It does end in “Y”.
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Can I just say… sometimes people get kicked upstairs (and out of the operating room as much as possible) because they are not very good at what they do.
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In Dr Ben’s case, as with any surgeon , they gotta have anatomy at their finger tips… literally. Carson was famous for separating twins conjoined at the head which is highest risk type surgery. These days in his position he cannot tell the difference between REO and a cookie which tells me he’s a potted plant filling a chair. And it’s disturbing. Something has gone haywire there. And it’s sad.
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And you would be right in Ben’s case I think. But it was loss of a really high level of skill in his case that caused the early exit.
I taught med students at a large medical school (PhD …not MD). His name and rep were known.
And Katie is a real gem. I hope she has a long tenure in Congress.
Comments are on again…
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But, but…you’d actually have to be listening and not playing with your belly button lint.
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Okay, this might be a little personal for an open forum but…
If I’d followed the advice of the first neurosurgeon and the first radiation oncologist I saw, I wouldn’t be typing this now. Nothing can be done, they told me. When I asked if someplace like X or Y may be able to treat me I was told, “I doubt it,” and then they were completely uncooperative in sending records or doing a referral for me. We ended up just writing a letter to our first choice (BIG shout out to MD Anderson in Houston) explaining our trouble with the doctors here, and asking–begging really–if we might get an appointment. That requested my scans (we overnighted them, for this was back in the day when they were not in digital file form) and a week or so later they called and said, “We certainly can help you, when would you like to set up an appointment?” They did help.
Then fast forward to about 4 years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer again. My local (useless) neurologist sent me to an even more useless neurosurgeon that told me to wait six months and see if their is any additional growth. Upon walking about it their offices, my wife’s exact quote was, “Fuck that fucking guy.” Two week later we saw another neurosurgeon in a city that was in close driving distance. This neurosurgeon’s reaction to the other surgeons “wait six months” was “He said what?” She shocked at the ‘do nothing’ advice. Since then I’ve gotten the care I need there from an amazing neuro-oncologist. Docs are always amazing when they can help you though. Those that are completely cold and indifferent to your condition? As my wife said, “Fuck this fucking guy.”
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Finally.
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Some of us can listen and play with our belly button lint.
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My best friend got breast cancer a few years ago. This is a really, really strong woman, who doesn’t take crap from anyone. She took her time and literally interviewed a bunch of oncologists before picking one.
She made up a list of questions, made appointments, went in with the list and if she wasn’t satisfied with the answers (she read underlying medical research even though she’s not in medicine, just damned smart), she stood up and said, nope, not you, I don’t like your answers/attitude/approach. Went through a bunch, IIRC, but found herself an excellent oncologist, doing fabulous (in spite of having the “no, you can’t relax after 5 years” kind of cancer).
Of course, this is a luxury that you can only afford if you are in an area where you have a choice in oncologists, but you certainly do NOT have to take on the first one you talk to.
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Hey, this is Bennie we are talking about here…
Yeah. It was down for quite a while a couple of days ago. Regular occurrence.
Only annoying because so many of us come here just for the comments 
ALWAYS get a second opinion - even if you think the first opinion is OK
I work in a major medical center, so I had the luxury of getting a second opinion as a courtesy from the department chairs before two major medical situations in the past 4 years [vascular surgery/prostate cancer], both of which were done at other Boston medical centers by the best teams in the US, respectively.
BUT even if I were out in the boondocks, I would have still gotten second opinions - even if I had to pay for them + travel miles to get them. 
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Absolutely. Of course, for me it’s also convenient to have two doctors and a nurse in the family. Cuts down on waiting time.
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You’re saying the banality of corruption?/
Oh, man. I’d never want to come to her class unprepared.
I’m really glad you found the right docs!
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Wrong Deja Nero.