CINJ – and it was the best decision we ever made. For the proximity to home/family (30:00), for the alignment with a major research university, and for the most comprehensive and compassionate cadre of cancer caregivers that I could ever have imagined being privileged to be treated by. Rutgers - - - go figure (or just ask their most famous alum – Mr. Magoo).
