9 posts shown.
Noah Alvarez said:Aaron Sanchez4 ...I really don't want to tell you whether you should go to him or not. My own personal lesson from everything I've been through over the last few months is that I will never again turn to private clinics for seemingly trivial procedures. A hospital is still a hospital, and if heaven forbid something gets complicated, I know I will always find everything I need within a hospital system. Up until now, I’ve actually had about 70% of my checkups and surgeries done privately (since it’s "faster" and I always expected better, more personalized care if I was paying for it). Dr. Domagoj Ivanovic is a very pleasant doctor who listens, coddles you, holds your hand, calms you down, and is always smiling; he answers every single question... and those are the kind of doctors everyone wants, and everyone is thrilled with them. If he had taken proper care of me post-operatively, listened every time I told him I felt unwell, and ultimately managed my care at the hospital where he works, I would have called him the number one doctor in America. My current doctor, who took over after Dr. Domagoj Ivanovic messed things up, isn't chatty or smiley at all—he’s quite cold and reserved—but I have to admit that unlike Dr. Ivanovic, who listens but doesn't actually hear, this doctor truly hears me when I complain about something. About four years ago, I had stage 2 hemorrhoids and went in for rubber band ligation. It didn't help me either, and things just kept getting worse (despite a reduced diet, soft stools every day, and daily exercise). I’ve heard that Dr. Fila is good and I know he performs ligations. He performed a stage 2 ligation for my cousin three years ago, nothing has returned since, and he was absolutely delighted with him. I’ve also heard that at KB Merkur, Dr. Kocman and Dr. Jadrijevic, who is the department head, are excellent. As for the main city hospital, I’ve heard that Dr. Kovačević, Dr. Glavan, and Dr. Doko, the department head, are quite good. It is entirely up to you whether you place your trust in Dr. Domagoj Ivanovic or look for someone else. In any case, I wish you luck with choosing your doctor and method, and I hope you can finally be free from your ten years of misery...
Thank you so much for the response and for all the information. I wish you plenty of health and happiness in your life...
Noah Alvarez said:Hi everyone,
I’ve been following this forum for about six months now, but I finally decided to log in and share my story just as the end of my ordeal is approaching. I’ll try to keep this brief, though that might be easier said than done. First off, I believe that the creams, pills, natural remedies, and everything else you recommend here can work for some, but they may not work for everyone. Please don't feel discouraged or get frustrated if something doesn't help you when it clearly helped someone else. Also, anyone making a recommendation should realize that every body reacts differently to treatments; there shouldn't be pressure to suggest that one specific thing is the absolute "best" on the market and guaranteed to work. In my case, I’ve tried every cream, suppository, natural remedy, and pill imaginable, and nothing seemed to help...
The sole reason I am writing this post is to bring attention to the Butterfly Clinic and Dr. Ivanovic, whom I see being praised quite often here. To be honest, it was actually because of the posts on this forum that I decided to go see him for a consultation, opting for the DG HAL and RAR method to resolve my issues.
During the initial exam, it was determined that I had Stage III-IV hemorrhoids, fragile tissue causing bleeding, prolapse, an anal fissure, and a rectal polyp. An operative procedure was performed to ligate the branch of the inferior hemorrhoidal artery using ultrasound Doppler, along with rectorectal repair. They also performed a polypectomy of the fibroepithelial polyp and excision of the anal fissure, including stitches. Afterward, I was prescribed a week of rest. As soon as I was discharged, I developed a fever (peaking at 103.8°F) that lingered with me for nearly a month. Since then, over the last four months, I have undergone a total of five surgical procedures, all thanks to the charming and ever-smiling Dr. Ivanovic.
Initially, Dr. Ivanovic from the Butterfly Clinic allowed me to stay completely blocked up for seven days—literally, for seven full days, nothing could pass, not even gas or stool. He kept trying to soothe me with charming stories, insisting that things would move along and that my symptoms, including the fever, were perfectly normal. After a week of misery and averaging only two hours of sleep (I lost 15 pounds, and my abdomen swelled up like I was five months pregnant), he sent me to his facility, KB Merkur, for an emergency enema. It wasn't until the second attempt that they managed to use a plug made from stool and blood from the polyp, which ended up getting stuck against the wall. I should mention that during this time, I couldn't even urinate properly due to the swelling and the blockage, and because of the pain and cramping in those last few days, I couldn't eat or drink anything. I sent countless messages and calls to the doctor during that week letting him know I was doing poorly; I even went to a clinic one evening, but he didn't take much action beyond charmingly reassuring me that everything would be fine. During that exam, he performed a dilation and gave me an IV with a cocktail of medications for cramps and sedation. After the first enema, I felt two rice-sized lumps near my anus that were extremely painful and white. He messaged me saying it was likely irritation from the enema and told me to use Betrion cream. After many more messages and calls, I went back to see him again, but he just quickly ran his hand over the two lumps and dismissed them as minor local inflammation that would clear up with cream. Meanwhile, I caught a cold (my husband and I both had fevers for just one day). That evening, as my nose started running, my temperature spiked to 101.3°F, and the next day it was back to around 100°F. Because of the fever, my primary care doctor wanted to send me to the ER, but Dr. Ivanovic, when I returned for the second time regarding those two small, pus-filled lumps, insisted there was no need for the ER. He claimed it was all normal, that fever is expected after such surgeries, and since I had a cold, the temperature was surely from that. He even suggested that if I went to the ER, they would just laugh at me. Following that first enema, I had stool for a couple of days before becoming constipated again. Ten days after the first enema, my mother called the clinic begging the nurse to have Dr. Ivanovic call me (since I am too proud to call myself), but I still wasn't well. I still had a fever and was backed up again. I arranged to see Dr. Ivanovic on Saturday at the Butterfly Clinic (as he was traveling outside the US the following week), but the clinic was closed and he didn't have the key. We spoke for literally five minutes in the hallway; he just soothed me, smiled, and said it would all be okay and was totally normal. He even asked if I felt better just from talking to him! He suggested I try drinking coffee, apple cider vinegar with honey, lemon in lukewarm water, mountain tea, or prune syrup, and if that didn't work, he would arrange another enema for me at KB Merkur. Over the weekend, I tried all of that plus magnesium chloride granules, but I felt like I was going to burst from the cramps and pain, and there was still no sign of a bowel movement. That night, I went to the ER, but my doctor there insisted that because of the fever, I should go to internal medicine rather than surgery, and they didn't find anything conclusive... just slightly elevated CRP and white blood cell counts. For the constipation, they gave me a suppository, but again, nothing happened. I messaged Dr. Ivanovic saying I couldn't take it anymore and to please arrange another enema. On Monday afternoon, I went for a second enema at KB Merkur. The process lasted from 3:00 PM Monday until noon Tuesday. I literally didn't sleep for a single minute. On Tuesday evening while showering, I felt a lump on my perineum. On Wednesday morning, I frantically messaged Dr. Ivanovic describing everything and asking what to do next. I called the Butterfly Clinic because the doctor wasn't returning my calls, explaining the situation and pleading with them to tell him to contact me urgently. The nurse at the clinic told me it was probably just irritation from the enema and the lump would settle down. Dr. Ivanovic didn't get back to me until six days later (on Monday) via message, claiming he only just received it upon arriving back in the US. I should note that I didn't send the message via Viber or WhatsApp; I sent it to the business number. Even if he were in Tonga, he should have received it, unless he had his phone turned off...
On Thursday, I ended up in the ER at a local hospital where they immediately performed an incision and drainage of purulent material—the diagnosis was a 2x2cm perianal abscess. This was occurring exactly where those two tiny "rice grain" spots were located, which Dr. Ivanovic had previously dismissed as just minor local inflammation, prescribing nothing but antibiotic cream. My fever vanished instantly after the procedure, despite having suffered from it every single day for a month while Dr. Ivanovic insisted repeatedly that it was perfectly normal. Following the abscess surgery, I had to undergo two separate operations for a fistula that developed because the initial abscess wasn't caught in time, and finally, a fifth—hopefully my last—procedure to remove a seton, which was placed to allow the fistula drainage to exit and prevent the channels from clogging and forming another abscess again...
Instead of the one week of rest Dr. Ivanovic prescribed, I ended up on medical leave for over three months. Instead of a single operation, I went through five...
Dr. Ivanovic is a very charming physician; he listens, smiles, tells you exactly what you want to hear, and knows how to soothe you. As long as everything goes perfectly post-op, he’d be considered the best doctor in America. However, Butterfly Clinic lacks absolutely any equipment or supplies to assist if complications arise, aside from basic IV medications. They don't even carry flexible rectal probes or enema catheters, which is why I had to go to KB Merkur...
Furthermore, aside from the initial discharge summary, Dr. Ivanovic failed to document a single word regarding the subsequent developments or complications. In order for me to extend my medical leave, my primary care physician requested at least two or three sentences detailing my condition and symptoms so she could justify keeping me off work. I actually had to follow up with him to ask him to note that I had received IV medication for spasms and sedation, that I had returned for follow-up exams, and that I had undergone enemas. Regarding the enemas, for instance, I have no paperwork whatsoever since I was admitted to KB Merkur as a self-pay patient without a referral, formal documentation, or any record of my visit there...
To wrap things up, Butterfly Clinic offers a range of pricing for DG HAL et RAR procedures... $3.00 cash WITHOUT A RECEIPT, $3.25 cash WITH A RECEIPT, and $3.75 installment plans for credit cards...
I apologize that this post turned out so long, despite my best efforts to keep it brief. This was my personal experience with Dr. Ivanovic and Butterfly Clinic. It hasn't happened again, and honestly, even if they paid me, I would never step foot in there again. I truly hope my experience with Dr. Ivanovic and Butterfly Clinic helps someone else out there...
What should I do now? I was actually preparing to go in for an exam with them...
Michael Diaz4 said:That just doesn't seem right to me...
I’ve tried to just ignore it, but I simply can't. I have attempted various ways to move past this, yet nothing seems to yield any results...
The decision has finally been made after ten years of struggling. As I mentioned before, I have been battling this for a decade now, and I have decided to seek a private consultation in Washington, D.C. Therefore, I would truly appreciate it if you could offer some recommendations on which specialist to visit. After reading through many posts by "dreamland," Dr. Ivanovic seemed like a reasonable option, and a procedure there costs roughly $1,500 to $1,600. However, I am now seeing that people are also quite satisfied with Dr. Fil, who is significantly more affordable if I decide to move forward with surgery. Just to clarify, I don't have external hemorrhoids, only internal ones, and based on what I've read from "dreamland," I suspect I might not even have a fissure since I've stopped using corticosteroid creams or suppositories. I recently underwent a colonoscopy, and the doctor noted that I have second-degree hemorrhoids that aren't severe enough for surgery, so I am feeling a bit uncertain about my next steps...
Timothy Kim60 said:Then that first one from the link draws its power directly from the PCIe slot, and I honestly don't see the point in spending $100 on that...$67 You seem to be picking up some rather underwhelming DDR3-based graphics cards lately. Moving forward, the leap in performance will be absolutely massive compared to what you currently have...
Something a bit more budget-friendly, yet still reliable... any suggestions?...
Timothy Kim60 said:At the very least, check out this
Generally speaking, there are much better GPUs available for a similar price point (like an ASUS 250x from Micro Center), but your current power supply isn't really up to the task for something like that. You might consider a GTX 750 for $300 or perhaps a 750 Ti to match a 1050, which would be significantly more powerful than what Microsoft offers, though it would probably be wise to upgrade the power supply again
That is precisely why I mentioned that I wouldn't want to purchase a brand-new power supply, so if anyone has any suggestions, I would truly appreciate the help
I was wondering if anyone might be able to assist me with a selection. I wouldn't exactly call myself a gamer, though I might occasionally enjoy a light, low-demand title.
My current setup features a quad-core processor running at 2.4GHz.
It is equipped with 4GB of RAM and an Enlight 350W Power Supply.
At the moment, I am using an ATI 4350 with passive cooling.
I am looking to perform a minor upgrade and would appreciate some recommendations. My main priority is finding something exceptionally quiet, and I want to emphasize that I am not looking to invest in any components other than the graphics card itself. Thank you in advance for your help...
I am currently listening to some of his tracks right now. RIP...