Dr. Mark Stephen Cantieri, DO

At this point in time, I had been a patient of Dr. Cantieri's for ~7 yrs. I'm an RN &, have been REQUIRED to work 12 hr shifts for a LOT of yrs by this point. I had received several "rounds" of his prolotherapy injections, over the prior 7 yrs & luckily, THAT is what had KEPT ME WORKING, in my honest opinion. Up until "THIS" day, that is! We both agreed that surgical intervention was now, THE ONLY SOLUTION. He has taken THE BEST CARE OF ME, over this past year+! I needed an MRI, which couldn't be done until 6 weeks AFTER the Prolotherapy Injections, I had rec'd the week prior to the 1st week of November, '16. After having the MRI done, I needed 2 consecutive positive anesthetic/cortisone injections to positively identify the "problem area". These, he referred me to Dr. Cooke for, at Memorial's Pain Center, These were done on 1-1-17 &, 1-31-17, Dr. Cantieri also keeping close track of my increasing pain &, in turn, my increasing need for stronger & stronger Oral Narcotic Administration. After the 2 positive anesthesia/cortisone administrations, we were SURE that the area causing me this insurmountable amount of pain was my sacral-iliac joint areas, bilaterally. Armed with this new information, the next step was to refer me to a Neurosurgeon. Not to mention the wait that comes along with waiting to get in to see a Neurosurgeon, there's always the chance the Surgeon is NOT going to agree to operate on you! As, OF COURSE, was the case with the one I saw locally. Discouraged & "knowing" that surgery was THE ONLY THING that could NOW help me, Dr. Canteiri asked me if I'd be willing to see ANOTHER Neurosurgeon, for a 2nd opinion. Well, "YES" was the only logical answer to his question! But, I had NO IDEA the road I had ahead of me! Dr. Cantieri was right there, WITH ME, throughout this whole drawn out ordeal! The 2nd Neurosurgeon was based out of Rush University Medical Center, in Chicago. I saw him, Dr. Harel Deutsch, on March 27, '16. he AGREED to do the surgery &, my surgery date was set for 5-2-16. THEN, Insurance denied my surgery, calling it, "Experimental", although Dr. Deutsch had been doing this surgery for YEARS & was quite proficient at it! We appealed & won! My "new" surgery date was on 6-20-16. I "thought" things were going well, until I saw Dr. Cantieri, towards the end of July &, he was "unhappy" that I hadn't had a "Bilateral Sacral-Iliac Joint Fusion" done &, wanted to know WHY I hadn't had it done, "Bilaterally, like Dr. Deutsch & I had discussed, I mean, YES! I DID tell him that your Left side was the worse of the 2 but, not by far!"I told Dr. Cantieri that I would be seeing Dr. Deutsch in a week, on August 2nd. I'd ask him WHY both sides didn't get done at once AND, I would schedule surgery to get done on the right side, while I was there. After seeing Dr. Deutsch, I found out that both sides can NEVER be done simultaneously because, the patient has to be non-weight bearing, for AT LEAST 6 weeks post-op, At the post-op appointment, you arrive an hour early, go to have x-rays of the surgery site taken 1st. BEFORE YOUR POST-OP APPT., to 'see' if it's now okay for you to bear weight on the surgical side.  I was "good to go" &, Dr. Deutsch's Nurse scheduled my surgery for sometime in late October which, with the pain I was STILL living with at the time of my post-op apt, I was a bit put out with having to wait all the way until the end of October. Dr. Cantieri agreed, when I called there to tell him the "whys" & "whens" of my appt. He said, "The END of October?!? That is putting you through undue torture! You call 1st thing tomorrow &, get that moved up! WAY up!" *So, I called next day & had my surgery date moved up to September 19th. THIS date, seemed MUCH MORE FEASIBLE, to both Dr. Cantieri and I! And then, AGAIN, my world came crashing down around me. I rec'd a phone call from the woman in Dr. Deutsch's Office, who secured the surgery dates, "Mrs. Smith? I am SO SORRY TO HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS BUT... Insurance has denied your surgery, AGAIN, this time! I'm SO SORRY!" My pain was growing more & more unbearable with every passing SECOND! I kept in almost CONSTANT contact with the Insurance Company, wanting to know if things had been reviewed yet? Any NEW developments? I took Notes. I had been from the VERY START of this whole sordid ordeal: who I talked to, at what time &, what date. EVERYTHING that was said, Where with my 1st surgery, things seemed to happen "over night", as far as getting it appealed went, this time, NOTHING was going right &, NOTHING seemed to be being done about it! Dr. Cantieri, seeing me come in, time after time, in tears, unable to sit AT ALL... FOR MONTHS NOW! Uncomfortable lying down, standing for any more than a few minutes at a time, my blood pressure almost always DANGEROUSLY high; 190/110 (stroke level!!),he did something HE had the authority to do! Something that even "I", a Nurse, knew NOTHING about! He called up my Insurance Company & DEMANDED an "Emergency Review" of 50+ pages of HIS documentation (instead of the Surgeon's, as is standard), stating WHY he KNEW that I needed this 2nd of 2 surgeries, ASAP! Dr. Cantieri also faxed a "very well worded, passive-aggressive" Letter, Appealing Insurance's Denial of my Surgery(his Office Staff printed me off a copy, Lol!). Insurance had (I believe), 21 days, from THE DAY Dr. Cantieri called, to gather up enough members of the Board of Trustees, to meet, review documentation & Appeal Letter &, make a FINAL decision on my surgery. Two weeks & a day after his call to Insurance< his Office received a telephone call, as well as a fax, stating that my surgery had been approved! I scheduled my surgery date, later that same day! and, although my surgery date was 6 weeks out, THERE WAS FINALLY AN END IN SIGHT! I also was put on a waiting list &, ended up having my surgery date moved up from 12-12-17 to 12-7-17. I KNOW 5 days doesn't seem like much but, to me, it was a LIFETIME!! 2 weeks prior to getting surgery approved, Dr. Cantieri had started having me come in weekly, to receive nerve blocks to my back, hips & buttocks areas as, the maxed out doses of 2 of the strongest narcotics a person can be on, PLUS, a muscle relaxer for the UNGODLY spasms I was having, were no longer even coming CLOSE to keeping me at a "comfortable" pain level! I continued going in for the weekly nerve blocks, until the week before surgery. AND, Last BUT, SURELY NOT LEAST, Dr. Cantieri, not having heard from me since that week prior to surgery AND, prior to him going out of town to spend time with his Family over the Holidays, he had his receptionist, Carmen, call "to see how you are doing, before I am gone for 2 weeks"! REALLY?!?!?THIS, Ladies & Gentlemen IS THE MOST CARING INDIVIDUAL I HAVE EVER MET IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! I ABSOLUTELY 100%, without a doubt, LOVE THIS MAN! "MY" DOCTOR! He literally SAVED MY LIFE. I had NO QUALITY OF LIFE LEFT. This Wonderful, Caring Individual, whom I am SO HONORED to be able to say is "MY" Doctor, is BY FAR The Best Human Being I Know! Thank You, GOD, for putting this man in my path, 8 years ago. Without him, I would have NOTHING! I would be NOTHING. "HE" has given me my LIFE back! I still have a LONG way to go. MONTHS (6, I'm THINKING) of Physical Therapy &, probably 6 months, as well, of weaning off of these Narcotics, None of it will be easy but, with Dr. Cantieri by my side, I have NO DOUBT that I WILL accomplish BOTH of these feats &, my dream is to be back to work at the job I Love So Much! Taking care of sick Newborns &, premature infants, by summer. With hard work &, guidance from Dr. Cantieri, I BELIEVE my dream WILL come true!