Columbia Orthopaedics

I went to see Melanie Campbell, a nurse practioner with Columbia Orthopaedics, because I could not get an appointment with the orthopedist in the office. The first visit, to the midtown office, was fine. I made an appointment for a follow-​up, also in midtown, but when I arrived, the desk told me there was a mistake and my appointment was uptown. They said if I made it there in the next hour I could be seen. So I grabbed a cab, the only way I would make it in time. When I arrived, I realized this office was much more disorganized, with long lines. When I finally got to check in, I was told they didn’t have my referral. I tried to explain to them, that yes, they did, or I would never had been able to see Ms. Campbell for the previous appointment in the first place. But they would not let me into the appointment until they spoke to the referring doctor, because they were clearly not capable of logic or reason. So I was incredibly delayed because they lost my referral, on top of the mistake with the office that cost me a $ 30 cab ride. Then I was given a cortisone injection in my shoulder, in office, administered by a nurse, and charged $ 500 for it, which is more than I have ever been charged for such an injection. I was sent to collections after 6 months, which is highly aggressive. And my shoulder is still bothering me, so it was all a huge waste of time and money.

I had knee surgery at Columbia Orthopaedics for a torn meniscus. This was my third knee surgery, the second one on the same knee after a similar meniscus tear was repaired a few years back at the Hospital for Special Surgery, and the first one at Columbia. The surgeon was Dr. Ohannes Nercessian.
The meniscectomy surgery went fine, as far as the doctors could tell, but it is during rehab that problems started. The knee was very swollen and had to be drained 3 times, which is unusual[1]. The reason for the swelling was unclear, but labs ruled out a possible infection.
When I started rehab at Columbia, the questionnaire I filled in on my first visit asked what I was hoping to achieve at the end of rehab. My answer was «I want to be able to run again». I never achieved that. The Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine/​Harkness Physical Therapy at Columbia deserves a few lines, since the place is a disgrace: there are no changing rooms, and patients have to get changed either in the bathroom or in the door-​less cubicles where doctors see patients. The gym itself, which has no windows, is equipped with machines that are likely 30+ years old. I did two sets of rehab here, separated by several months, for a total of 14 sessions, and the only saving grace of this place was Brian Gugliuzza, the therapist who worked with me for my rehab. He was absolutely phenomenal: engaging, enthusiastic, energetic, knowledgeable. Quite frankly his talent is just wasted here.
Recovery time from this type of operation varies a lot, but it is usually in the 2 – 8 weeks range, after which patients are generally able to return to a normal physical activity. In fact, a meniscus tear is a very frequent sports injury, and most athletes are able to resume competitive activity successfully after meniscectomy. For a similar operation a few years before at my other knee I fully recovered in about 6 weeks, and was able to run and play squash regularly and at the same intensity level as before. In this case, a few years have passed after surgery, and I am still unable to run for more than just a sprint. After a couple of years with no progress and no clear indication of what was going on, I just stopped seeing the doctor.
Unfortunately Columbia does not provide any information about how well patients of a certain doctor recover after surgery[2]. Nor allows a patient to see a different doctor at the same hospital to ask for a second opinion.
An MRI performed about a year after surgery proved inconclusive. In fact, it seems that after a meniscectomy it becomes difficult to discriminate whether the remaining part of the cartilage suffered a new tear. Also, after sending a release form to the records office in order to receive a copy of my MRI report, I was faxed back the medical record of another patient. I mean, does my name sound like Raisa Cabrera???
In the end I am certainly better after the surgery than before, but would you go back to the same doctor if something went wrong, you never fully recovered, and the doctor was unable to figure out what went wrong?
Neither would I.
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[1] The swelling is not unusual; it’s unusual for the knee to keep swelling after it has been drained if you don’t do any intense physical activity.
[2] Which is nonsense. It’s like hiring somebody without knowing how good they are at what they do because their performance records are not available to the public.