Truth9834

One last comment, there was a group of doctors belonging to the UCSF program that should be mentioned and were part of the Adult Brain Tumor Program that saved my life. They are Mitchel S. Berger MD, Nicholas M. Barbaro MD, Sandeep M. Kunwar MD, Michael H. Pitts MD, Charles B. Wilson MD, and RN’s Heidi Clay, RN MS CCRN, Lisa Hannegan, RN MS CNRN, and Marylou Muwaswes RN MS. That you all for saving my life. Thank you god for convincing me to not listen to Dr. Lieberman and for trusting UCSF. This event took place twenty years ago. The letter was dated November 28, 2000. Always get a second opinion from a top notch medical facility (e.g., UCSF).

Correction – Here is the verbiage the UCSF doctors (not my cousin, the anesthesiologist) sent to the surgeon who was about to open up my brain “I wanted to let you know that I have reviewed the films on “…” and it is our impression that he does not have a cyst in his ventricle and that this is an MRI artifact. Our neuroadiologist reviewed the film and also agreed there is no mass or cyst in the ventricle. We would be glad to repeat the scan here if you wish. I would certainly recommend that it be repeated soon to confirm our suspicions that this is not a mass or cyst. This will require a discussion with the neuroradiologist who does the scan to make sure that they eradicate the imaging artifact.” My doctor, a top surgeon from Stanford told me in so many words that he thought he was more qualified then the UCSF specialists, doctors Robert Feiwell, MD and Mitchel S Berger, MD. All I can say is thank god for Robert and Mitchel. If I had listened to Doctor Lieberman and gone through with the surgery I may not be alive today or maybe I would be alive but would not have the use of my limbs, who knows. Always get a second opinion. Always!

It depends. The first question is “Is it Melanoma”. The answer is not as simple as one would expect. From an article “The differentiation of a melanocytic nevus and melanoma is often a dilemma clinically as well as histologically. This dilemma involves inexperienced as well as knowledgeable pathologists. The provoking question turns out to be: why is this differential diagnosis often a quandary? The answer lies in the fact that there are overlapping cytological and architectural criteria used interchangeably for a melanoma and melanocytic nevus. The criteria emphasized often vary from institution to institution and pathologist to pathologist. Regrettably, similar criteria attributed to both benign and malignant melanocytic proliferations, melanocytic nevus and melanoma, are used interchangeably: thus the quandary. In summary, the dilemma of whether a pigmented melanocytic proliferation is a melanoma or melanocytic nevus perhaps rests on the recognition of overlapping criteria, and the detection of the typical or atypical pagetoid melanocyte.” My suggestion is get a second opinion from a top notch medical facility. For me that would be UCSF. At one time I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor. Specifically a cyst in my right ventricle. I was scheduled for surgery. My cousin is a anesthesiologist here in the Bay Area. He told me to get a second opinion from UCSF. Here is the verbiage he sent to the surgeon “I wanted to let you know that I have reviewed the films on “…” and it is our impression that he does not have a cyst in his ventricle and that this is an MRI artifact. Our neuroadiologist reviewed the film and also agreed there is no mass or cyst in the ventricle. We would be glad to repeat the scan here if you wish. I would certainly recommend that it be repeated soon to confirm our suspicions that this is not a mass or cyst. This will require a discussion with the neuroradiologist who does the scan to make sure that they eradicate the imaging artifact.” My doctor, a top surgeon from Stanford told me in so many words that he thought he was more qualified then the UCSF specialists, doctors Robert Feiwell, MD and Mitchel S Berger, MD. All I can say is thank god for Robert and Mitchel. If I had listened to Doctor Lieberman and gone through with the surgery I may not be alive today or maybe I would lost the use of my limbs, who knows. Always get a second opinion.