Dr. Ki Oh

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Dr. Oh
He's been great with me, but I worked 30 yrs as a nurse in a big teaching hospital, so was used to poor bedside manners.
He's the best surgeon in our area. He's just not a warm/fuzzy type guy at times.
When you work with surgeons and other Drs., you see what their day is like. It's hectic and stressful. Should that make them treat a patient bedside poorly? No, it shouldn't.
Once you really get to know him, give him a smile first he's actually a pleasant guy.
He does want you to follow his quidelines for surgery tho., and can be quite blunt when asked questions. It's best to ask Tina, or another office member, they've all had GBS and are great resources.
My followup is with Dr. Harai and he's very personable.
Hope your next visit with him is better.
Take care,
Kathy

Tina no longer works for Dr. OH . Things changed at his office , as far as staffing goes , when Fransiscan Network took over .

I have a friend whose sister got her lap-band from Dr. Oh. My friend also has a lap-band, but she lived in Monroe at the time, so saw a doctor in Everett. Anyway, I asked my friend how her sister liked Dr. Oh, and her comment was, (this is a quote): "He is an asshole. If he gets mad, he will throw things and yell at his patients. My sister has stalled in her weight loss, and has gained back 8 pounds. She is afraid to go see him for a fill because she has gained weight, and she knows he will be mad."

So needless to say, I was not the least bit surprised by your post. This is not the first time I have heard that he throws things. Sorry, but I don't care how good of a surgeon he is. I would never allow anyone to treat me that way. There are plenty of excellent surgeons who will treat you with respect.

Dr. Oh is not known for his bedside manner . But , is an excellent surgeon .When I had actually gained 2 pounds at my second meeting with him , he got a little irritated . He wasn't nasty or snarky . I had an open Medial bypass . I was self pay & complications would have been financially devastating for me . Not to mention to my health , of course . I had zero complications . He was kind & personable in the hospital .  I have heard of this behavior before . I am really sorry you went through this . My post op check ups with Dr. Oh were more relaxed . My take on his behavior/attitude is that part of it is his perfectionism & part culture . I see see Dr. Hirai (his partner) for my check ups . He has a very good bedside manner . If you absolutely won't go back to Dr. Oh , I would consider Dr. Srikanth . He is known to be an excellent surgeon , with a great bedside manner . He also operates out of St. Francis .

When I went to my first appt with Dr. Oh, he was extremely late as well.   A little over an hour late.  But the other patients in the lobby were very friendly and we passed the time talking.  I've only seen him a couple of times so haven't really noticed his bedside manner.  He is straight and to the point.  No idle chit chat with him!  I've heard he's good at what he does though.  Sorry you had to go through that.

I echo what others have said - so sorry to hear you had such a negative experience.  I know Dr. Oh doesn't have the best bedside manner, but I was very glad I chose him for my surgeon.  He did an excellent job and I have no complaints.  As Kathy (pinkflamingoes) said, his partner, Dr. Hirai, is much more personable and he is who I see for my follow up visits.  No matter what you choose or which surgeon you decide on, I wish you all the best on this journey!  Take care...

Ouch.  I am very sorry that you had a negative experience with Dr Oh.  My experience with him is just the opposite.  I had been told that he was different in his office then he is in his seminars (he is really quite funny in his seminars) but I also knew that he was a great surgeon and I wanted to stack the odds in my favor so I went to him.  I have nothing but great words for him and I reccomend him to everyone that asks me about the surgery.  He is not a warm and fuzzy hand holding kind of Dr but he is professional and warm and he does show his sense of humor to me in the office.  Dr Hirai is a lot more personable and I am comfortable with either Dr. 

Having said that, I would not hesitate to talk to the advocate about that sort of behavior if I experienced it.  I think patients opinions do matter to St Francis and Dr Oh is an employee of St Francis.

I had my lap bad with Dr. Oh June 12.  He makes me nervous, but makes me want to follow his directions!  I want success, just like he wants success for me.  He has high success rates because he does expect for you to follow what he says.  I don't know about you, but I am in this predictament (needing surgery) because I didn't follow rules in my past weight loss attempts.  Going to the lengths to have surgery is a big committment.  I heard someone say once regarding Dr. Oh, that they weren't looking for a best friend, they have one.  But, they were looking for an excellent surgeon that had excellent results.  That is Dr. Oh.  Yes, he scares me, but trust me, it makes me not want to upset him and to have good results.  It is definitely a motivator!!  He is an excellent Doctor, and is very friendly, but not the hand-holding sort.  He expects to haveyou listen to him and follow his rules.  His rules are stricter than most, but it works!, He is also very to the point.  And again, I wasn't looking for a best friend!  I have brought my mother and my husband in with me, and they both really like him.  He just really wants for us, his patients, to be successful.

OK, well i have been investigating surgeons and surgeries becuase i am in the market. I really would love to have the Dr. Heap procedure (he is in eastern wa), its really quite medically sound (i dare say it might be gold standard someday). I know personally SEVERAL people who have had it done and they are exermely successful. That said, he doesnt accept insurance, its self pay and its 20K...so thats on hold for me for now becuase my insurance does cover WLS. ANYWAY, i know some people at ST FRancis and was told that Dr. Srikanths bedside manner was great and Dr. Oh's was awful BUT that his technical skills surpass taht of srikanth. So for me, the skill surpasses the personality. So, yes Oh probably isnt the nicest and yes Srikanth does DS but you really need to keep looking and asking.
Best of luck!

Dr. Oh will do the DS , too . He just hasn't done that many . What is the Dr. Heap procedure ? I've never heard of it . I'm intrigued . If a person is self pay , that's not a bad price . My open Medial RNY was $ 24,500.00 . It would have been about $ 26,000.00 for Lap RNY . Yes, open was cheaper, & you stay an extra day in the hospital  . It's easier for the surgeon to do open .