Dr. Mark E. Anderson Is the Surgeon You Want When It Matters Most
I recommend Dr. Mark E. Anderson without hesitation.
Before choosing him to perform my cervical fusion at C5-C7, I sought the opinions of three physician friends--two surgeons and a radiologist. Each independently told me that Dr. Anderson was not merely among the best neurosurgeons Orange County had to offer, but one of the finest in the country. My experience gave me no reason to doubt them.
My surgery was expected to take approximately three hours.
When I awakened nearly nine hours later, my wife, Kari, and I naturally wanted to know what had happened. Dr. Anderson's answer was characteristically direct:
"You had an otherwise lethal spiral neck fracture."
He then explained what he had encountered. My neck contained a minefield of bone spurs, which had been instrumental in gradually freezing it into place and necessitating the surgery in the first place. Removing them safely added approximately six hours to the operation. He also explained the complication that had led to my cardiac arrest during surgery and the lifesaving measures that followed.
There is no graceful little euphemism for this: my heart stopped on the operating table.
Dr. Anderson and the surgical team responded with the knowledge, speed, and mastery necessary to save my life and complete an extraordinarily difficult operation successfully. The cervical hardware placed in my neck was designed by Dr. Anderson himself. Over a decade later, I remain pain-free. Among all the people I know--or have even heard of--who have undergone cervical fusion or multiple-disc replacement, I am the only one whose recovery has left him entirely free of pain.
That is the perspective I hope prospective patients will consider when reading complaints about Dr. Anderson's bedside manner.
Is he warm and effusive? No. He is unlikely to hold your hand, gaze sympathetically into your eyes, and make you feel as though you have wandered into a particularly soothing episode of Marcus Welby, M.D. His manner can be blunt, intensely focused, and emotionally reserved.
I once brought this up to him directly. He stopped, turned toward me, and the two of us cracked up together. I came away understanding that his reserve was not indifference. It was simply the manner of a man whose extraordinary gifts are concentrated elsewhere--and, in my case, precisely where I needed them most.
There are physicians whose greatest strength is making patients feel comfortable. Dr. Anderson's greatest strength is knowing exactly what to do when the situation becomes profoundly uncomfortable, unexpectedly complex, and life-threatening.
Naturally, every patient deserves to be treated with respect, and communication matters. But bedside charm should not be confused with surgical competence, nor should an emotionally reserved personality be mistaken for a lack of concern.
You choose Dr. Mark Anderson because you are in serious pain and do not want to live with it any longer. You choose him because something is dangerously wrong and you want the person operating near your spinal cord to possess exceptional skill, judgment, experience, and composure.
You do not choose him to hold your hand.
You choose him because you want that hand to be remarkably steady when your life is in it.
For me, Dr. Anderson was quite literally a lifesaver. He is a Godsend, and I remain profoundly grateful that he was my surgeon. read more
