Wouldn't it be great if bariatric surgeons all had to have bariatric surgery themselves before they practiced?

I must be the exception. I had a 6 month requirement with monthly appointments and my surgeon was there for my 1st, 3rd and pre-op. His bedside manner was fantastic and he set the tone for his entire team. His PA, nurses, nutritionists and office people were amazing!! He was amazing to my family the day of surgery as well! Sorry for those who had a bad experience:(

My surgeon, Dr. Oliver Whipple was awesome from the day I met him. I don't have enough words to explain how nice this man was and how comfortable he made me the entire time of this journey.... He met with me a few days before surgery, after surgery he spoke directly to my family, after surgery he came to my hospital room each day, my check ups afterwards he was just as awesome... My entire experience was great.

19 hours ago, orionburn said:

I'd rather they all freaking agree on some basic things like pre-op diet guidelines and post-op diets for the first 8 weeks.

I agree. I would prefer that the surgeons agree on what will happen during the pre-op diets. I get so confused as to how there are a thousand different diets yet the full liquid diet is the one that you hear about the most. I just would like for them to call an international conference and say, "Hey, we may need to figure out this liquid diet and how it will work. Should we torture our patients with the liquid diet or could we a little nice and allow them to eat some food at least one meal." I think they enjoy watching the torment.

19 hours ago, blizair09 said:

My surgeon showed up 3 hours late to the hospital with no explanation and no apology. (This after they called me 3 different times the day before the surgery to change the time I should arrive at the hospital.) I was the last surgery, so we waited for hours and hours in the waiting room. When I finally did get to go, he never spoke to me or my family. After it was over, he talked to mom on the phone because he wanted to leave (meaning that my dad and my parnter had to get information secondhand). He didn't go out and speak to them in person as he had done with every other patient's family all day. And, to top it off, when my mom (a sleeve patient herself) asked some questions, he was condescending and rude to her.

He is an incredible surgeon, but, based on that experience, he is not a great person.

I think your surgeon like most surgeons have a god complex. It is like, I have your life in my hands and therefore I control what can and cannot happen. They know that we cannot go to another place because our insurance will only cover so much lab work and no one ever wants to start over in this process. He sounds like a serious douche bag as well. The very first surgeon I saw in NYC, was a complete ass. He was like you are too young, you are being lazy and I do not work on people your age. You millennials need to stop whining and lose weight the right way. I left with my mouth wide open and shocked that I was spoken to in that way. I was like the fuck!!!

My nurse was 6 months post op from sleeve and gave me a very realistic post op life view.

I think the biggest asset to every patient would be a live swallow test.

I was able to watch my sleeve work live on screen for my swallow test. I understand th3 exact size, shape and how it works. Seeing liquids instantly pass through was a tremendous help. It helped me understand how sliders work, in addition to just having greater knowledge about my body.

All programs are not created the same. I'm glad I picked a good program and a good Dr. I am beyond thrilled at my results.

4 hours ago, Thejeweledsleeve said:

I agree. I would prefer that the surgeons agree on what will happen during the pre-op diets. I get so confused as to how there are a thousand different diets yet the full liquid diet is the one that you hear about the most. I just would like for them to call an international conference and say, "Hey, we may need to figure out this liquid diet and how it will work. Should we torture our patients with the liquid diet or could we a little nice and allow them to eat some food at least one meal." I think they enjoy watching the torment.

I think your surgeon like most surgeons have a god complex. It is like, I have your life in my hands and therefore I control what can and cannot happen. They know that we cannot go to another place because our insurance will only cover so much lab work and no one ever wants to start over in this process. He sounds like a serious douche bag as well. The very first surgeon I saw in NYC, was a complete ass. He was like you are too young, you are being lazy and I do not work on people your age. You millennials need to stop whining and lose weight the right way. I left with my mouth wide open and shocked that I was spoken to in that way. I was like the fuck!!!

Even though he was rude, he did you a favor. You don't want someone with bad energy that isn't feeling positive about you touching you.

If more people were honest about how they felt, we could avoid them and life would be easier. I rather someone be straight than shady.

Edited March 25, 20179 yr by OutsideMatchInside

Well, my Surgeon had no personality!! Good Surgeon but not good with follow up. I had my RNY July 2, 2013. My hubby had the same DR and was getting a Lap Band removed and gallbladder then be revised to a RNY. Well, the Band had eroded into his liver so he made a judgemet and backed oout. But...said that in 3 months he wuld do his WLS. He got abcesses and almost died!! He was so sick for 10 months and 3 monthsn he doesn't even remember. Do you know what that SOB did? He dropped him right in the middle of all of that. Finall, after all of this our PCP said, This has gone on to long!!! I am calling your Surgeon!! Of course I said NO!! I could just see the Surgeon hurting him (he used his scissors ith no Lidocain he shoved it into his open wound!! Because I had Strictures (scar tissue) I had 5 endoscopes with 4 diaations. So do you want to know what that SOB called us? He called us PROBLEM KIDS!! I fired him and went to another Bariatric Center. If you are not happy ith your Surgeon you can find someone to help you. I was told that no DR's want to clean up after another DR. I transfered my records and was done with him. I can not believe the HELL we went thru with him. Before we fired him we told them that we idn't want to see him again we would just see the PA there. So many others have ved him, he thought we were going to sue him over my hubby. He had 5 bacterias and I could see his intestines. Never fee like you are stuck with a DR. If you aren't happy call around and get someone else. Our lesson was learned the HARD WAY!! Good Luck

I went with Dr. Richard Nguyen at Lifestyle Bariatric in San Jose. His bedside manner is great. His staff worked with us for months as we fought for insurance approval. The only flaw was it took hours for discharge because of his busy schedule. For most it wouldn't be a big deal but we had a 4 hour drive.

I don't think that the surgeons need to have been through bariatric surgery but they do need to treat us with respect and dignity.

We stopped by the hospital where we had surgery to check in with our bariatric nurse. Our program gives us access to her for 2 years post surgery. Good Samaritan has an section just for bariatric patients. The nurses were so happy to see us. They help all the patients post surgery but never get to see the successes. If you had a good relationship with your nurse, you should stop by and show off your success.

@QueenofTheTamazon we have the same surgeon [emoji5]. The day of my discharge I had to wait around 1hr bc he was in surgery. I like him, and I like Marissa she's awsome.

On 3/24/2017 at 0:34 PM, Navigating the Wilderness said:

Wouldn't it be great if bariatric surgeons all had to have bariatric surgery themselves before they practiced?

My surgeon had Lapland close to 20 years ago, as did his PA. Very helpful - and inspiring!

On 3/26/2017 at 9:21 AM, QueenOfTheTamazons said:

I went with Dr. Richard Nguyen at Lifestyle Bariatric in San Jose. His bedside manner is great. His staff worked with us for months as we fought for insurance approval. The only flaw was it took hours for discharge because of his busy schedule. For most it wouldn't be a big deal but we had a 4 hour drive.

I don't think that the surgeons need to have been through bariatric surgery but they do need to treat us with respect and dignity.

We stopped by the hospital where we had surgery to check in with our bariatric nurse. Our program gives us access to her for 2 years post surgery. Good Samaritan has an section just for bariatric patients. The nurses were so happy to see us. They help all the patients post surgery but never get to see the successes. If you had a good relationship with your nurse, you should stop by and show off your success.

Dayum right at good Samaritan.. I used to drive by that every day for years.