Dr. Michael Joseph Stender, MD

From there, hope arrived when we met a skilled surgeon at Beaumont Royal Oak who removed a large portion of the cancer. That’s also where we met oncologist Dr. Daniel E. Ezekwudo from the Rose Cancer Center, Royal Oak. He gave us something every cancer patient and caregiver deserves: a clear plan and immediate action. Things finally felt steady. But then Dr. Ezekwudo announced he was moving to Florida. He assured us he’d place us with someone he trusted in his practice. That someone became Dr. Michael J. Stender — and this is where the signs began. At our second appointment, we had waited an entire week on pins and needles for critical PET scan results. Dr. Stender walked in with no idea the results had even arrived. He struggled to pull them up, complained about the new Corewell system, and told us he’d “have a plan” at the next visit. That next visit came. The plan didn’t. We told the nurse he was supposed to discuss next steps. She came back and said the doctor “didn’t have… time” to see us — but might have a plan by Friday. That was it for me. When it comes to cancer, you cannot be passive. You cannot wait. I immediately reached out to the University of Michigan Hospital, and within hours we received a call back. We transferred all records that same day. U of M even reached out to Dr. Stender for additional tests — he didn’t respond.

My husband is a fairly new patient of another physician in this practice. After more than 5 weeks of thorough tests, we had an appointment scheduled for biopsy results and the office called letting us know that the other doctor would be unable to see my husband that afternoon due to a personal emergency. Rather than making us reschedule, the office scheduled us with Dr. Stender that very day for the results of the biopsy. More impressively, however, he spent nearly an hour explaining what the results meant and what treatment options might look like. He talked about the good, the bad and the ugly. We had read his reviews and wondered if we were seeing the same doctor that others have described! Dr. Stender was comfortable with our questions, and did not "talk down" to us at all. He gave us a lot of information, including a great website for us to find additional information. We have an established relationship with the other physician (who is also great) but if we did not, I would have… no hesitation seeing Dr. Stender. We were also very impressed that he took the time to study my husband's test results (i.e. other than the biopsy) and learn what was really going on -- he did not just do the minimum and send us on our way. [This was probably why he took a few minutes to get to the exam room]. He genuinely cared about my husband's unusual diagnosis and did well beyond the minimum that many docs would have done in the same situation.

I think there should be a legal limit to the number of patients a doctor's office can take. If you have too many patients to handle in a competent manner, then you should not take on new patients and/or refer patients to doctors with the time to treat them. My mother was a stage 4 cancer patient admitted to the hospital through the ER. While still in ER, a scan was run showing that her chemo was not working. It took Dr. Stender and his associates 6 days to review this scan. In the meantime, my mother underwent a painful procedure that left her unable to walk for a week. Had we known that my mother's scan indicated that she had very little time left, I would have fought against the procedure. On the 5th day of my mother's hospitalization I was finally able to get Dr. Stender to call me (after having the nurse page him multiple times), Dr. Stender told me that he could not see why my mom would not be at that week's chemo. He was purposely vague because he (nor any of his associates) had… reviewed my mother's scan. He was incredibly arrogant and spoke to me as if I had no right to waste his time. He told me he had patients in the icu that he needed to be concerned about. If you can't make the time to simply look at a scan for one of your patients that is admitted into your hospital, then you should not be their doctor. My mother's primary care doctor checked in on her a lot while she was in the hospital and called Dr. Stender's office a couple times asking him to talk to us about her scan. He received no response from Dr. Stender's office. It was very frustrating because although several doctors had reviewed the scan, nobody would tell us what it said. We were told that we needed to have Dr. Stender review it with us. Nothing positive came from Dr. Stender's care for my mother. The end of her life would have been much more pleasant if we decided to forgo his care all together. Initially, Dr. Stender glossed over the odds of the chemo working for my mom. I think many chemo doctors do this and I understand that when you are faced with choices, you want to pick the one that will give your patient the most hope. I wish chemo doctors in general would be more honest about your odds and talk more about the quality of your remaining life vs. the chance you have in delaying your death for any significant amount of time. It is very difficult for to make decisions when you are faced with your own or your loved own's death. It is made more difficult by doctors that do not want to be upfront. If I knew someone that had an appointment with Dr. Stender, I would highly recommend they find another doctor based on our experiences.

Man was ignorant in his own field. He believes bone scans are only for arthritis. What!? Baseline bone scans are very common and basic procedures. Do not go to this guy. (My moms bone scan showed mets even though she "didnt need one") AND very condescending attitude.....if you are going to be so POMPOUS, you better back it up with knowledge!

Dr. Stender spent lots of time with me - I never felt hurried - he explained everything well and with understandable examples - and he gave me time and listen to me as I expressed my opinions..

I would highly recommend Dr. Stender to anyone. I had had 3 very bad experiences with 3 other hematologists and I finally found a winner in Dr. Stender. He took the time to explain blood issues with me and not treat me like the village idiot, as others had done. I am thrilled to find such a good hematologist.

Does not return calls. Called several times with no response. It seemed as though our appointment was an inconvenience. Answered a text message and a phone call while in the office with a scheduled appointment. Very, very disappointed.

Do not use this Dr if you have questions about your health, he ordered a biopsy and when the results came back I did not receive a call, then when I get the results which came back inconclusive he told me that I needed to order my own biopsy. Hello I'm not a doctor and can not do that, but he made it a point to tell me how he ordered every test under the sun so he could treat his 85 year old mother. DO NOT USE THIS DOCTOR

Patients intrust Dr. Stander with their lives and yet he cannot be prepared for appointments or follow up as he promises. I heard more about his trip to France than my mother's condition. Five phone calls to him in the past three days have been ignored. He needs to find a new profession since his patients are of no importance to him! Time for a new Dr.!

The office staff is fine, actually excellent when compared to the Doctor himself.The doctor was rude, socially inept, and just plainly put had no bedside manners.I would not recommended him, unless there are no other doctors available and you have an urgent need to see a doctor; but he is extremely rude, doesn't really care about the patient, and has no sense of what social etiquette it.It is not ok to discuss religion with your patients or ask what religion they are, when you have made them wait for you for over 45 minutes--even if you are of the same religion, it is unacceptable! Nor do you discuss your personal life with them, very unprofessional and inconsiderate of other peoples time!I will not be returning to Dr. Stender.