DR. MALIK

I had an appointment with Dr. Rusnak for October, but they called me to say he is retiring (I knew that from this Board), and that they want me to come in September to see Dr. Malik.

Has anyone seen him yet?  If so, what did you think?

I tried googling him, but can't find anything. 

Thanks!

C

Apparently Dr. Malik has just arrived from Ontario where he was also a surgeon.  He was hand selected by Rusnak to replace him.  His name is Dr. Samaad Malik.  Kara says that he is a nice man and not hard on the eyes.  He is married and has children.  I have yet to meet him and hope that I will before having surgery with him sometime in the near future.  I believe that I will likely be scheduled for December or thereabouts.  I have done some searching as well and can only find bits and pieces.  It appears that he may have been a teacher or research professor at a university in Saskatchewan.  I am not totally sure on that yet, but I can't imagine that his name is all that common!  So, now you know what we know! 

I'm going to meet him on August 12th...I'll let you know more afterwards.

Well, I was not too impressed with Dr. Malik...but here is why...


I have been going through this process with Dr. Rusnak since May...I have had all of the testing done, and was told that I was all set for surgery, but because Dr. Rusnak was retiring, the new surgeon would take over my surgery...then I met Dr. Malik, and he has a lot of other criteria...Dr. Rusnak asked me to build some muscle for surgery, so I in turn lost 25 pounds in less then 2 months...but have plateued...he was more then happy with that progress.  Dr. Malik has decided that I now need to have a BMI of under 50, otherwise he won't even consider me for surgery, which means I need to lose another 50 lbs.  He is doing the scope, as well as sending me to a psychiatrist, and sending me for a stomach ultrasound, etc...then he wants to see me every 3 months until I lose the wieght.

What bothers me about this is that I don't even think he looked at my file...And the endocrinologist has told me that with my hormone levels it's going to be a loooong time before I'm able to take off the extra 50 lbs.

I know he is just trying to cover his bases, and check out everything, but as someone who was ready for surgery, and has other issues that prevent me from getting the right kinds of excersize, it was a really awful visit for me.  I will continue to jump through the hoops, and work hard, but I am just so disappointed.

Aside from that, his bedside manner was alright, he seems to really know a lot about surgery, and he wasn't hard to look at, he just gave me news that was 10x worse then I was hoping for...that's all...If you are just starting out with him, I think you will have a much better experience.

I've been hearing this type of response from other people regarding Dr Malik. Lisa was telling us about you, and on the boards, a woman had a stroke and was told to loose more weight too.

It just makes me want to scream! Doesn't he think that if it was that darn easy, WE'D DO IT?
We're with him for maybe twenty minutes, but what about the tests, specialists and all the appointments with Dr Rusnak that we spent up to years doing? Doesn't that count for anything???

I see him on the 30th of this month,and am going to totally freak if he tries this stuff with me. I've been waiting 3+ years and have jumped through every hoop they've asked me to. This is OUR RIGHT! to have the surgery!

I am scheduled to have a VSG with Dr. Malik in Nov 2012.  I am posting this in case anyone reads these old posts.   Dr. Malik is an excellent surgeon.  I know.. I am an OR nurse and work with him, and I have decided to be his patient as well.   He does have tough criteria because he wants you to have the best result possible.  If you are not interested in doing the work involved, then you best just pay and go to Mexico.  You will not have a good result if you are not willing to put in the time and effort. 
Samaad Malik is an excellent surgeon.  He is young and vibrant and very skilled.  He is willing to spend his time and effort on you.. why aren't you willing to do the same?

Thank you so much for sharing in my frustration...it makes me so mad...what bothers me even more is that I was able to get Dr. Rusnak to fill out the Out of Country form but now they want Dr. Malik's opinion before approving or denying me...and I know exactly how he feels about me...that I can lose more weight on my own, and that he'll give me surgery but I need to lose 50 pounds first...and you know MSP will jump on that as a reason to say no.  ARGH!  It's just SO frustrating...