"Never Change A Urologist Mid-Stream - Unless His Name Is Maggio"
I developed two large kidney stones a couple of years ago and began seeing blood in my urine, accompanied by back pain. The ER recommended Richard Maggio. Maggio scheduled a ureteroscopy to remove both. When I awoke in the recovery room I was dismayed to find he had failed to remove the larger stone saying, "It just fell in there." He didn't explain where "there" was but I left the hospital with a stone and two stents. The stents came as a surprise as he had never mentioned them in preliminary discussions. One of the stents (attached to a cord protruding out from my euphemism) was simply yanked out during an office visit. Again, no prelim discussion. I would have switched doctors at this point as I had lost all confidence in Maggio but I coined a new proverb: Never change urologists in mid-stream. And so I was obliged to go for a second procedure, a shock wave lithotripsy, as I still had a 9mm stone causing havoc. I asked if the second stent (an internal pigtail) would be removed at that point and he said, "maybe." It wasn't. And so I went back to the office for a followup visit and he removed the internal stent, without anesthesia. It was not a pleasant experience. I found Richard's manner smug and glib and have serious doubts about his abilities as a medical practitioner. Recently (February 16, 2019), he was in the news - according to the Staten Island Advance he was arrested for possession of MDMA, cocaine and driving without a license. Hmm. I would not recommend Dr. Maggio. I think you'd have better luck drinking lots of Chanca Piedra tea and riding the Cyclone at Coney Island - or riding a motorcycle over Staten Island's notorious potholes. Regarding my recovery - it took a very long time (over a year) before I stopped feeling minor discomfort when urinating - the human urethra is not designed to withstand the amount of traffic mine endured, reminiscent of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway at rush hour. read more