Dr. Saleem Raza
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Oncologist- Dr Everett Chalmers Hospital
Dr Razza was my dad's oncologist from the time he arrived here in Fredericton in 2017 from Ontario until his passing here (NB) in 2023. My father was able to achieve remission once in that time. His cancer came out of remission during covid at which time his appointments were continuously cancelled by the oncology ward saying that they are not providing treatments during covid but continued to reschedule each time and continued to be cancelled until end of Oct into early Nov 2022 when he finally had his first treatment since his cancer became active again.
The first treatment went well but Dad had alot of questions that seemed to not be valued or validated. My father and I found when meeting w Dr Razza through out his treatments and appointments over the last 6 years, that we always left confused and had more questions that he seemed to not be able to answer or didn't want to take the time to explain to my father the full picture or even just the questions we had, which my father asked him to do at each appointment. My father is the type of patient that wants to be 100% involved in his health care especially when it came to his cancer. My father could be found regularly waiting for clarification from Dr Razza just to be told "oh you must have misheard or misunderstood" Razza never took the time to sit down and explain, listen to my father and his concerns and build trust w him.
Dr Razza did not do right by my father. He never took the time to hear my father's questions and explain in a way that he made sure my father understood. Never had a status/code conversation with him and as a result put him though much pain and suffering mentally and emotionally.
At one point after my father's cancer had advanced to it's last stage Dr. Razza said that "it's all your fault the treatments aren't working because you are not eating" This hurt my father very much and when he returned from that appointment he lost the last bit of hope that he was in good hands.
My father's cancer ( Non Hodgkins Lymphoma) had clogged all his lymph nodes and his organs and his body starting to let go off the bodily fluids which ended up resting in his stomach making it very hard for him to eat due to pressure as he would just bring it back up. My dad tried and tried to eat but with no effect, he kept getting worse.. Dr Razza told him it's from the cancer and we will manage it by draining the fluid. That happened 2-3 times and then he went down hill and was still given his last chemo treatment even though his body just by looking at him clearly could not handle it.
There was no understanding on my father's end of where his cancer was concerning stage and no compassion or communication which my father as well as the family continued at each turn to ask for.
I do not recommend this Oncologist! In fact stay very far away from this doctor, his bed side manner and compassion is atrocious and it shows he doesn't not care about human life or what they face at the end of their days when facing cancer for themselves or the family.
I do suggest that if this is your oncologist and you find that you are feeling like your questions are not being answered and his bed side manner is like what I've described here, as well as other reviews I've read on him; to either get a new one or reach out to the Nurse Navigator at the DECH to accompany you to your visits to the oncology ward to help get better care, understanding and to have your questions answered in a way that you understand for yourself or your loved one. This should not have happened the way it did and is the main reason why my father is not here a little longer.
Care and communication is key for anything to move forward positively and this doesn't not happen under his care. The reason I'm writing this is so that I can share what my father experienced, what I've learned from this process and so that this information is there when someone needs it and so what happened to my dad doesn't happen to other good souls. My father proudly served his country and the United Nations for the better part of his life and didn't deserve the treatment he received when he asked for help and understanding.
My suggestion for you Dr. Razza is to take some compassion training. If you have already taken it then take it again until you find a way to better position your words as well as find the time to communicate effectively with your patients so that you can provide better care to them.
Submitted Feb. 4, 2023