Cincinnati resident travels to Cleveland for life-saving healthcare
Cincinnati attorney Sylvan P. Reisenfeld surprises people when he tells them that his doctor is in Cleveland, nearly five hours away by car.
Every two months, he sees Robert Dreicer, MD, FACP, Chairman of the Department of Solid Tumor Oncology at the Taussig Cancer Institute, and a Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. “If I had to go once a week, it wouldn’t matter,” says Mr. Reisenfeld, who is impressed with Cleveland Clinic’s “treatment, knowledge and capacity to do things nobody else can do.”
When he first contacted Cleveland Clinic in December 2000, he already had undergone radiation treatment for prostate cancer. “It became apparent to me that I was going to have to have surgery,” he says. “I knew it would be a difficult surgery because I had had radiation. There were not a lot of people who were willing to do it.”
But Eric Klein, MD, now Chairman of Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute, “was very encouraging,” says Mr. Reisenfeld, who had a salvage prostatectomy at Cleveland Clinic in 2001. “I told Dr. Klein but for the fact that he was willing to do the surgery, I’m alive today,” he says. “I’ve sent a number of friends and acquaintances to Dr. Klein. I have that much faith in him.”
Dr. Klein introduced Mr. Reisenfeld to Dr. Dreicer. Fourteen months ago, Mr. Reisenfeld decided to take part in a clinical trial with Dr. Dreicer, who had taken over his healthcare. “I thought it would prolong my life,” Mr. Reisenfeld says. “I had some invasive cancer. I am doing well.”
The trial has had no side effects except for affecting his appetite. “I lost weight. I like to say that I’m down to fighting weight,” he says. “Another positive side effect is staying among the living for an additional amount of time.”
Mr. Reisenfeld says his PSA is now stable. “All my scans are stable. I’ve had no further advancement of the disease.” The 75-year-old will celebrate 50 years as an attorney in May. In his spare time, he works out almost every day, he says. “I’m active and I’m living a normal life with all the activities I want to do.”
He has two sons and seven grandkids. “I’m a lucky guy. I really am,” he says. “Every day, I get up. I’m thrilled to be celebrating another day of my life.”
To make a gift supporting the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute, Taussig Cancer Institute or any area of Cleveland Clinic, visit iSupport, our secure online giving site, or call Institutional Relations and Development at 216.444.1245 or toll-free at 800.223.2273, ext. 41245.
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