Illinois Surgeons

[Aimee Mae]

Thank You indiekid!!

I had my first appointment with Dr. Brand just this week, and he has recommended the cleft lift procedure for me. I am going to schedule for the end of August, and in the meantime I am doing every thing possible (diet, vitamins and exercise) to make sure that I am as healthy as possible for my surgery.

First, a HUGE thank you to indiekid for listing Dr. Brand here....without your post I would have never known of him and would still be visiting the sadistic butchers that I have seen in the past. I've had the worst of the worst!

Second, Dr. Brand (and Lonnie) were just excellent! I am absolutely confident that I am going to receive the best care.

And lastly.....does anyone have pictures of post surgery for a cleft procedure? I happen to be rather fond of my bottom and would like some idea of what it will look like when it is done.....Dr. Brand mentioned the hockey shaped scar, and explained the stretching of the skin over the cleft, but I am having a hard time envisioning it.

Wish me luck!! [oyo]

 

[raffashyn]

Cleft Lift Surgery w/ Dr. Brand

I just had my two week checkup with Dr. Brand and the wound healed beatifully! I don't have to wear anything over it, and there is absolutely nothing open. I seriously reccommend the Cleft-Lift procedure to anyone who suffers from PD!

 

[uwpsocr13]

NW suburbs of Chicago

Just wanted to recommend my doctor... Dr. George Bardouniotis, a General Surgeon out of St. Charles and Elgin, IL (about 30 miles nw of Chicago).

He did my open excision and did an amazing job. The wound looked really great from the start. After my excision I saw him every week where he checked the wound and cleaned it out if necessary. I just saw him for my 5 week postop... and I'm COMPLETELY CLOSED (or "graduated" as he likes to put it).

He was very professional the entire time, and had a great bedside manner. I scheduled my surgery a couple months before I had it, and during that time came up with some questions, and he took the time to call me to answer all of them. During appointments, we never really had to wait long to see him and we never felt rushed during appointments with him. He made sure we were all fully aware of what was going on, and that all of our questions were answered.

 

[csofan]

NW subrubs

I had my open-surgery preformed by dr. Joubin Khorsand (sp?). He has his own practice and specializes in dermatology (I believe), but works out of Lutheran General. My surgery is about 5 months healed, and went uninfected, so I have no complaints about his surgical skills, yet he was somewhat uninformative.

 

[Carrie1975]

I am having the cleft lift in mid March. Thank you for posting about Dr. Brand. I have been a 2 year lurker on this board. I have the confidence I need now to get the procedure. Any post op pointers would be welcomed!

 

[ragingklu]

I am going to look into Dr Brand. I am recovering from a terrible botched procedure/recovery from my previous surgeon.

It's a really long story, but Dr Slogoff was someone I would never recommend to do this procedure (or any procedure really) unless your goal is to get worse instead of better.

 

[No Name]

Does anyone have any updates to share regarding how their cleft lift with Dr. Brand has gone in the months/years since surgery? Any further issues or surgeries needed? Anything you would have done differently in hindsight?

Any new names of Dr's in the Chicago area that anyone would recommend?

 

[pureoil313]

Well I just wanted to thank everyone for making this forum possible and after having a few flare ups with PD I went to see Dr Brand from all of the high reviews he has received on this forum. He is great and really understands this disease and he recommended I have the cleft lift, well I had my cleft lift done last Wednesday and I am feeling great. I have had almost zero pain and feel great. The first few days you just need to find a comfortable position and be a couch potato. I start working from my home tomorrow and I have no doubt I will be done with this once and for all very soon.

 

[cystkid]

I quickly found this site after being diagnosed with a pilonidal cyst, and didn't know where to find a surgeon. My parents were pushing for some plastic surgeon they knew, but I found this website and came across Dr. Brand.

I'm 6 weeks post-op for my cleft lift and have not encountered any problems. I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Brand and the cleft lift procedure for anyone regardless of cyst status. Dr. Brand is friendly, smart, and to the point. He described my healing incision as "perfect" and told me there is nothing I really have to do to keep the cyst from returning. The worst part of surgery was honestly the large bandages that kept me from using the bathroom easily and kept me from wearing tighter pants. My pain was minimal (didn't take the Norco they prescibed or even Tylenol) and overall, the surgery went much better than I thought it would. Go see Dr. Brand!!!

 

[oneanddone]

I want to second all the comments on the forum about Dr. Brand. He's amazing! I had my cleft lift done two weeks ago and I was amazed at the lack of pain/speed of healing. I managed to get through the entire first week with only taking 1 Tylenol. All the other doctors give him high remarks (my dermatologist recommended him). It's only been 10 days and I'm going back into the office tomorrow. Highly Highly recommended!

 

[emblem1219]

I'm from Illinois but I wasn't able to wait for Dr. Brand to have an opening so I made the trek up to Eau Claire, WI to see Dr. Immerman. I can't say enough nice things about him, his staff and the surgery center where I had the procedure. I'm over three and a half months post-op and my cleft lift is doing awesome. I brag about my new (cyst-free) butt. He saw me in the morning for the evaluative appointment and mapped out what needed to happen. We went down the road to the surgery center where I had the procedure and was discharged by the late afternoon. His office staff is very friendly and accessible by phone or email for any questions and the staff at the surgery center went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable with the process from beginning to end. It was daunting after reading the horror stories in some of these forums but I can't begin to express how relieved I am it was done by someone who knew exactly what he was doing, on the same day I saw him and with such incredible results.

Contact info:
Dr. Steven Immerman, Evergreen Surgical
719 West Hamilton Avenue
Eau Claire, WI 54701
715-832-1044

 

[midwestash]

Does anyone have the direct contact information for Dr. Brand's office?

I'm on my third "flare up" in less than a year and really considering getting the cleft life with Dr. Brand.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[pureoil313]

Midwestash- Do not consider seeing Dr. Brand JUST GO DO IT. I had a few flareups and I just decided to go and have the surgery and it was the best decision I have made in regards to my health. Dr. Brand is the best.

• Dr. Marc Brand
• Rush University Surgeons
• Professional Building
• 1725 W. Harrison St.
• Suite 1138
• Chicago, IL 60612
• Phone: (312) 942-7088
• Fax: (312) 563-2080

 

[BrianS]

Just had my surgery with Dr. Brand at Rush University, mentioned several times in this thread. I am now on my second day post-op, haven't experienced much pain, just a mild amount of soreness. Only took one Norco after surgery at the hospital, have been taking Tylenol since. I feel like the surgery went well. Also started a recovery log thread; http://pilonidal.org/xfforums/index.php?threads/cleft-lift-recovery-log.11130/#post-63242

 

[Chi8903]

Going to echo everyone else here and say that you should definitely go to Dr. Marc Brand. Just had my 6 week check up and couldn't feel better about myself! Go see him, you won't regret it!

 

[bcyster]

Dr. Hoeltgen
Barrington surgeons, Illinois.

He is wonderful.

 

[bcyster]

Northern Illinois Surgeon

Okay here's mine:


Dr. Amhir Heydari
General Surgeon 815-455-2752
Crystal Lake, IL
(he did my 3rd and 4th surgeries. He is excellent and if, god forbid, this happens again he will be my doctor of choice)

I work with dr. Heydari his is wonderful!

 

[Ouchy]

I've seen a lot of good things about Dr. Bland. We have had great experiences at RUSH also. Only issue is Dr. Bland will not see teenagers.

 

[Mom of two]

I am here to echo the sentiments about the fabulousness of Dr. Brand. (I'm sorry, Ouchy, that your child is too young). My son had the cleft lift procedure at the beginning of August. We live a good 1-1/2 hours from Rush, but it was well worth the drive(s)! My son, who is just 17, was able to see Dr. Brand. I wanted to post to reassure all the anxious moms out there. My son has an anxiety disorder, so we were doubly concerned about the surgery and after care. We were more worried about the mental aspect for him than the actual procedure. I feel because of Dr. Brand's demeanor and skill, my son has come through this so much better (and easier) than we could have hoped for.

The day of the surgery, all went well. The nurses were excellent and Dr. Brand said the surgery went just as expected. We were able drive our distance home without much trouble. Our son was in the front seat with it fairly reclined and hugging a pillow. He did have to lay on his hip. The next 4 days weren't fun, but they were far, far from horrible. The drains weren't as bad as my husband I were imagining. We kept them in the back and so he never really saw them so it didn't affect him much at all. He slept well but he did take the pain pills prescribed, although he was not begging for them. In fact, after we saw Dr. Brand the 5th morning after the surgery and the drains were removed (did not hurt, my son said! In fact he said it felt good and likened it to removing a splinter. Relief!), he did not use any more pain medication. My husband and I worked as a team to redo the compression bandage for two weeks (Be sure to buy the spray they recommend to help the skin under the adhesive tape! We also found 3M's site for their medical tapes to have lots of information if you have sensitive skin). That went well, too, and after our last appointment, he is down to just having to have some gauze at the bottom of the incision to make sure the skin doesn't stick together.

We are anticipating a full "lift" (lololol) of restrictions at (hopefully) our last appointment in a week and a half. He is SO HAPPY that it is not a worry or painful for him anymore. He can look forward to applying to college and know he will not be dealing with this condition away from home. Five stars for Dr. Brand and the cleft lift. I can't imagine open wound healing and God bless all of you that have done that and will do that. And from a mom's point of view, with a son who is off the charts with anxiety and phobias, I can not recommend Dr. Brand enough AND THIS SITE!! If it wasn't for this site, well, I don't even want to think about that!

 

[Laurenm7410]

I would like to also recommend Dr. Marc Brand as the surgeon who can fix all of your pilonidal related problems. I just received the cleft lift from him 6 days ago and I'm not going to lie, it's been a bit rough, but overall I am very pleased with the care I have received from Dr. Brand. He will spend as much time as he needs with his patients and is very friendly and professional. I had a surgery a year ago that never healed properly and Dr. Brand reassured me that he could fix it and I would be well again. The pain from the procedure is tolerable and I am feeling better everyday. Definitely go see this doctor!