"FACTS:
***revision from sleeve to duodenal switch request***
Initial Dr. visit approved request
5 months wait for insurance denial
botched insurance submittal by office administration
Dr. never ordered necessary tests for the insurance to approve
office staff rarely followed up on phone call requests for information and status updates
Filed complaint with Director of the Program
Dr. Schweitzer relayed to me via the Director that he was "sorry" for not ordering the right tests and feel free to take my business elsewhere."
"This surgeon didn't show me before and after pictures at the consultation and pushed a tummy tuck on me. When I said no to the tummy tuck after the insurance had already approved the panniculectomy procedure she declined to do it on me if I only had that done. You can put two and two together on that one. She wasted my time; luckily I have found someone to put the insurance approval to good use but I would not recommend this surgeon to anyone."
"These are my opinions and my opinions only. My first impression of Dr. Gandsas was his youthful appearance. I thought how much experience could this man have?? I had quite a bit to learn. My cardiologist recommended him because his secretary underwent the gastric bypass operation and lost over 100 lbs. He sung Dr. Gandsas' praises and pushed and pushed me to do it too. He pushed me for about two years! Over about 4 months and only twice meeting with Dr. Gandsas my impression only slightly changed. I still thought he looked too young but he was confident; very confident in his ability and likable in his personality to me. His visits in the hospital were pretty quick and factual so his bedside manner didn't leave me with any warm fuzzy but again he appeared confident. I am glad he was because I wasn't.rnrnThe office staff was pretty nice. There were a few that could have been a little nicer and not so quick to speak. In other words their listening abilities might need a little work. Again this is my experience only. The ones that were nice though were not just nice but wonderful! They listened, they offerd help, they made me feel comfortable. I clung to them. Most of the team had undergone some type of weightloss surgery.rnrnI guess I least liked the way he made me feel like part of a production line product. That might sound harsh but that is how I felt. I didn't feel like an individual with feelings but a product amongst a million other products that needed to be shoved through the process. Yep that is how I felt. It could have been so much worse I am sure. rnrnI guess future patients should know as much as possible about him. They should research him completely and be ok with a non feeling type approach. He is quick, confident, knowledgable, and I believe thorough. rnrnAftercare is a given. They want you back at one month, three months, six months, nice months and one year to talk about your blood work at each interval. They check every vitamin your body uses. This is good stuff here.rnrnHis team addressed the risks of surgery and they did it by addressing questions in the seminars and in the nutrition classes that were required components of the surgery. He went over it with me very briefly right at the pre op appt two days prior to my surgery. He wrote down his statistics on a piece of paper and said there ya go. It was factual but again I got a kinda of cold feeling from it.rnrnI rate him pretty high based on his confidence level. His surgical competence, in my humble opinion, is probably better than his bedside manner. I am very happy with the surgery overall and I took responsibility for the risks associated with it based on the research I had done prior to the surgery itself. I knew I couldn't hold him responsible if something went wrong. Following all of the rules was priceless to me. My life, afterall, was on the line."
"The nurses were knowledgable. The place was a little dirty though. The nurses were very accomodating. The fact that a lady having the VSG the same day as me didn't have a room to go into Post Op was distressing. i watched her go through emotional upheaval because of this. That was pretty bad."
