My husband was recently diagnosed with sarcoma. We just went through the first scary week with almost nothing happening because Kaiser scheduled everything two weeks out. Next week we should know more as we’ll be meeting with Stanford for a second opinion and also seeing our Kaiser oncologist for the first time.

I’d love to hear from anyone with similar experiences.

Kaiser Santa Clara:
Has anyone received sarcoma care through Kaiser Santa Clara? How was your experience with their oncology team? Has anyone specifically seen Dr. Jeffrey Bien?

Stanford second opinion:
We set up a second opinion with Stanford, but the first appointment we were given is with a doctor who doesn’t appear on Stanford’s website under the Sarcoma Program (although her focus is sarcoma, she’s just not listed as one of the program specialists online). Is this normal? Do they usually start with an intake oncologist and then transition patients into the sarcoma team?

Other questions:

• How quickly were you able to get treatment started at either Kaiser or Stanford/UCSF?
• If Kaiser is moving too slowly, is it worth moving treatment to Stanford or UCSF?
• We are also initiating a second opinion with UCSF, but they seem stuck trying to pull our medical records. Has anyone gone through a sarcoma second opinion with UCSF and can share how the process went?

Any insights or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.