I sent my CT disc to Dr. Cognetti’s office about 2 weeks ago. I previously saw on this site that he only does ES surgeries one day a month. His office called me yesterday to schedule an appointment. They told me he only sees ES patients one day a month for virtual visits. I couldn’t get an appointment until January. Really? Is that what others experienced? I can maybe understand surgeries one day a month, but virtual office visits one day a month?
I also contacted Dr Anninno at Brigham Womans in Boston. After registering with the hospital his office called me saying they could not give me an appointment as they don’t accept my insurance. I told them I would pay cash. They said I can’t pay cash cause I have insurance! What? Is this the lead in to a comedy skit.
I’m going nuts just trying to be seen. A neurosurgeon in Hartford confirmed my ES with the right side causing a blockage to my carotid artery. He said he would do the surgery but he scared the death out of me telling me what my odds were of having a major stroke or dying during the procedure, then admitted he does maybe 1 per year. I immediately headed for the door.
Do I really need to wait to January just to have a virtual visit with Dr. Cognetti?
Many on here have seen him, did you have the same experience? HELP!
That’s really frustrating! I didn’t think that members have usually had to wait quite so long for an appt., maybe he’s cutting down a bit on his ES work 
Dr Jason Newman in PA also is very experienced, might be worth a try, there are a couple of doctors mentioned in your area, although can’t seem to find out much about them. Otherwise if you’re happy to travel into New York, Dr Marc deLacure has done several successful surgeries recently.
I hope that you can get somewhere a bit quicker!
I really did want to see doctor Cognetti but I couldn’t believe it was only one day per month for a virtual visit. I don’t know why those visits could not be booked along with his regular office visits. I did send a request for appointment to doctor DeLacure in New York but I haven’t heard from them yet either.
No, I didn’t realise the consults were only once a month too
Hi Fred01,
I also thought Dr. Cognetti only did surgery 1 day/mo but made his consult appts more frequently. Perhaps Jules is right that he is cutting back on his ES practice? Dr. Newman does have a great reputation as well. If Dr. DeLacure’s ofc doesn’t get back to you by early next week, I’d call them & talk to someone. Emails can sometimes be unpredictable in arriving. In this business of finding the right doctor, occasionally we need to be politely pushy. You should always request to be put on a cancellation list when given an appointment that’s a long way out. We have had members that have gotten their appt dates scooted up quite a bit that way.
I did get on Dr. Cognetti’s cancellation list. I just can’t understand why he only has appointments once a month. That makes no sense to me. Surgery once a month I can understand. Dr. DeLacure’s office requires you to go on line to fill out a Request for Appointment. It says you’ll be contacted in 48 hours. Haven’t heard a thing. I’ll be on the phone Monday. Very frustrated with the docs.
Dr. Cognetti focuses on his cancer patients in his practice. ES is something he deals with through the kindness in his heart. It’s not something that interests him in the way cancer does, & therefore, ES patients get “back-burnered”, as it were, by being given appts (live or video chat) only once a month. It’s not a great system when you’re suffering from ES & want help quickly, but he is good at what he does.
I called Dr. Cognetti’s office in April for telemedicine. They put me on the schedule for July. I waited and suffered, eventually seeking out a local ENT for some pain medications. Finally after meeting with Cognetti (telemedicine) I was told that he won’t prescribe me anything due to state lines. I’m in NJ. Told me to contact my PCP if I needed anything. Called my PCP and they said they never heard of this and always help their patients with prescriptions in state or out of state. Called Cognetti’s office to speak with nurse who advised me to take over the counter Aleve and said that the state lines rule applies to telemedicine patients. Needless to say, I’m done…moving on…
Hi Lisabsisa,
Other members have had the same issue w/ Dr. Cognetti being unwilling to Rx meds between states. I can understand that legally, he may not be able to do so w/o seeing you face to face. Your PCP probably doesn’t have too many patients that haven’t been to the office for a face to face visit at some point & thus the Rx situation is different.
Have you tried contacting Dr. DeLacure’s ofc in NYC. He’s done surgery ES surgery for several of members & they’ve had good outcomes as far as I know.
•Dr Mark deLacure, NYU, New York City (has done surgery on 2 or 3 members) https://nyulangone.org/doctors/1326049453/mark-d-delacure
Also, Dr. Annino in MA has good reviews:
•Dr Donald Annino, Brigham and Womens, Boston (surgeries on several members) https://physiciandirectory.brighamandwomens.org/details/1975/donald-annino-jr-otolaryngology_ears_nose_and_throat-boston
Thank you Isiah. I will contact the doctors that you suggested. Despite my frustrations with state lines, Dr. Cognetti did provide me great advice to try other avenues of relieving my pain through physical therapy treatments before just taking the a plunge into surgery. I’ve had a few sessions with physical therapist, given some at home exercises, and also had 2 MRIs through an orthopedic doctor on my spine (thoracic and cervical) that may be contributing to the headaches, neck pain and tightness, spotty vision. I’m scheduled for injections with a pain management doctor on Tuesday and looking forward to this. If these don’t help, I will then be able to rule out my spine issues and proceed with another ES surgeon. Your suggestions are invaluable to me. Thank you
Hi Lisabsisa,
From what you wrote, it sounds like your injections will be to target any symptoms caused by the C & T spinal nerves. I hope the results you get are definitive & help you to know how to move forward.
We have members who’ve had ultrasound guided injections (usually lidocaine + steroid) in their necks both to help pain & as a diagnostic tool for ES. If the injection helps, then ES is likely the culprit for pain & other symptoms. Unfortunately, the injections don’t keep the symptoms away for very long & need to be repeated. Sadly, the injections can only be given a limited number of times.
Please let us know what you learn from your injections & the pain management doctor.