"1. First impression of Dr. F was that he was extremely confident and competent. Dr. Moore, his fellow seemed friendly and competent as well.
2. My impression overtime only confirmed that I had picked the best surgeon out there. Dr. F is not only a gifted surgeon, but he genuinely cares about his patients and goes above and beyond the call of duty to provide the best care possible in every realm of the experience.
3. The staff at Rush was in a different duck pond than his new staff at Evanston Northwestern. Lets see...Rush office staff: cranky, Rush nurse Kathleen: never returned phone calls, Rush hospital nurses: most were in need of a sabatical. However Evanston is another story. Evanston office nurse Karen Thomas is THE BEST (caring, understanding, knowledgeable), Evanston fellow DR. John Zografakis: a taller, paler skinned, non-greek version of DR. Frantzides...Brilliant, caring, funny, and talented. The whole office staff and hospital staff in general are friendlier.
4. Hmmm, what did I like least? He hasn't p***ed me off yet...always returns phone calls and does everything he can to make the whole experience run smoothly. Only comment is that he is perpetually running behind schedule, but that is understandable.
5. Future patients should be prepared to alot extra time when scheduling for appointments as they usually run behind due to the high volume of patients needing care.
6. I suppose if I were a resident of Chicago, I would be able to be involved in the support group there, but as I'm out of state I attend meetings here so I can't comment on what goes on.
7. Although I was well informed before my consultation on the surgical risks due to my own research, Dr.F did take the time to address the risks involved & clearly discussed the need for patient compliance in all aspects of aftercare (i.e. following dietary recommendations, exercise program, ect.)
8. Overall rating of Dr.F is extremely positive. I wouldn't change a thing. Thank you for changing my life...I no longer wait for tomorrow to live. Thank you to Karen & to Dr. Zografakis for providing the best of care. You will never know how grateful I am for all that you've done. I don't have the words to describe...Thank you is all I can say.
"
"As are many hospitals, it was way understaffed. Sometimes it took hours for a nurse to respond to a nursing page. The overnight nurse that I had was wonderfully caring, competent, & responsive. The daytime nurse was nice, but not very efficient/competent (i.e. didn't know how to properly set up the IV drip). The evening shift nurse was absolutely positively rude. She did not make any attempt to help me out of bed after my gastric bypass, and expected me to lift myself up with no guidance or assistance just one day after surgery. She also ignored my plees for pain control. One female med resident was wonderful, two male medical residents were obviously new and inexperienced as well as unprofessional in their bedside conduct. The worst part of the experience was that I didn't sleep for the entire 3 days at the hospital because of the terrible amount of noise, and I was left downstairs in radiology with my PCA pump disconnected & no pain meds for 6 hours waiting to have a barium swallow completed-nobody offered to help me as I laid there crying in pain for the 3 hours before I was taken in for the screening, and for the 3 hours after that I was down there waiting to be transported back up to my room. The person that helped me the most was a nursing aid/assisstant named Reggie who taught me how to roll over and get myself out of bed without tearing my abdominal muscles apart. He was wonderful. Also, someone in the patient assistance/billing department helped me to qualify for assistance due to my very low income."
