Colleen,
The Doctor I see, Dr. Paul Friedlander, is presently interim chair of the Depatment of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at TU. The plastic surgeon is Dr. Eddie Chui.

Please forgive me as I hijack this thread to describe the medical situation here. Even if someone has followed all the news from this area it is impossible to understand what Katrina did to our medical care. We thought that evacuation would only be for a day or so, not weeks and months. With any storm to our area, even heavy rains, we expect some street flooding and electrical outages. These normally last a few hours and at worst a day or two and there are always areas that have electricity and water when others don't. The major evacuation was Saturday and Sunday so most people expected to contact doctors on Monday or later in the week to reschedule appointments, etc. For those who were under critical care such as chemo there was the need to establish contact with a medical facility. Cell phones did not work and the immediate concerns of most people were shelter and establishing contact with family and friends. Finding medical care and even refilling prescriptions was a nightmare. Since communications were down even getting bank information was impossible. There was no way to contact insurance providers so most doctors and medical facilities accepted patients and worried about being paid later. Of course OTC meds and supplies, came out of pocket as did food, gas, lodging,clothes, and personal items since we only took enough for a day or so. (Most of us wore old comfortable clothes and left the more presentable and certainly our dress clothes home - more expenses down the line.)

When it became apparent that we weren't going home soon, many decisions had to be made. These were based on factors such as how location of one's home and workplace were affected, school for children, age and health of family members, cost of living, health - physical and mental, and most importantly, financial concerns.
The medical community had a particularly heavy burden. For those who stayed, the physical and emotional toil was unimmaginable. Hospitals were destroyed or rendered unusable for weeks and months putting a strain on those in neighboring communities. The medical teaching and research facilities had to follow evacuation plans that were ment to be temporary, not months long. In the aftermath many changes have been made. There was a cutback in jobs at all levels from office staff to technical specialists to top staff and even some departments were cut out completly. Patient bases and facilities for some areas became nonexistant. Professionals such as nurses could not find work out of town because they had no proof of licence. Just the toil of not being able to work was devistating to all who were used to high pressure and being busy.
Even now, two and a half years later, the medical situation is still unsettled. Many doctors and other professionals retired, relocated to other places or changed local hospital and group practice affiliation. Some who relocated elsewhere come here once or twice a week or month to see their regular patients or are trying to establish a renewed pratice. There are still not enough technical and support staff and the nursing shortage is a major problem.
The toil on patients and families has been in some cases unbearable and tragic. Many had to find new doctors in areas where they had little or no contact or support and relied on chance to find appropriate care. Unless critical, much health care has been ignored or neglected. For those who returned home, even if their homes had little or no damage there was still the difficulties of struggling with a crippled system. For a while even drugstores and groceries were open in limited locations and for short hours. For months it was not uncommon to wait in line for an hour or more to pick up a Rx.
HOWEVER - We are recovering. Any needed medical care can now be found here. Tulane and LSU Medical Schools, LSU Dental School and their and allied health care schools are still first class!