When my husband died suddenly at work, and the CT Medical Examiner refused to do the autopsy, I was dumbfounded. I had no idea that the Medical Examiner could refuse to do the autopsy after a cursory evaluation of medical records. They decided the death was natural and they had no further interest in me or my dead husband.

I wanted to know why my husband died suddenly, and so did my children. My family physician and the funeral home pointed me to Dr. Babkowski and Stamford Pathology Group. They were wonderful, kind, and Dr. Babkowski spent time with me and my children and my husband's physicians on the phone. The autopsy was done at the hospital and I know it was done right. He did a very thorough job evaluating my husband's medical history, and was able to explain to me what happened. He met with me and my daughter a month after the autopsy, and explained everything. We spent an hour together - this is the most time I have ever spent with a doctor.

Although my husband died of a heart attack, he had a parathyroid gland condition that predisposed him to high calcium levels in his blood and contributed to his heart attack. My children and I would have never know this if t were not for the autopsy. On Dr. Babkowski's advice, my children were tested and my oldest son was found to have a parathyroid condition too at 43.

I am glad I decided on the autopsy, because it gave me peace of mind and it helped identify a problem with my son. Who would have guessed?

No insurance company pays for an autopsy. And we decided as a family that it was worth the $3,800 to find out what happened. This was the best money I ever spent on a doctor. An autopsy done right is expensive, and I was surprised how much work it really is.

There was another service that I found that does autopsies at funeral homes. It was cheaper - but it was not the professional autopsy done by real pathologist doctors who work at a hospital, and in whom my doctors had faith.

Thank you Dr. Babkowski for helping me and my family.

S. R.

Stamford, CT

I always had yearly pap smears done by my doctor and to my surprise, one of my annual tests came back very abnormal. I was told that I had severe dysplasia - a precancerous condition - and that I had to undergo a colposcopy (a camera was placed in me to get a close-up view of my cervix). At that procedure my gynecologist took biopsies of my cervix and sent them off to a lab (which shall remain nameless - but it was a big lab my insurance company wanted me to use and for which I did not have a co-pay).

The results that came back made no sense, and I was told that my cervix would have to be removed. Although I am done having children, I did not want to undergo surgery. My close girlfriend told me to get the lab results reviewed and directed me to Dr. Babkowski because her good friend who is a nurse spoke so highly of the pathologist at Stamford.

He was wonderful. He got all my pap smears and biopsies, reviewed them and correlated the results, and explained everything to me in a way I could understand. He answered my questions, educated me, and realized how caring he and Dr. Xu were.

Because of this review, my gynecologist was advised to do a few extra things, and I had all my additional pap smears and biopsies sent to Dr. Babkowski to evaluate. I'm glad I did this. I am going through menopause, and the changes the other lab called pre-cancerous were really changes due to my fluctuating cycles and my age (and me going through menopause). In the end - I did not need the surgery, and I don't have any precancerous condition.

I now don't care what my insurance wants me to do and what lab they want me to use - I make sure my pap smears all go to Stamford Pathology Group, and I'm happy to pay the copay.

To my surprise, the insurance company actually paid almost all the Stamford Pathology Group review charges.

Having gone through this, I now realize how important it is to have a Pathologist you can trust and talk to "in your corner". They are thorough, professional, take the time to explain and "go that extra mile", and they really care about the patient.

R.T.

Darien, CT

My father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at an out-of-state hospital and I wanted the diagnosis reviewed by a doctor in CT. My dad retired to South Carolina, and I never felt comfortable with the health care options in the area he chose for his retirement.

My doctor friend directed me to the pathologists of Stamford Pathology Group. Once I provided them with the pathology report, they took care of getting the consents and slides for review.

I received a call from Dr. Babkowski, with whom I had a very productive conversation (more so than with any physician who was actually taking care of my father to that point). Dr. Babkowski educated me on my father's condition, and had me get the radiology studies for review as well. He was honest with me and told me that my father's cancer was aggressive, unresectable, and that I should spend quality time with my dad immediately.

I took the advice, and now reflect on how meaningful the last few months were to me personally. He died peacefully, without heroic attempts at cure, in the company of his two sons.

It took me finding a conversant, kind pathologist in Connecticut to understand my dad's disease, and to come to accept the inevitable.

The second opinion review gave me peace of mind, and allowed me to have honest conversations with Dr. Babkowski, who educated me enough so that I had better conversations with the medical oncologist and surgeon who were taking care of my father.

The cost of this review, in the context of the service I really received, is trivial. I sent Dr. Babkowski a really nice bottle of scotch as well - from me and my dad.

Thank you.

Steve

New Canaan, CT