Mets day 13 - earlier surgery?

Last night I sent Dr. Schoenberg the following email:


> Per the enclosed, your staff has advised me that the earliest that you can do my RCP is on May 14.  As we discussed after you did my cysto last Thursday, I am very concerned about a long delay, and had understood from you that you agreed that the surgery should be done earlier.  My concerns about waiting are amplified because my TCC has both micropapillary and nested features, that the tumor has regrown so quickly since my second TURBT in January, and that the recent scans suggested that it has metastasized into my lymph nodes.  I feel like every day that I wait after terminating chemo is another day for the cancer to systemically spread.
>
> In light of these concerns, I would very much appreciate your views on the following:
>
> 1.  Is it in my best interest to get the surgery as soon as possible?  Put another way, how much do my risks increase by waiting until May 14?
>
> 2.  Is there any realistic chance that you will be able to move up the surgery date from May 14?
>
> 3.  Would you recommend that I reach out to any other surgeons to see if they could do the surgery faster?  Earlier you had send me the following list - should I be talking to them?
>
> Bernard Bochner-Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
> John Colberg-Yale University
> Thomas Guzzo-University of Pennsylvania
> Gary Steinberg-University of Chicago
> Ashish Kamat-MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston
> Seth Lerner-Baylor College of Medicine Houston
> Mike Cookson-Vanderbilt University Medical Center
> Eila Skinner-USC Medical Center Los Angeles

This morning, he responded (disdaining punctuation, per his usual practice):

i am going to look today to see if there is any earlier time to do you surgery
from a clinical perspective there is no demonstrable difference in risk between doing the surgery today versus May 14th but from a personal perspective I can understand wanting to get it done asap
i gave you the names of my trusted colleagues who i believe will do a good job for you should you choose to have the surgery elsewhere
i will let you know if we can move it up later today
best
-m