Sarina Amiel

In 2009, I was diagnosed by a "top" doctor from another hospital with bursitis in my hip and decided to go to HSS for a second opinion. I was lucky enough to get an appointment with Dr. Anil Ranawat who suggested a diagnostic injection. If I had any relief, even for an hour (it lasted 3), I was a candidate for surgery. I had surgery and what the other doctor missed was that the labrum in my hip had detached, but it was walking bone-on-bone for over 6 months that had set off CRPS, which the other doctor did diagnose correctly. Prior, during and after surgery, Dr. Ranawat worked with a team of specialists, including Dr. Gungor and Dr. Griffin to ensure that my surgery was a success and the CRPS was not exacerbated. However, I now had to deal with CRPS for the rest of my life.

Prior to my experience at HSS, I had been seeing another "top" pain management doctor at another hospital who was only interested in putting me on methadone and inserting a spinal cord stimulator. Dr. Gungor has been consistently amazing and looks for the least invasive route for treatment and does not believe in overmedicating his patients. I am one of those patients who is reactive and extremely sensitive to most medications and cannot take any of the standard medications to help control CRPS.

Dr. Gungor came up with a yearly regimen that has helped me not only deal with the chronic pain, but miraculously my CRPS has not spread. With CRPS, everything and anything can become an issue due to its unpredictability. Dr. Gungor's understanding of the physiology of chronic pain is incredible. He understands exactly where the pain is and how to address it. There seems to be zero guesswork or trial and error. I now get a series of sympathetic lumbar blocks every fall to get me through the winter (my worst season).

Recently the labral repair is causing a little discomfort (to be expected) and Dr. Gungor immediately recommended physical therapy (at HSS) to strengthen my core and hip muscles. I am so grateful for his knowledge and expertise I do not hesitate to recommend him to everyone. Thank you Dr. Ranawat for introducing me to Dr. Gungor, Dr. Gungor for your care and thank you HSS for fostering such a collaborative environment so your doctors can work with each other to ensure the best results for the patient.