umass Dr's

Has anyone had their surgery done at umass university campus Worcester? I'm going to have mine done there and I'm nervous. Just wondering what surgeon you had and if you had a good experience with your surgeon? Thanks, Amy

I had my surgery there with Dr. Kelly. He's an excellent surgeon and trained all the other surgeons doing surgery there now, so far as I know. I found him to be extremely knowlegeable and kind when we met pre-surgically. He was terrific while I was in the hospital as well. My only disappointment with him is that I have not seen him in an official capacity since the day I left the hospital. I bumped into him in the hallway once when I was visiting another surgical patient in the hospital , but that's it. My follow up appts have been handled either by the nurse practioner Robin, who is tremendous, or one of his surgical fellows. The fellows are also wonderful, but I have been disappointed that I haven't seen Kelly himself. Would be nice to hear how the surgery went from him and get to tell him thank you. As for the other surgeons, I have not heard a bad thing about any of them. You can try going to the post-op support group meetings once a month and ask around there about what people have felt about different surgeons, or try the yahoo group for UMass patients. Good luck. Mary Ellen

Oh, one other thing. Not all the surgeons use the University campus. Last I heard, Dr. Kelly and Dr. Czerniach were operating only out of Memorial Campus, which are just down Rt. 9 from university campus.

HI Amy, I don't have any experience with Umass Worcester......I just wanted to wish you well with your surgery and to say welcome!

Thank you for the support. I'm pretty scared. I guess that's normal though. I wont be having surgery until around January probably. So I've got plenty of time to face my fears. Take care, Amy

Hi Amy, I had Doctor Czerniach perform my surgery. He is awsome at what he does. Very caring and gentle. Very good bedside manner. and on top of all that he is gorgeous!! Both Dr. Kelley and Dr. Czerniach perform their surgeries at the other Umass hospital. All your appts. will be at University Campus, but the perform their surgeries at Memorial campus which is down the road a bit. It's a smaller hospital and alot quieter, that's why i actually chose the hospital first, then once i knew which docs did their surgeries there i chose the doc. The only Doc that does his surgeries at University campus, is Doc. Perugini. He is also one of Dr. Kelley's past students. I think highly of th whole Umass weight center staff and wish you the best of luck !! Niesha Johnson 285/278/251/165 .............^........

Hi Amy I had my surgery on dec 1 2003 by Dr Kelly.He is the best and you would be lucky if he was your doctor..........good luck steve

Hi Amy, I am still pre-op, but I had my surgical consult with Dr. Czerniach a couple of weeks ago, he was kind, caring and patient. I have heard many good things about him. I feel confident with my choice. I was also scared out of mind when I started the whole process and now I am only occassionally panicked. Best of luck to you - Tina

Just in case you're interested, here's the address for the UMass WLS yahoo group. Folks there can answer just about any question you might have about the program, surgeons, etc. Good luck! http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/friends_of_WBSSG/ Mary Ellen