Judith D.

Dear Dr. Samadi,

I expect you receive a number of letters from men who thank you for saving their lives. I wonder how often the women in these men’s lives write to express their experiences.

When my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer, it was as if we were both diagnosed. I cannot imagine my life without my husband, and determining his options and the best solution for his situation was of uppermost importance in my mind. Once we had determined that surgery was the best option, we had to think of a plan B’ in the event that the cancer might have spread. At this point, finding the best surgeon was next on the agenda.

I cannot tell you how much research we did in the few weeks after his diagnosis. We felt we needed as much time as possible before making a decision. But our experience with our local urologist assured me that we needed to go elsewhere. He ignored me completely, as if the wife’s questions were not in any way important. His answers, based on my research were misleading at best, and quite possibly just plain incorrect. But the deal breaker was when he evaded the question of the type of surgery he did, and how many he had done. That was when I knew for certain we had to find someone better. We deserved that.

It was then that I remembered having once seen a program on CBS’s Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, where a Robotic Prostatectomy was performed. I googled it, and low and behold, there you were.

We could not believe we could get an appointment with you so quickly. Your scheduler explained your philosophy to us when we asked her about that. She told us you believe that anyone newly diagnosed with cancer is terrified and should be seen as soon as possible. You may not be able, nor need to do the surgery right away, but they deserve to have their fears allayed. That was very impressive.

When we actually met with you, I had the same list of questions. But before I could ask them, you began to speak. When you finished, you had answered every question I would have asked except I had one additional concern. I was concerned that going to a teaching hospital like Mount Sinai might mean that one of your residents would be doing the surgery as part of his/her learning experience. We liked your answer very much. “No one touches my patients but me.”

At that moment, we knew we had found our surgeon. We have never regretted that decision for a single moment. You and your staff have a level of knowledge, experience and professionalism that is unparalleled. As far as we are concerned, you saved our lives.

For anyone searching for the right doctor, look no further. Dr. Samadi is undoubtedly the foremost leader in his field. We feel very lucky to have found him.

Sincerely,

Judith D.
Loving wife of your patient, Glenn D.