Dr. Heinegg

On November 14, I was in the emergency room at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. Even though I'd been in a lot of pain since 1:00 a.m. I'd only gone to the ER at around 10:00. My girlfriend met me there, and that was important. A surgeon had come over and started talking to me about possible diagnoses. She was taking notes because I wasn't getting all the information very clearly. But the surgeon was telling me he suspected the problem was either with my gall bladder or colon or both. And he had a room he wanted to move me into so that they could operate that night.

I'd had to wait a long time to get some answers, but now things were moving pretty quickly. And I was troubled by the uncertainty of the diagnosis--especially since I'd had a colonoscopy several months earlier and I was told everything was fine. When I brought this to the attention of the surgeon, he assured me he was going to run more tests to clarify.

What I wanted was a second opinion. I didn't say this to the surgeon. And I knew I was in no condition to go to another hospital. What I DID say to the surgeon was that I wanted him to have a conversation with Dr. Philip Heinegg after he sent him the images he was basing his diagnosis on. When he agreed, I asked for his cell phone number and I called Dr. Heinegg. I explained the situation, and I asked if he was willing to call the surgeon and review the images. And then tell me what he thought.

He was, and he did all of that. When he called me back, he patiently explained what he'd seen, and assured me that the problem was with the gall bladder and not the colon. Additional tests had allowed the surgeon to rule that out. Dr. Heinegg said the diagnosis and treatment looked right to him. That was what I needed to hear. It put my mind at ease. A few hours later my gall bladder was removed without incident.

I can't tell you how grateful I was to have my doctor available to guide me through this difficult experience. I don't know how many doctors would have done all of that without any advance warning. But I know that mine did. And it didn't surprise me. That's the kind of doctor—and person—he is.