Dr. Anthone and follow up

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I just had a consult with Dr. Anthone last Monday. I was incredibly impressed by him, and by the respect and intelligence with which I was treated.

My questions to Dr. Anthone's post-op patients:

How would you rate your care at USC hospital after surgery? Any problems with nursing staff, getting your needs attended to, etc.?

How would you rate dealing with Dr. Anthone's office staff pre and post-op? Attentive and responsive, or not?

Were any of you revisions from VBG (which is what I will be)? I'd love to hear about anyone's hospital and post-op experiences with Dr. Anthone, USC, and his staff.

Thanks to all,

Robyn

[Guest guest]

Robyn,

I had a wonderful experience at USC, and with Dr. Anthone and staff. is

a little 'abrubt' at times, but that is just how she is. She was with me for

2 hours before surgery, and held my hands while they put in the epidural. She

was very helpful, and calmed my nerves quite a bit. Most of the nurses were

wonderful. After surgery I had a few questions, and every time I called Dr.

A, he called back within 15 minutes. My experience was a 10 overall! I hope

everything goes just as well for you.

Kim B,

Dr. Anthone 4/18/01

-56lbs in 8 weeks!

[Guest guest]

Robyn,

I had my DS on 4/20. Preoperatively, Dr. Anthone was great. He was

impressed with the amount of knowledge I had about the procedure and the

lifestyle afterward (thanks to the lists). He was personable, friendly, and

really just confirmed information that I already knew. Things ran smoothly

with his office preoperatively, and off I went to surgery.

held my hands while I got the epidural, and got me some happy juice

immediately when I began to panic.

The staff at USC was incredible. I had some of the best nurses in the world.

I can't think of a time when I had a need that wasn't addressed immediately.

Very, very caring and compassionate.

Once I was home, I had to contact Dr. A once, and he called back immediately.

My postop appointments (two so far) have gone well. At my last appointment

I got to see the nutritionist which was very helpful.

We did have a mishap with my disability paperwork, and I'd watch that

carefully, but otherwise, I really could not have asked for better care.

Dawna

[Guest guest]

Hi Robyn:

> I just had a consult with Dr. Anthone last Monday.

> I was incredibly impressed by him, and by the respect

> and intelligence with which I was treated.

It sounds like you are having the standard reaction to a first

meeting with Dr. Anthone.

My father refers to Dr. Anthone as " a truly kind soul. "

My mother, who normally dislikes doctors and despises surgeons,

refers to Dr. Anthone as " saintly. "

As for me, I cannot actually prove that the man walks on water, but

it would not surprise me a great deal to learn that he has this

ability. (:

Before answering your specific questions, I'd like to tell you a few

things that I've learned about Dr. Anthone in the short time I've

been acquainted with him.

During my post-op experience, I have had several occasions when I

felt the need to speak to a surgeon about a problem I was having, or

an important question I just needed an answer to. By using USC's 800

#, I have always received a return call within a few minutes.

For example, two weeks ago, I had horrible constipation with

dehydration, so I called the 800# on Sunday night. Dr. Anthone

called me back in about 2 minutes, from his dining room table, where

he was entertaining guests. He listened carefully to my description

of the problems, and then instructed me to get to an ER ASAP. Plus,

he said he wanted the ER to run complete blood and urine panels, and

that they were to call him as soon as they got the results. He

finally got that call at about 1:00 a.m. Luckily (for somebody) he

wasn't operating the next day! He " only " had his usual 7:30 a.m.

rounds followed by his typical 10 hours of monday clinic appointments

(with pre and post-ops), followed by afternoon rounds.

Here is another example of Dr. Anthone, the man, as well as the

surgeon. Almost 25 years ago, my elder sister had the infamous IJ

bypass -- the surgery with so many complications it continues to give

the term " bypass " a bad name to this day. Luckily, my sister has

avoided most of the horrors. During the past few years, however, she

has experienced a sharp and steady weight gain.

I mentioned this to Dr. Anthone during a visit, seeking to sound him

out as to what, if anything, he thought could be done for her. He

replied that he would need some more information to make a reasonable

analysis of the situation, so why didn't I just give him her phone

number and he would call her and discuss it with her directly?

So I gave him her number (in Massachussetts) and some basic

information, and he called her a couple days later and left her a

message. Not receiving a fast return call, he called her again a

couple days later, reached her, and spoke to her at length about her

problem. Unfortunately for my sister, Dr. Anthone thinks that her

body has accomodated to the surgery and he could offer at best a 50%

chance of a better result from a revision.

Despite the negative news for my sister, this incident illustrates

two aspects of Dr. Anthone that I find quite admirable. In the first

place, he really is a very kind and caring person. Notice, not only

did he VOLUNTEER to call my sister, he actually did so TWICE, and

gave her a good bit of his time and thought -- for nothing.

Second, he won't bullshit you. During my initial consultation he

surprised me by not only discussing possible negative consequences of

the surgery, he even went so far as to describe the circumstances

surrounding the deaths of those few patients he has lost -- all

(three?) of whom died weeks after surgery from pulmonary embolisms

that broke off from a deep vein thrombosis in the leg, (which was in

turn due to the lack of excercise of very large patients in the post-

op period).

Okay, now for some specifics.

> How would you rate your care at USC hospital after surgery?

Generally very good to excellent with a few bumpy spots. (The food,

for example, really sucks!)

> Any problems with nursing staff, getting your needs attended to,

etc.?

I had a bad experience in ICU with a nurse named Edna who

was " floating " from another department. But when I told the charge

nurse about it the next morning, she wrote Edna up so fast it made

her head spin.

For the most part, my nurses where quite good, a couple excellents,

and one who was so fantastic I wanted to marry her after just a

single shift under her care.

> How would you rate dealing with Dr. Anthone's office

> staff pre and post-op? Attentive and responsive, or not?

My relations with the office have been fine, but I should warn you

that they are extremely understaffed. , the coordinator,

handles both Dr. Anthone and Dr. Crookes, and Angie does the

billing/insurance crap for the both of them as well. So, use email

and keep your questions short. And remember, if you have a real

problem, it is EXTREMELY easy and quick to page Dr. Anthone.

> Were any of you revisions from VBG (which is what I will be)?

No, but I know that Dr. Anthone does quite a few revisions.

For more info on Dr. Anthone and the USC program, check out the DS-

USC support group here on Yahoo.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ds_usc>

Be especially sure to check out the links page that another Anthone-

ite and I co-authored. Just go to the " Files " section of the support

group site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ds_usc/files/> and click

on " Info For Pre-Ops. "

Hope this helps, and hope to see you on the DS_USC Group soon!

Tom

Panniculectomy, Dr. Anthone, 11/10/2000

Open DS, Dr. Anthone, 03/30/2001

11/10/2000 . . . 384

03/30/2001 . . . 360

04/19/2001 . . . 338

04/22/2001 . . . 334.5

05/03/2001 . . . 328

05/14/2001 . . . 319

05/18/2001 . . . 316

06/03/2001 . . . 301

06/15/2001 . . . 299

85 Ugly Pounds, GONE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

USC DS Support Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ds_usc>

[Guest guest]

Where is this saintly Dr. Anthone located? I'm now interested in ds and

can't find a surgeon near me (ville, FL) to save my life....

Belinda Hulin

[Guest guest]

Belinda,

There is a surgeon in Kenasaw, GA right outside of Atlanta, I think

his name is . I do know he will not do a revision from personal

experience, I went to Dr. Rabkin in San Francisco, for my surgery and

he was wonderful.

Ellen from Texas

> Where is this saintly Dr. Anthone located? I'm now interested in

ds and

> can't find a surgeon near me (ville, FL) to save my life....

>

> Belinda Hulin

[Guest guest]

> Where is this saintly Dr. Anthone located? I'm now interested in

ds and

> can't find a surgeon near me (ville, FL) to save my life....

>

Hi Belinda:

Dr. Anthone is at the University of Southern California University

Hospital, in Los Angeles.

Check out his support group for all the holy poop. << >>

USC DS Support Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ds_usc>

Cheers,

Tom

Panniculectomy, Dr. Anthone, 11/10/2000

Open DS, Dr. Anthone, 03/30/2001

11/10/2000 . . . 384

03/30/2001 . . . 360

04/19/2001 . . . 338

04/22/2001 . . . 334.5

05/03/2001 . . . 328

05/14/2001 . . . 319

05/18/2001 . . . 316

06/03/2001 . . . 301

06/15/2001 . . . 299

85 Ugly Pounds, GONE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

USC DS Support Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ds_usc>

[Guest guest]

many thanks

[Guest guest]

Many thanks...