Having been to both the world famous center for parathyroid surgery in Florida and the Ronald Reagan Medical Center of UCLA, I feel I am in a position to offer my opinion on my experiences.
After having surgery at the aforementioned, and then discovering that I wasn’t completely cured after my parathyroidectomy, I researched further and found that UCLA is ‘the center’ for redoing my parathyroidectomy.
Dr. Michael Yeh heads up the endocrine department at UCLA and is a renowned surgeon having been mentioned as one of the top surgeons in the united states by U.S. News and World Report. Dr. Yeh is not in his profession for fame and fortune but is truly concerned about helping people in need. He doesn’t see the operating theater as a forum to ‘beat the clock’ and set another record. He has no need to set records in the quest to see how fast the procedure can be done. There is no ego involved or anything to prove to anyone. The goal is always to fix the patient and make him whole and functioning once again. There are no ‘assembly line’ tactics in treating patients at UCLA. Fame and fortune are not UCLA’s credo.
Where else, other than at UCLA, would you find a surgeon as conscientious and professional who will stay with his surgery roster until 9:00 pm in order to get the last patient done? I am testament to that level of care and concern. His first surgery on the day of my surgery went over by two hours more than planned and that just snowballed as the day went on affecting all the patients down the line. I was his last but not least surgery of the day. His team came in to see me prior to taking me in and apologized for the delay and I said to them that there was no need to apologize for anything. In fact, I was pleased to see that he cared enough for his first patient’s welfare to take the additional two hours to get it right for that person’s sake and that all the subsequent patients were allocated the necessary time it took to ‘get it right’ for them as well. It is what I would want for me, if I were in a similar situation. And I honestly feel that is the difference between Dr. Yeh and the vast majority of other surgeons out there. He cares. He doesn’t take his patient’s health lightly. Every patient is important to him and deserves nothing but the best from him. He knows that most who seek out his services have ‘earned’ the right to be restored back to health as they have gone through a lot of pain and illness just awaiting the chance to be returned back to a full life by his hands. I got my ‘second’ chance at a new life thanks to Dr. Michael Yeh and his wonderful and competent staff.
I have never seen a team work as well and in complete synchronicity as his endocrine team does. No one needs to be told what to do and when to do it. They are truly one well-oiled and fine-tuned machine. From those that stay in contact with you in his office making sure everything goes smoothly as you proceed along the path to surgery, to those that take vitals in pre/post op, to the nurses who monitor you closely pre and post surgery, to the anesthesiologist who calls the day before to hear what your experiences have been with anesthesiology and to allay your fears and tell you that if you had a bad experience before, he will try his hardest to make sure you don’t experience that again, to his surgery team that comes in to see you prior to taking you into the operating room--every step of the way one is surrounded by a level of competence few institutions are able to achieve. UCLA is indeed one class operation! Thank you Dr. Michael Yeh and UCLA!!!