Pain Management Center Patient Testimonials

Dear Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital,

I am writing to inform you of the overwhelmingly positive experience I had at the Pain Clinic run by Dr. R. Jason Yong at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital. I have suffered chronic migraines since college. They have been quite debilitating at times and have inexorably altered the course of my life.

Dr. Yong recommended an occipital nerve block with additional injections in the frontal area of the head that he called a "crown of thorns". Dr. Yong was very patient, knowledgeable and has an excellent bedside manner. His nursing and front office staff were equally superb.

I had tried many modalities and treatments over the past 20 or so years, most with only marginal success. I followed conventional migraine prophylactic medications and prevention strategies but none of them actually provided consistent or satisfactory relief. After having tried a variety of strategies including anti-seizure medications, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, antidepressants, dietary changes, exercise, stress reduction, acupuncture, osteopathic manipulations, chiropractic therapy, aroma therapy and so on, I figured that trying pain management couldn't hurt at this point.

A little over two weeks after my procedure, I began to notice that I wasn't getting the migraines when I normally should have. In many ways, I am still in disbelief that they have subsided. It is like a whole new life to not have to plan around migraines and suffer through the debilitating mind altering wave of excruciating pain. Now I have many plans and goals that I hadn't thought possible before.

It is an extraordinary feeling and words cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for Dr. Yong and his clinical team: Kathy, Sarah, Sue, and the rest of the terrific people working at the Pain Clinic. It is a gem of a clinic and is a true asset to BWFH. I feel very fortunate to have met Dr. Yong. He is an excellent physician and the manner in which he and his staff treat the patients in the clinic is something rare and special in today's healthcare landscape. Please convey my very heart-felt appreciation to Dr. Yong and his staff for their help.

Dear Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital,

Francia Robles is a dedicated support staff member who goes the extra mile! She is the most important cog in the wheel of your pain clinic!

She is the front end triage that coordinates everything to make sure the patient gets what they need as soon as possible.

She is worth her weight in gold! I would highly recommend that you keep her happy; and that she gets promotions and compensation for such outstanding performance!

She has tons of insurance denial papers to wade through, is inundated with phone calls from patients, doctors and insurance companies and yet she manages to smile when a patient arrives and puts that patient’s needs ahead of all else.

She helped me to get approval for treatment that I so desperately needed, after many insurance denials.

This involved such perseverance against these insurance companies who all too frequently say no. In addition to dealing with insurance companies, she also has to be the liaison between primary care doctors, pain clinic spinal doctors and the patient. She does all this in an extremely demanding, high-pressure environment, since all the patients, like me, need treatment for pain as soon as possible.

I also feel that ALL the staff I have had the privilege of meeting at BWFH’s spinal clinic have been outstanding in their jobs. This starts from the front end = Francia, to the wonderful nurses who held my hands when I’m in agony, to the excellent doctors, especially Dr. Issa. They are all incredibly kind, empathetic, attentive, patient and thorough in their jobs. They make an otherwise very scary treatment as painless/easy as possible!

I just want to thank you (and let Dr. Yi Lu and Dr. Jason Yong) know how excellent their team is, and to thank him for coordinating such a great team, who work well together and who obviously love what they do because they do it so well. A professional always makes what they do look easy (even when it is really difficult). They are professionals with a heart.

Even though nobody WANTS to go to a pain clinic or a hospital, BWFH’s spinal center staff makes even the most frightening or painful experience (injections in my already aching back and nerves in my spine) not so scary and as pleasant (easy) an experience as it can be. They are there when you need them. I definitely was apprehensive and did not look forward to going to any hospital for fear of them making my aching back worse. But they put me at ease with their confidence and competence and calm, caring demeanor.

They’ve made me feel less afraid, less anxious and more hopeful that they actually can (and have) help me get to my goal to live pain free.

So thank you for being there for me.