Patient Testimonials
Read Michael Sanfacon's story
My story starts at 37 years old, when I was originally diagnosed with kidney cancer. I'd been married for 15 years, had kids ages 13 and 10, and was hard at work establishing a career. The last thing I ever expected was a cancer diagnosis that was made more shocking by the fact that my grandmother had kidney cancer in the early 1970s....
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Patient Letters
Dr. Levy,
I was compelled to write to you about the remarkable experience I had 4 weeks ago when I had a radical nephrectomy (based on a Dx of a 9 cm renal cell carcinoma) at BI performed by Andrew Wagner. I've been in healthcare for over 30 years and before I met Dr. Wagner, my opinion of surgeons was probably stereotypical although reinforced with actual experience. That is, if I talked to a med student who said they were interested in becoming a surgeon I had one of two reactions. The first was, "Good, he/she should definitely have limited contact with conscious people." The second was, "What a waste...he/she would be great with people."
Dr. Wagner caused me to rethink those assumptions as he is as extraordinary in his people skills as he is technically. His technical skills were evidenced by my recovery. Upon leaving the hospital I didn't take as much as a single Advil. To me, that means that he moved my organs so minimally they didn't even know he was there!
It was his humanity though that left a profound impression on me and caused me to trust him absolutely. Some examples...
His first sentence to me was, "I am so sorry this happened to you." And he meant it! After a few minutes of conversation, he asked if anyone accompanied me to the appointment. I responded that my husband and closest friend did and he asked for their names. He then left the room and went to get them. He didn't ask a nurse or a secretary to do it...he brought them in himself. He gave me his email address and responded when I had questions. Finally, he called me the night before the surgery (a Sunday evening) to ask if I had any last minute questions or any anxiety that he could help with. I have never heard of a surgeon doing that and neither have my doctor friends.
Anyway, I thought you might want to hear about an extraordinary physician...what a role model for the rest of the clinical staff!
Sincerely,
Grateful patient, October 2008
Dear Dr. Wagner,
Just wanted to thank you very much for everything. You and your whole team were absolutely outstanding with me. Your personal guidance and experienced information helped me get to the right decision, and you made a very tough experience for me as good as anyone possibly could. I would not hesitate to refer you in a heartbeat to friends or family members who might benefit from your expertise in the future. I mean that very sincerely.
Sincerely,
Grateful patient, March 2009
Dear Dr. Wagner,
I want to thank you ever so much for taking great care of me and making sure all was well with my renal tumor. You never realize until you are in this position how much it means to feel secure and confident with someone who is taking such close care of you. Please thank all of your staff too.
Sincerely,
Grateful patient, December 2007
