Cleveland Clinic

[Cookcreek]

I posted several days ago about my stoma growing scar tissue and closing up. Several people stated that I need to speak with my surgeon and I am interested in finding out what others think of the Cleveland Clinic. I have heard all good things and would like to go see if I could be treated since it is only a couple of hours from my house instead of a flight like my old Doctor. I have a BCIR and have had it for almost 10 years but had a lot of issues in the past year. I would like to hear any stories from pouch patients. Thank you for you help again!!

[lesson]

Dr. Fazio did my Kock in January '06. He's terrific. My honest belief is that if Dr. Fazio can't fix it, noone can but there may be some people who disagree with that.

I thought the clinic was well run but there are always crazy days with emergencies and squeezed in appointments. Fazio has always taken time to answer my questions and Gina, his nurse returns emails in a respectful time frame (luckily nithing too important going on on my end )

You should try contacting Gina by email SUTCLIG@ccf.org or calling the colorectal dept. 800-223-2272 ext 46672 and chat with them. Do you have records from past procedure that you have gone through? Sending copies would probably be very helpful.

Hope this helps.

[HaileysMom]

Went to the Cleveland Clinic back in Feb. They kept canceling my appointment. I wasn't too impressed with the doctor. He never spoke to me and I just had surgery at Mt. Sinai in New York. Everyone told me that Cleveland was the best; but neither my husband nor I were that thrilled with Cleveland - the doctor never answered my questions.

[Laura]

I really hated the Cleveland Clinic also. They treated me as if I was test rat for there experiments...they put me through so many tests many times over just to see if they could get a different reaction and tell me "I don't know"

[HaileysMom]

Hi There,

Yes, the experience at Cleveland was horrible and I saw a doctor that was high up there in the chain of command. They told me to drop my draws in front of several doctors and nurses. My husband was in the room and we were mortified. They put me on a machine and my butt was exposed - then the doctor never answered my questions and appeared quite annoyed that I was there!

Lee

[Lynne]

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm amazed at these Cleveland Clinic "horror" stories. I had my Kock Pouch done there in 1990 by Dr. Fazio and thought it was "ostomy paradise". He was very attentive, spent lots of time with me, and answered ALL my questions. I have referred many others there since then.
Sorry to hear of these other experiences.

[NYS]

I am surprised too! I am a "happy" Cleveland Clinic patient. I see Dr. Remzi and Dr. Shen and have never felt ignored nor been treated poorly! I do agree that the tons of testing they do gets a little out of hand, but I figure they are eliminating the what -if's and trying to figure it all out.
Sorry you've had that experience.

[Stephie]

I also had Dr. Fazio twice and both occasions were top notch for me, My latest surgery 6-7-07 was to do the ileostomy. He sat with me an hour to discuss the procedure, answered all my questions, he juggled his meetings around to do my surgery on a day he normally isnt in surgery. I felt special, important and very well taken care of. I feel very lucky to live in NE Ohio and have the cleveland clinic at my disposal anytime I need.

[SuzyinAL]

My husband had a Koch revision in May of '06. We drove 12 hours to get to Cleveland Clinic, and our experience there was 2nd to none. With the problems we were having, our number 1 priority was to have a doctor who really knew what he was doing. Personality and bedside manner was way down the list. During the week of his hospital stay, we had some nurses that we preferred over others, but the overall care was very good and the surgery a complete success. Dr. Fazio may come across a bit gruff, but underneath is a talented, caring man with a big heart and alot of knowledge and experience.

[majormom2u]

I'm dumbfounded by all these CCF horror stories!...
I've been a Cleveland Clinic patient for over six years... have gone to very building there for either treatment or tests... have had over 20 specialists see me and only once had a disappoining experience and the doctor did not last long there...
Every single person that has been in contact with me, from the operator on the phone to the head of departments that I have dealt with have treated me with great respect and care. My best experience was with the pain clinic (I had a horrible histiry with pain management before)... Dr. Hayek and the team over there were the most caring and wonderful people ever!... When I first went to the neurology department, I had just been told by my area "experts" that I had nothing and I just wanted drugs and attention... knowing this, those doctors treated me with incredible respect (something I did not have before) and every time I go to have anything done... bloodwork (you name it, I've had it done there!)... and NEVER encounted difficult people.
The most wonderful nurses I found when I had my ileostomy. That wing of CCF is full of angels!!! those nurses are the greatest...

I'm sorry, but I have nothing but the best to say about CCF... and with over six years there, believe me... I've seen them all!..

Sandy

[runngl8t]

I completely agree with Sandy, as I too am dumbfounded. I have only been going to the Cleveland Clinic for the last couple of years (I was diagnosed in '92 with Crohns), but I have had nothing but positive experiences, the doctors & nurses have all been great. The CCF is the #2 Digestive Center in the country, year after year. There's a reason for that, don't let a couple of bad experiences for others influence you. I feel very fortunate to have been treated there.

[mdg]

Hospital rankings are somewhat meaningless. Good care depends on patient-doctor communication, and that can happen anywhere. Further, the famous hospitals tend to be crowded, and there's less time to spend per patient.

In Baltimore, we have one of the allegedly best hospitals in the nation. However, 5 years ago the federal government stopped funding all research at this hospital for a year because of severe ethical lapses that led to a patient's death. (They were doing an asthma study where they were inducing attacks, and the IRB forgot to ask them what they'd do to treat a severe attack. They were unprepared and a subject died). This hospital commissioned a report which blamed the problem on "institutional arrogance."

The people in the know in Baltimore know to go a few blocks down the street to two other medical centers. Neither are as famous. Neither spend as much time trying to get in the paper. But both spend a lot of time getting patients better.

Another thing that points to this is the movement to contain MRSA. It wasn't started at Duke, Hopkins, Stanford, etc. It was started at Allegheny County Veterans Hospital in Pittsburgh. A lowly VA hospital started a movement that is saving people's lives. After the big hospitals heard about it, they signed on. But still, it was a VA hospital that started it.

The people I trust: the chemo nurses. They know the good and bad surgeons. When I was on Remicade, they suggested my surgeon (as did my GI). It was a good suggestion.

[cynnycal]

I'll have to add in my vote for cleveland clinic being a rockin' spot.
I guess it's true that hospital 'rankings' are sorta meaningless, although still needed. in some form.
BUT i think that it's hard to dispute actual "customer reviews" if you will, of hospitals and doctors.
I know Dr. Fazio may not be your first choice to catch a beer with at happy hour, but for me, i dont' need my surgeon to be my best bud. I need him to be competent, knowledgeable, experienced, etc. etc.
Though, even saying that, I didn't find Dr. Fazio to be unpleasant at all. In fact i enjoyed his australian expert, his patting me on the head and calling me "kiddo" (even though i'm 27. admittedly, looking more like 18). I found his ancient white surgical shoes amusing. and the relationship between him and his nurse Gina very funny. (the way he insists on typing up all his own reports right there in the exam room, with Gina standing anxiously over him just dying to get in there and type it up for him, as he does not type very well...typos abound)

anywho, i got top notch service and care there. they shuffled around appt's to get me in asap, he scheduled the surgery on a day he does not normally do surguries, they shuffled rooms around to get me a room up in the colorectal floor after surgery (when i initially came out of my 8 hour surgery, i was in the neurological unit cuz there were no available rooms in colorectal. but i was only there for about half a day. which was great, b/c none of the neurological nurses knew what to do with a brand new kpouch.

but, you have to make these decisions more on your own gut rather than all of our experiences. the one thing you'll be sure of, regardless of how rude or not rude, accomodating or not anyone there is, you know cleveland to be extremely knowleable in this area

[BrianH]

I was just doing research on J Pouch and K Pouch and came across this thread. I have crohn's and it seems as if Dr. Fazio is one of very few docs who are willing to try a J Pouch on crohn's patient if that patient meets the criteria. This would be a huge thing for me! My local surgeons refuse to do it because of my crohn's. Long story short: I had a stem cell transplant for my crohn's about five years ago and my crohn's is basically non-existant up to this day. I've been off all medications since my SCT and no signs of crohn's on my scopes.

Anyway, I have heard great things about Fazio and the Cleveland Clinic. It would be hard to top the facility I had my stem cell transplant done at (Northwestern in Chicago) but all that remains of my severe crohn's is this stupid bag! Anyway, I just have to laugh at a person who degrades a hospital because they made her drop her pants in front of Med students and because her butt was showing during a test!! HA! That made me laugh out loud. I'm sorry, but perhaps that person is new to crohn's disease. I say this because your ass is always hanging out during tests if you have crohn's AND teaching hospitals will bring in med students, pants up or down. It's not a huge deal. They have seen the male and female anatomy many times. I had to lay in a hospital bed totally exposed for at least 5 minutes while a med student prepared to pull my foley. I was 23 years old and there were about six female med students standing there. They all saw my goods and it's not like I was 20 years post their age, as they are the same age of the girls (maybe some of the girls) that I would try to pick up on Friday night. Your butt hanging out and having to drop trow is not a big deal in a hospital, and certainly no reason to downgrade a facility.

[Flemmart]

It depends on so much. Some folks need more tender loving care and solid bedside manners, some folks prefer just a highly skilled surgeon and not the bells and whistles. Both are important depending on your personal needs.

I just posted in another thread that Dr. Launer at Scripps in San Diego will do a kpouch (and has crohns patients with a kpouch) but it is dependent on where your crohns is located and your medical history. http://www.advancedsurgical-sd.com/

I can go into the same dr. office one day and it's all smiles and another day, hectic cranky office team. I think it's cuz we're all human.