This message was self-deleted by its author

[pnwmom]

324. Neither of them are national cancer centers. Nevada hospitals rank 46/50 in the country

for safety. And they have a problem with a doctor/specialist shortage, because few top specialists want to move to a small state with so-so hospitals.

Wilms Tumor is the kind of rare, life threatening disease that should be treated by experts; and the experts in Wilms don't practice in Las Vegas. But these parents weren't Nevadans. They were just visiting from southern California -- which does have a national cancer center at UCLA. They wanted to put their daughter in their car and drive her the four hours back home to see doctors there, instead of agreeing to immediate surgery in Nevada. That's how this whole mess began.

I used to have to visit Nevada several times a year. i wouldn't have allowed my child to have any serious surgery there, either, if I could have avoided it. Everyone I know in Nevada goes out of state for serious medical issues -- either California or places like the Mayo Clinic. They don't have the medical infrastructure that hospitals in larger states have.