Going The Extra Mile

I am a 75 year old male patient of Dr. James Hoff in Lodi, California. Dr Hoff helped me through a recent experience of medical bureaucracy with a local hospital. My story begins in July 2023 when I went to emergency on a Saturday morning at Dr Hoff's urging. I was being seen for a urinary track problem & after a CT scan was taken the findings ended up being a stone in my bladder as well as a mass in my abdomen the size of large grapefruit. The ER doctor informed Dr Hoff of the result and I saw him the next day. He immediately set up an appointment with a surgeon to have the mass removed as that was priority over the stone at this point. A surgery date was scheduled for September. Two days before the surgery date I received a call from the surgeon's office telling me the surgery was being postponed & I was being referred to a cardiologist as something was found on the EKG that was concerning. I informed Dr. Hoff & he checked into it for me & let me know it was a left bundle branch block that was the concern. He was aware of the block from my Wellness Exam but was keeping his eye on it but not concerned about it for now. However hospital procedure had to be followed so I needed to see a cardiologist. That was not able to happen until the first week in November & at that appointment he examined me & felt I would be fine however hospital protocol would be to have an echocardiogram done. He ordered that but I was not able to get that done until the last week of November. By now both Dr Hoff & I were so frustrated that it was taking this long to get this mass removed from my body. He consulted with several fellow physicians for suggestions as to how the process could be sped up. in addition he ordered another CT scan to check on the mass and it had increased in size. He also suggested I take the Galleri test for cancer to see if the mass was malignant which came back negative. The echocardiogram had yet to be read by a cardiologist & sent to the hospital for approval. Dr Hoff took it upon himself to visit, not call or message, on his lunch break, the cardiologist and the surgeon to express his frustration at the length of time that had passed (4 months) with no removal of the mass from his patient. Within a week I received a surgery date for the 1st week in December. The mass was removed, the biopsy was negative & I have recovered well. Thank You Thank You Dr Hoff because without your Going The Extra Mile for me I might still have that mass inside of me!

During the time my wife & I were consulting with Dr Hoff regarding the mass our 43 year old daughter was diagnosed with ductile carcinoma breast cancer. He was so kind & patient to listen to our concerns & share his knowledge & experiences of treating breast cancer with us. Our daughter is not one of his patients but he took the time to listen to our concerns & help us to become more informed about our daughter's situation. Just another example of Dr Hoff always going The Extra Mile for not only his patients but their loved ones as well.