Dr. Craig Steven Nystrom, MD

When my son was 3, I was referred to Nystrom because of constant phlegm, ear infections and sinus infections. By the time he was 6 years old, he was having constant sinus infections. Nystrom took his tonsils out but he still suffered continuous sinus infections. I knew something more was going on and I started to push for answers why because I was tired of only being sent home with antibiotics that never seemed to work. My son was always full of phlegm and allergy tests were negative but he had confirmed nasal polyps. During our last visit with him, Nystrom wanted a specimen from his nose to culture what type of sinus infection it was so without warning, he shoved a nasal swap up his nose and when my son reacted by grabbing it with his hands, Nystrom got really mad at him for contaminating the specimen. Nystrom could have warned him that he needed to swap his nose but he just grabbed my son's arms to hold him down and shoved the nasal swap up his nose. This was the last straw for… me so I switched doctors. The next doctor from the same practice, immediately saw the nasal polyps and suspected cystic fibrosis at the first visit because polyps in a child is rare and is also a telltale sign of CF. We got into the U of M instantly, had a sweat test & my son was diagnosed w/ CF. I regret not switching doctors sooner but as a young mom, you automatically trust the doctor when I should have trusted my gut instinct that had been telling me for a long time something was really wrong with my son. There is no cure for CF - the disease affects many parts of the body but it does the most damage to the lungs from repeated lung infections and most patients end up needing a lung transplant to live beyond their 30's. As a mom, I can only say trust your gut instinct because we wasted precious time with Nystrom when my son could have been getting treatment for CF. Nystrom may be good at other things but our experience was horrible and as an otolaryngologist, he should have known that polyps in a child that young is rare and is a red flag for cystic fibrosis. I wish you could give 0 stars!

He did not go over the risks regarding my nasal surgery. No follow-up after care. Made me feel like I was bothering him when I had problems arise from surgery. Ended up with a nasal rupture & had repaired by a different surgeon.