Dr Malik's not so scary!

After reading a lot of the posts here about Dr Malik I was very nervous about meeting with him this week... I was expecting a real jerk who was going to tell me it was obvious I wasn't trying very hard to lose weight and deny me surgery! 

Was I ever relieved to meet a kind, compassionate and funny man - I really like him!  He definitely isn't the type to coddle a patient, and he does dish the tough love, but I like that about him.  I think it's important for him to stress the dedication and hard work that's going to be required both before and after surgery.

Dr Malik told me that I was an "excellent candidate" for WLS - I could not be happier with my 1st appointment!  Now comes all the specialist appointments and testing.

Just wanted to share my experience with anyone going to see Dr Malik and hopefully quell some fears... he's not all bad ;)

Lisa.

Thank you. That definitly  helps calm my apprehention. I already had a apointment with Dr R that went well. If you do not mind me asking what is bmi and other health issues if you have any. I have to go back to meet Dr Malik now and would like to have an idea of what he thinks a good canidate might be and what I can expect. Thanks Again

On her page it says her bmi is 47. Now I am sooo confused. I was told that Dr.Malik would not do any surgeries over the bmi of 40. Would love to hear more about what she has to say..

Good to hear as I wait for an appointment with either him or Dr. Tang.  How long did you wait for your first appointment????

Hi all,

To answer your questions.. 

I haven't updated my profile in a while, my BMI is now actually 49.  Aside from some joint and back pain I don't have any other comorbidities. 

I think a few points that really helped me is that I've had some success in weigt loss before (I lost 25 lbs on Jenny Craig in 2005) - I've since gained that back and then some, but at least it shows that I can commit to a diet.  I have also been quite active - I've taken a couple months off because of knee pain - but from January to July I exercized at least 3 times a week for at least an hour at a time.

I waited about 3 months for my first appointment.
 

Thank you for sharing!
I've done all the testings for Dr R, and meet Dr M on Wed......:)

good luck bbwvixen with your appt on Wed. I'm sure things will all be ok. Its horrible to have anxiety about it all. Just be yourself and honest, thats what I found helped me out.

I'm glad your appointment went well.  I think mine didn't go so well because of the emergency surgery that got me bumped to the afternoon and then I was crammed in with other patients, so he literally had less than 5 minutes with me.  I'm assuming that next time we will both have more time and I will be able to have some of my questions answered. 

Several posts that I've read have made me feel better about seeing him again, so I thank you for posting!  It's made me realize even more that he was just having an off day the day he saw me....

Cynthia

Hi Cynthia,

I'm sure that's the reason for your bad appointment with Dr Malik... feeling rushed in such an important meeting must feel pretty terrible! 

Sending good thoughts your way for your next meeting with him :)

Lisa.

hi, I'm SO thrilled to hear your appt went went. I am due to go see him in a months time for my 1st follow up appt after surgery in June and was really getting to wonder about all the things said about him.

I sure being a surgeon of his type, he has to be dedicated and be sure people really are serious and to let you know just because you have surgery, doesn't mean its all fixed. Its allot of hard work and dedication AFTER surgery, so if you can get on track before your surgery then it will help you out allot.

Thanks for the post! Good luck and hope you get through all your appts soon so you can get your surgery done soon.

take care and all the best!