Dr. Hans Schmidt or Dr. Nicholas Bertha???

I had my lapRNY at Hackensack and used Dr Trevidi who is a partner of Dr Scmidt. They are all excellant physicians in the group. Their practice is very professional and well setup to help WLS pts. They also do hundreds of the procedures a year, are board certified and years of experience. They are the type of people you want doing your surgery. Good Luck

I want to thank everybody for their input!  It really means a lot to me!  I do believe I have chosen Dr. Schmidt.  I went to his seminar, spent a decent amount of time talking to him and absolutely loved him.  He made me feel really comfortable about the lap RNY rather than the open RNY and after discussing it with my husband we both agree that Dr. Schmidt is the surgeon for me.  I like him even better than Dr. Iannace and Capella (initally, they were the only surgeons I knew until I did a bit more research).  So again, thank you all for all your help. Dr. Schmidt also has wonderful things to say about Dr. Bertha and his office!  It's good to know surgeons don't sit around and trash one another.  But I did hear some not so great things about Capella and Iannace recently, so I guess this must have been fate!!! Surgery is still set to be scheduled for August 11th!!! Thanks again Danielle

I know people who have used both and were pleased, however...you need to make the decision based on your after care...how often do you see the doctor after surgery, which doctor will spend time with you and answer your questions and sincerely care about your progress, what are the support groups like and how well attended are they, how far do you have to travel, are you going to be treated like you are the only patient or are you just a #??? Is there a full time nutritionist on staff, is the practice a Center of Excellence, what is the track record of each doctor??? I met with 3 surgeons before making my decision...mine was based on the surgeon's post graduate education, experience, distance of the hospital and doctor's office, support group attendance and after care as well as the fact that my doctor has a full time nutritionist that could answer my emails and take my phone calls. There are other factors but I won't go into them here. Also, I had my husband meet the surgeon and he liked him very much. I made the right decision for me and you need to feel 100% comfortable with the doctor and with the practice. Good luck.

PS-forgot to add that I work with a man who used Dr. Schmidt and he is a total success story...has kept the weight off for over 2 years, he swears by Dr. Schmidt!

Sheri, Thank you so much for all your insight.  Those are a lot of the same factors that I have put in to my decision to go with Dr. Schmidt.   He spent almost an hour talking to me after the seminar was over.... he didn't try to rush me, he was very caring and thoughtful of my overall situation.  He has an excellent aftercare program as well with a f/t nutritionist.  So thank you for reiterating my reasonings for my choice.  It feels good!  Danielle

Great! I think you will be happy with your decision. Everyone has different reasons for choosing different doctors but it sounds like Dr. Schmidt will be a good choice for you...let us know how you progress.

I had my surgery on June 4th with Dr. Schmidt and he is highly respected in his field and a very nice man....He answered all questions that I had and took the time to explain to me everything in detail.....I would recommend that you use him.......Hackensack is generally a better hospital than St. Claire's.....I am taking nothing away from St. Claire's because they are good also.....I have had experiences in both hospitals with myself and relatives and have no complaints about either but i would go with Hackensack given a choice

Sammy, Thanks for you input!  I actually had already made my decision, and I did decide to go with Dr. Schmidt.  Main reason for picking  him over Dr. Bertha was the fact that he works out of Hackensack Hospital.  I agree with you, he is an incredible man.  He has bent over backwards to help me and he even gave me an appt 6 weeks earlier than the girls wanted to schedule me because I am already fully approved to have the surgery.  I meet with him again on July 3rd to finalize everything!!  I am very pleased with my decision and I'm glad to chat with someone else who has used him.  You don't see many people in OH that have used him.....wierd isn't it??? -Danielle