Seventy-four year old Frank Moore is no novice when it comes to surgery, hospitals and physicians. In fact, he has successfully made his way through numerous healthcare procedures, including five bypasses. You could say he is pretty much a pro when it comes to comparing healthcare providers, and he doesn’t mince words when he does so.
Frank, a salesman at Tires Plus on Hwy. 138 in Stockbridge, had been experiencing debilitating pain in his back for some time. He had tried medication and therapy and was facing the prospect of back surgery to help alleviate what had been diagnosed as Spinal stenosis (a pinched nerve, or a narrowing in the spine). The narrowing puts pressure on your nerves and spinal cord and can cause pain. Frank’s stenosis is caused by excessive arthritis in his back.
Despite good health otherwise, (He looks and acts thirty years younger!) his age made back surgery a complicated and potentially dangerous option he wanted no part of. So he continued to work – often in so much pain he was bent over as if he had serious osteoporosis. One of his customers, Dr. Asutosh Vyas of the nearby Atlanta Pain Clinic, got his car worked on and offered him help. Frank graciously accepted the offer.
Frustrated with his current physician and still experiencing excruciating pain, Frank went to see Dr. Vyas. After discussing his issues and problems, Dr. Vyas decided to give Frank epidural injections to help with his pain. Epidural injections deliver steroids, anesthetics or anti-inflammatory medications into the epidural space of the spine to provide temporary or prolonged relief from pain or inflammation. The injections can reduce pain and swelling in and around the spinal nerve roots, as well as around damaged nerves which in time may heal.
While Frank had previously received treatment in a facility closer to his home in Stone Mountain, Dr. Vyas sent him to the Spivey Station Surgery Center for his procedure. When asked how he liked the Center vs. his previous provider he said, “From here on, I’m going to Spivey Station Surgery Center; I’ll never go back to my old provider!”
“Spivey Station Surgery Center is just so efficient and well organized. All the paperwork was done by the Center and my physician. I didn’t have to do anything but sign my name. When I got there, my wife went and enjoyed free coffee and donuts in the patient lounge while I checked my email in the internet café. I barely had time to send an email though, it was less than 15 minutes, and the nurse had whisked me off for my procedure.”
He was shown to his room which he noted was way more private than most facilities where only a curtain separates you from your neighbor. He even had his own personal flat screen TV. He couldn’t believe it. The procedure itself was conducted by staff that seemed -- “I don’t want to say ‘joyful’, but they were just so cheerful. The nurses made you SO comfortable. Each one went above and beyond the call of duty to make each step of my experience pleasant.”
Frank’s favorite aspect of the Center was his painless IV insertion. He benefitted from his nurse’s extensive experience (She was a former Emergency Room nurse.) and technique (He was given Lidocaine, a mild topical anesthetic, at the insertion site.). “This was my first painless IV insertion EVER in my life. And I have had a lot. Usually I end up with horribly bruised hands, like this.” he said, holding out his left hand which was mottled with dark bruises.
Happily, his injection has relieved so much pain he is walking upright again. He looks forward to coming back to the Center for additional treatments in the future, and was so pleased with his experience he sent the Center nurses two dozen roses! His advice to patients or physicians considering the Center for procedures: “Try it. You’ll like it!”
"This was my first painless IV insertion EVER in my life. And I have had a lot."
