Question about St Francis/Dr Mandelbaum

Hi all. I lurk here quite a bit but am not much of a poster. I finally got the go ahead to start seeing the surgeon after 4 months of my 6 mth supervised diet. I sent all of my info into the weight loss center at St Francis. The website says it takes around 5 business days to get back to me. Does anyone have any experience with my doctor and can maybe tell me how the process goes.

Also I have noticed that there are very few people from St Francis and tons from St Vincent on here. Is there a reason for the big difference?

i have been to st f and had dr clark....stv has alot more drs and do alot more surgeries is one thing...st f only has the 2 that do surgery....but now i will and can say dr clark rocks in my book

Welcome out of Lurkdom...
Lots of St. V's Patience because they have alot of dr's. I am a clarian chic. lol Love Clarian. They Rock and we have a pretty size group, too. Good luck with your journey and if you stick with the boards you can get alot of support and strength from us on here.Feel free to post anytime and we have alot of gatherings and get togethers that we just throw together.....
Shanna

Hello, Ayreka~

As you can see, I'm a St. V's patient, but if my memory serves me correct, Jeannie has your surgeon.  I believe her experience was very positive, but I'm sure she or someone else can fill you in on the details. 
I can't speak for everyone else, but I went with St. V's for a number of reasons.  One of them being that i stumbled onto them first.    Seriously though, when I went for the initial consultation, I felt very comfortable with Dr. Gupta and knew I wanted her to be my surgeon from the getgo.  My husband was my tagalong and he also agreed with my assessment--like that ever happens!    As for Dr. Gupta, she was very informative and I believed I would be in capable hands.  Even though I was certain about my decision, I like you, asked others on this site for feedback.  There were so many people who confirmed what I already believed.  It may be different for everyone, but this is what worked for me. 
I am sure St. Francis is a great place to go.  It almost seems like they are a center of excellence as well, but I really don't know.  I'm sure someone can correct me if I am wrong.  :)  
Good luck on your journey! 

Melissa is right I did have Dr Mandelbaum as my surgeon.  Love Love Love him!!!!!   You will not be sorry for choosing him, he is very kind and compassionate.  I had a reaction to the pain meds after surgery and Dr Mandelbaum was there in just a matter of a few minutes to check on me in the middle of the night.  He is sort of a quiet fellow which is ok with me because I am quiet myself.  His office staff will answer any questions very quickly.  The nutritionists are available to take calls during business hours and normally you don't wait for a call back.  You will be assigned a nurse who is also available to you during business hours for any medical questions you may have. 

St Francis is a center of excellence and is the only option available to me.  When I first started looking into surgery St V's was an option but that has since changed, have no idea why. 

I would be happy to walk you through the process just let me know any questions you have.  The first step will be a day long appointment when you meet with the nurses, nutritionists and Dr M.  He is called Dr Jon around St F because his brother David is also a surgeon. 

Anyway I could spend hours bragging Dr M up lol.

Jeannie