Jeffrey Lin's Online Review Report Card

Dr. Lin performed a hysterectomy on me, during which he damaged my left ureter, leaving me incontinent, with urine streaming uncontrollably into my abdomen and out of my vagina. I had to have two additional surgeries (not by him), and am now a urology patient for life, with the threat of kidney damage hanging over me.

Dr. Lin performed a hysterectomy on me, during which he damaged my left ureter, leaving me incontinent, with urine streaming uncontrollably into my abdomen and out of my vagina. I had to have two additional surgeries (not by him), and will be a urology patient for life, with the threat of kidney damage hanging over me.

I would not recommend going to Dr. Lin at Sibley for suspected endometriosis (only go to him if you are absolutely sure that you have a condition that requires the removal of female organs or parts of them). He belives that removal of one's ovaries and uterus treats endometriosis, and does not think that removal of endo spots and adhesions is necessary (although it is now well established that endo always persists or returns after TH with oophorectomy if the adhesions have not been removed; the endo tissue efficiently uses aromatization to continue to get estrogen). Moreover, he does not disclose the often devastating side effects that come from ovary and uterus removal even when asked directly - he presents surgical menopause as being the same as natural menopause - a mild inconvenience at worst. Nothing can be further from the truth - ovaries continue produce small amount of hormones after natural menopause and we really need them - they are the master conductor that direct nearly every function of the brain and body. Replacement hormones (HRT) can not really replace the natural ones since they provide a steady supply of hormones, while what matters is the natural fluctuations in hormonal levels during the day and night. In my case, I got extreme insomnia and inability to function at the most basic level right after the surgical menopause, accompanied by clinical depression, which do not seem to be resolving for months after the operation. Because the large amount of endo scar tissue on my bowels was not removed, now I have worse endo pain than before the operation. I ended up having to take hormone replacement therapy and sleeping pills every night just to be able to sleep a couple of hours a night. The hormones make my endo grow and hurt and increase my breast cancer risk. I also developed a sensation of pain, pulling and twisting on the side of my abdomen a few weeks after the operation, which turned out to be due to colon collapse in the space where the uterus used to be, worsened by new scar tissue formation. That has made going to the bathroom an impossible task. So as a result of the operation, I have worse endo pain, increased cancer risk, serious new bowel and pelvic floor issues, and a devastating cognitive and physical dysfunction. I used to be very healthy, active, and happy, and my endo pain was controlled somewhat by progesterone prior to the operation, after this operation I am a shadow of a person, have to take pills to sleep, poop, and have any energy at all, and struggle to do the job I love. Please go to an endo specialist if you suspect endometriosis - it is critical to remove the adhesions to achieve pain relief and it is not necessary and not helpful to remove any organs unless you have other medical conditions that justify it. I chose to go to Dr. Lin since my gyn reasoned that he is an oncology surgeon so he should have the skill to clean scar tissue from the bowels and other places, but he did not do that. The last day I felt happy was the day before my operation, since then every day and night have been a misery. I hope my story would help someone get the treatment they actually need! My experience with side effects from the surgery is not unusual, in fact it is very common - check hystersisters.com, and google ovary removal and insomnia, or hysterectomy and bowel dysfunction. It would have been worth it if I had cancer, but it is certainly not worth it for a condition that is not even treated by this type of surgery!

If you have non-life threatening GYN issues and want to stay in the DC area, I have heard he is great. Unfortunately, our experience with him for my mother's cancer journey was abysmal. 1) My mother's GYN said to call continuously and make sure Dr. Lin reviewed her file to see if he could see her sooner than 3 weeks out, but no one ever called back (we called once to twice every weekday) 2) about two weeks after calling daily we finally spoke with Dr. Lin (because my brother camped out in his waiting area all afternoon and finally caught him when he was leaving for the day) and Dr. Lin said he had reviewed her file but that despite her highly aggressive cancer, he was certain she would be fine so there was no need to see her sooner 3) I pushed for having a CT scan before our appointment and the CT scan indicated cancer had started to spread outside of her uterus but when we finally met with him, he still was "very confident she [would] be just fine" so waiting another three weeks for surgery would have no material impact 4) when we finally switched doctors the week before her surgery he called and told me that I was probably killing my mother because the other surgeon likely wouldn't have time to do her surgery in the near future and that he was booked for months out and by that time her cancer would have progressed to a point that she would likely die. Fortunately, we had a leading expert in rare and aggressive uterine cancers agree to fit us into her schedule and perform her surgery within three business days of our meeting her, which was within a week of her original surgery date. My mother's staging went from what was likely stage 1 to stage 4 during the time in which Dr. Lin had us wait, all the time claiming he was "confident" she would be "just fine." Cancer is unpredictable; however, I could have respected Dr. Lin if he said her future was uncertain given the fact her cancer was rare and aggressive. I find it unconscionable that he would try to call and guilt trip a cancer patient for switching doctors and am only grateful my mother passed me the phone so she didn't have to hear his negativity. For high-grade or advanced GYN cancers, I highly recommend going to Hopkins in Baltimore.

Our experience with him was abysmal. 1) My mother's GYN said to call continuously and make sure Dr. Lin reviewed her file to see if he could see her sooner than 3 weeks out, 2) no one ever called back 3) weeks after calling twice a day we finally spoke with Dr. Lin who said he had reviewed her file and despite her high-grade cancer, he was certain she would be fine so didn't need to see her sooner 4) I pushed for having a CT scan before our appointment and the CT indicated cancer had started to spread outside of her uterus 5) when we finally met with him, he was "very confident she will be just fine" so waiting a month for surgery would have no material impact 6) when we finally switched doctors he called us and told me that I was probably killing my mother because the other surgeon probably wouldn't have time for her surgery. Her tumor grew from 0.9 cm to 6 cm and her staging went from what was likely stage 1 to stage 4. For high-grade GYN cancers, go to Hopkins in Baltimore.

He’s the best in all the ways.

Excellent Dr., His knowledge and bedside manners and communication skills were absolutely Great!!

Extremely knowledgeable and professional.

An amazingly skilled surgeon, and a sweetheart of a guy. He performed laparascopic surgery on me and I can barely see the scars. I can't recommend him highly enough.

I saw Dr. Lin to have a cyst removed. He is a very skilled, competent, and highly recommended surgeon, and did not push me into anything that seemed unnecessary or extreme (unlike many other gynecologists I have seen). I felt very safe in his hands and trusted his opinions. However, he is very business like and doesn't have much of a "bed-side manner." Moreover, he is VERY difficult to reach and rarely responds to followup questions regarding your condition or upcoming surgery outside of your office appointment time. About half of his staff are very nice but the other half are noticeably unhelpful.