Did not deal with his staff. Met him about 50 minutes prior to surgery. He explained the "block" (shoulder) to me only after I had already been sedated somewhat with the I.V. Refused to use any Lidocaine or numbing meds for the side of my neck and proceeded to poke me in the neck with an 8 inch needle and dig around for some time trying to locate the nerve he was attempting to anestisize. I've since learned this is not standard practice and after 2 attempts, it should be stopped. An electronic device is also used to find the nerve, which he did not have. Not very friendly. In a hurry, I was obviously a bother. I was extremely bruised and sore for over a week. His procedure was much more painful than the surgery site itself. I begged for Lidocaine prior to the I.V., to which he consented, but he was obviously irritated with me. It was just a bad experience all around.

Submitted May 5, 2009