Patient Comments

These are a list of patient comments to California Sports

Dr. Eppley, Thank you very much for saving my right shoulder. I am thankful God picked you to have such a grand skill and sent me to you.

Dear Dr,Eppley and Gaye DeRusso

I just wanted to take a moment out and let you know how I am doing after the total knee surgery. It's been five months now and I am doing just great. I consider the surgery and after care from the both of you a tremendous success. I've been back to work for some time now. My range of motion is back to normal,no pain or swelling either.I really started to see that I was unaware a the knee (a good thing) after about four months. you were right Gaye it was going to take some time.

Well that's it for now and again thank you from the bottom of my hart for ending this three year saga that surrounded this knee problem;

It's such a relief to say well done to the both of you. The end finally.

Happy Holidays to the both of you and all the office staff and Dawn for referring me to in the first place.

Here I am doing handstands in my yoga class. I never thought this would be possible and at first I was really apprehensive about trying it because I wasn't sure of the strength of my right shoulder. But, as you can see, thanks to a fantastic job by Dr. Eppley, I am having no trouble at all.
I was thrown off my horse a little over 2 years ago and severly injured my right shoulder and head. I never doubted that I would ride again, but I did doubt I'd be doing handstands! Through the incredible talent of Dr. Eppley and the terrific follow-up of his caring staff, I have made a better than full recovery. Oh, by the way, I'm no spring chicken either ...at 57!!

Dr. Eppley,
Once again, I thank you and all your staff for such top notch care. What a great positive change you have made in me. Can't forget to mention how i haven't enjoyed more, being back on the green and swinging away! I appreciate it all...

Dr. Zwahlen, After I left your office today, I felt terrible when I realized I did not get a chance to properly, THANK YOU, for all your efforts to relieve my knee pain. My surgery was at the end of a long day of surgeries for you and I was a bit concerned that you might be tired...but just seeing your high energy level ( you are definitely in your element in the operating room) gave me a lot of reassurance. Also, I was awake and able to watch the entire surgery on the monitor and was most impressed with your surgical skills- your speed and accuracy with the arthroscope, performing the meniscectomy and microfracture procedures, all while explaining everything to me - certainly demonstrated your exceptional skill and experience! So thanks again for all your efforts!!

Dr. Zwahlen- I am so grateful you eliminated my "frozen shoulder". It is so marvelous to be "me" again. When I am swimming using the crawl stroke I think how very lucky I am. The same goes for when I'm carrying Pelicans around and lifting them up onto a balance to check for weight gain.. As you anticipated, manipulation under anestheisa (April 2008) led to full recovery and full use of my right shoulder. I discontined physical therapy at the end of july and had already resumed all normal activities by that time. I continued to stretch and strengthen and feel absolutely great with my normal right shoulder.

Live accident free...but, if an accident does happen, see....Dr. Eppley

I received a very nice letter from a Physician to convey his appreciation and sincere gratitude for the excellent care he recieved. He specifically mentioned you. In his words, "After 30 years on the medical staff of Alta Bates I recently had my first experience as an inpatient, I had a total shoulder replacement by the masterful Dr.Robert Eppley and had a perfect Operating Room experience." He also added that his outcome has been great.
Thank you, Dr. Eppley, for your contribution to providieng such quality care. You certainly exemplify the goals of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in providing the hightest caliber of service to our patients.
Warren J. Kirk President & CEO.

I want to thank you and your wonderful staff for taking care of me throughout the ongoing process fo my shoulder surgery. Thank you for your patience, your goal of perfection in each case that you deal with and your kindness.

The knee held up well in snowboarding from a snowcat in British Columbia even though we had to climb to get to fresh powder. More recently, the knee held up well in a power climb on the Great Wall. I hope to climb Mt. Rainier later this summer. I hope you had a good spring and have a fun summer ahead.

Repair of Clavicle Fracture- Thank you so much for doing my surgery. This was the first bone in my body that I have broken and also the first surgery i have had. It was a terrifying experience for me and i thank you for taking care of me.
I know that these past few days were a convention and i can't thank you enough for taking the time to fix my arm. i know you are extremely busy and that my case was probably not what you expected to have on your list. Anyways, thank you, than you , for everything you did for me.

ACL Knee Surgery- Thanks for everything, you helped make my hike to the top of the Schilthorn (Swiss Alps) today possible! The view was amazing, thanks for getting me there.

Capsulorrhaphy Shoulder Surgery- Thanks for getting me thru all 4 years of gymnastics, especially this last one.

Total Knee Replacement- I have complete faith in you as a health care provider.

Bankart Repair - Your the best. knees, shoulders, wish all my surgeries could of gone so smoothly.

Rotator Cuff Repair- You and your staff have gone above and beyond what I had hoped. I will never forget what you have done for me. You and your staff actually listen and show general concern, besides giving great care, something that is missing in most medical offices now a days.

Open reduction Internal fixation of clavicle for old clavicle fracture

Dear Dr,Eppley and Gaye DeRusso

Well that's it for now and again thank you from the bottom of my hart for ending this three year saga that surrounded this knee problem;

It's such a relief to say well done to the both of you. The end finally.

Happy Holidays to the both of you and all the office staff and Dawn for referring me to in the first place.

I know I've said this before but i'm eternally grateful to you and Dr. Eppley for my 2005 procedure. My malformed clavicle was digging into my neck for over a year before I found you. I had been through 3 doctors that told me I was stuck that way. pain and irritation every waking moment- it was ruining my life. I understand now how awful it is for people with serious chronic pain. It's the fact that you can never escape it that's so psychologically damaging-no release, ever. not to mention neck and trapezius always tense on one side=crooked spine, screwed up joint mechanics. etc. I would have traded everything I owned for that surgery, but it only cost me $1000 with insurance. what a bargain!

Shoulder- Rotator cuff repair

It has been over three years since you did my shoulder repair. Since that time I have referred at least 5 people to you because I was so impressed with the whole process that I went through with your practice. I recently saw an article in the Alta Bates newsletter about you and finally wanted to write you and tell you what a positive experience I had. I felt the care and time that you and Gaye and all your staff took in explaining what would happen really kept the experience in perspective. The concern throughout the follow up visits and weathering my barrage of questions was invaluable. I will continue to refer people to you with the highest recommendation. Thank you so much and have a wonderful year.

Partial Meniscectomy 20 years after ACl reconstruction

Just a thank you for all the expertise and great care and guidance. Surgery isn't the most fun thing to do , but in the grand scheme of things, I am very fortunate to have had, what I call the "A-team". Thank you for all the time, energy and patience you've extended over the past few months. I feel so grateful and blessed to have happened upon your team and want to especially mention, Dawn - my first point of contact, Dee- the glue that holds it all together, Randy- for your laughter, lightness and thorough attention in finding me a surgery date, Gaye- for your steady tone, eye contact, truck-load of information that eased my fears and answered my questions and made the process managable, Dr. Eppley- I imagine its hard to stay humble when you are working so hard and doing such a great job.Your ease of spirit, generosity of time, care in attention and respect of my unique knee has left me with a gratitude and relief beyond measure. Dina- without a doubt, I'd still be on crutches if it were not for your support whether to tell me to slow down, or speed up. Your attitude, humor and compassion has give me such reassurance at every point of this process.

Minor debridement of partial PCL tear, chondroplasty lateral tibia and medial femur, excision medial plica

Life is funny sometimes. When something adverse happens like a physical injury, it usually spells out a long dismal recovery road.

However, thanks to your office of highly organized, friendly, and efficient staff members-ALL OF YOU- my knee injuries are pleasantly behind me. I am in a quandry as to how to best express my gratitude in the experience I had each time the Robert Eppley office helped me diagnose and repair my knee.

To let you know I appreciate all of your courtesy and expertise is the least I can offer. I'm very proud to be amongst the Northern Californians here where such primo medical care exists.

You all represent this industry in the finest fashion. We should all be thankful of the high level of living we're able to have even when it seems we are just "working".

Its made a huge difference to me, thank you very much.

Rotator Cuff Repair

We deeply appreciate your generosity and caring professionalism. Thank you and your wonderfully attentive staff for everything. We wish you the best.

Shoulder Replacement

Dr. Eppley thank you for my shoulder. I didn't feel a thing, everything went so smoothly. I am eternally grateful for my new shoulder and best of all I am now pain free.

Bankart Repair

You made a couple of reconstructions on my son's shoulders. I trust you will be proud of your excellent work, They won a silver medal in the olympics.

ACL

I had my left ACL reconstructed by Dr. Eppley in March, it is now September and my left knee is more stable than my right. I have nothing but good things to say about Dr. Eppley, his team, and the set up they have at the surgery center.

Dr. Eppley has a wonderful bedside manner, he takes time to explain things and answer questions fully. He explained exactly what he knew was wrong by looking at the MRI, and also what else could be wrong given his experience with ACL injuries (i.e. meniscus damage etc.). He didn't pressure me into getting the surgery, he explained that it is elective and I didn't have to have it if I didn't want to. I felt very comfortable going into surgery knowing that whatever was wrong he would do what he could to clean it up and fix it.

The staff at his practice are pleasant and professional. They gave me a huge packet of material about what to expect post-surgery so I read up on that and it made me feel better to know the typical complaints. After surgery I had a question that wasn't answered in the packet (my knee felt like it was burning up on the skin- apparently this is a normal reaction) so I called the help number and Gaye called back before the end of the day. I also ended up needing an extra prescription of pain killer and she took care of that right away.

The surgery center was excellent, it was so much better than having to go into hospital. The staff there were really nice and talked me through everything before I went into the operating theatre so I wasn't scared or nervous. They were also very kind to my partner who waited patiently to take me home.

Above everything else I think that Dr. Eppley and his staff realize that although the decision to have surgery and the surgery itself are day-to-day tasks for them, it is (hopefully) a once in a life-time experience for the patient and they treat it as if it is very important.

I would definitely recommend Dr. Eppley to anyone needing knee surgery.

Take note that at every appointment I had Dr. Eppley was running late, so make sure to bring work/a book/something to do with you and to block out twice as much time as you think it will take. The excellent service and results are well worth the waiting time!

Shoulder Surgery

Dr. Eppley and Gay DeRusseo, PA are amazing. Not only is Dr. Eppley an amazing surgeon, but he is also very caring and blunt. Gay DeRusseo, PA, is an amazing listener with great advice and care. Together they are an unbeatable team!

After dealing with an unstable shoulder for 2 years, Dr. Eppley perfomed a capular repair on my shoulder. It's only been 4 months and I am back to full use and better! I can surf, play softball, yoga, bike (all stuff that caused problems before).

I had a little problem after surgery with not getting my range of motion back and Dr. Eppley and Gay quickly acted. They recommended that I switch Physical Therapists, get a cortizone shot, regular massage and had me stretch 5xs a day (my pt only had me doing limited stretching twice a day) . Within a month, I went from being at risk for problems to an excellent shoulder.. They were awesome and now 4 months post-surgery I have no pain and my activity level keeps going up!

Shoulder Surgery

I recently dislocated my shoulder playing with our cat. How I wish that was a euphemism for something far more interesting... but sadly... I was really playing with the cat fell on my elbow and dislocated my shoulder far enough to tear my rotator cuff.

After a trip to the emergency room and seeing a great and responsive doctor there (Dr Meredith), I was happily on Dilaudid and referred to Dr Eppley's office.

Dr Eppley and his P.A. Gaye De Russo, were excellent. Smart, caring, informative and they listened.

I was surprised that I was given the option after the MRI to not have surgery and to see if I can work through my long history of shoulder injuries with PT.

This experience with my insurance compnay and working with great health care people the entire way has made what could have been the worst experience of my life more of a anecdotal blip.

As an aside, Dr Eppley has more than a passing resemblence to British Actor Bill Nighy.

And it may have been my dilaudid induced haze, but I now have a crush on his PA Gaye, who has an incredibly bright and cheery lifeforce...

Knee Arthroscopy

I read all five reviews of Dr. Eppley and his staff, and although my problem was slight and did not receive (not did it require) the attention of his entire staff, I have little reason to doubt that when the situation calls for it, his staff will work seamlessly together to help.

I've had pain in my right knee for more than 2 years, starting a few months before January 2006. At the time I was a daily runner--3.5 - 5 miles a day, then stairs immediately after. My primary doctor thought it was tendinitis, to which I started aspirin 1x-2x daily (pre/post run). My stomach started to hurt shortly after, which made me quit the aspirin. In physical therapy for my back alignment issues, the physical therapist suggested I get the knee re-checked, as it was definitely NOT tendinitis.

Ends up I had a politeal cyst. I was referred to an orthopedic surgeon. Enter Surgeon 1, who did x-rays, an MRI, and aspiration in May of 2007. That's right--that would be almost 1 year and 4 months of hurting and this is what Surgeon 1 suggested: aspirate (they poke you with needles to draw out the cyst fluid). If the cyst returns, live with the it and reduce activities to a tolerable level. meaning, cut out running. start walking. I'm sure I'm exaggerating, but i started envisioning walkers and canes for long walks. he said surgery was a bad option because it would lead to scarring, limited ROM in healing, etc. My feelings of pain were invalidated, and I made the decision to live with my cyst. which, despite not running for 2 months, and then resuming only 2 miles runs twice a week, flared up again, returning in its glory to be bigger, harder, and just as painful. that, coupled with FRUSTRATION at having little options and no control of my body.

I'm aware I did not tear a ligament or meniscus, dislocate or crack any bones. It was a cyst, a "large multioccular (many compartments) cyst", likened to a tumor. and it was changing everything from the way I stood to my lifestyle choices (running was my stress relief). at the suggestion of my coworker, I turned to Dr. Robert Eppley.

I'm honestly of the belief that a cyst is relatively minor in the eyes of a surgeon and Surgeon 1 did not want to waste time operating when I could easily sit on my butt and stop moving. Dr. Eppley performed right knee arthroscopy about a week ago (to see if they could find a cause for the cyst and also treat it), and although it will be a bit before I know for certain if the pesky large lump is gone for good, I am for once in a long, long time feeling HOPEFUL about recovery and resuming some of the activities I love. So that's what I'm writing about--not the amazing staff, the great surgery center which felt a little like a b&b, being guided through scheduling and insurance (which was all wonderful)--but about the hope Dr. Eppley and especially his PA, Gaye, gave me. I'm not an easy patient, mainly because I've had awful experiences with MDs and dentists, but Gaye is calm and reassuring. I've had lots of anxieties and fears leading up to surgery, and today, as I've felt since surgery, I feel really positive. I still have a bit of anxiety, but at least now I know I'm in good hands, who won't turn me down because my problems are "insignificant".

It is very apparent that Dr. Eppley cares about his patients. He listens thoughtfully and he offers clear explanations. His surgical work is exceptional. His credentials, peer reviews and awards are impressive.

I came to know his entire staff as I had my shoulder worked on in '04 and they are all top people.