Question:
Any of Dr. Champion's patients out there?

My husband and I are self-pay and have been researching various surgeons. We are greatly interested in Dr. Champion due to the fact that he seems experienced in laparoscopic procedures on patients 550+ lbs. I'm about 385lbs, and my husband is about 500lbs. We are seeking the good and bad about this surgeon before finalizing our decision to have him do our surgeries. We live across the country, so any info regarding him and his practice would be appreciated.    — [Deactivated Member] (posted on November 13, 2002)

November 13, 2002
Danyel, five of us in our family have now had lap RNY surgery with Dr. Champion. Our weights ranged from 275 - 406 and we are 7-34 months post-op. Our co-morbidities ranged from none-at-all to all-over-the-place, and those of us with the co-morbidities now have none-at-all. Each of our surgeries and post-op courses were completely problem-free.....two-day hospitalizations, no ICU, no tubes/drains/sutures/staples, and back to work full-time in 8-14 days. As a critical-care RN, I researched surgeons for over three months before my younger daughter and I jumped in to be the first in our family to have the surgery. Dr. Champion is one of the pioneers in the field of laparascopic WLS, internationally renowned by his peers, routinely performs lap WLS on patients 500+ lbs., and has performed over 1400 surgeries with only 2 post-op mortalities which were not directly related to the surgery....statistically, that blows the 1 in 200 mortality rate for WLS right out of the water. He has some equally well-renowned peers....Drs. Schauer in Virginia, and Dr. Wittgrove in CA, but he was the closest in that group of "pioneers" to us in NC. I have friends as far away as Alaska who have taken advantage of his expertise, and patients fly in from all over the US and Canada for his care. His patients feel that he is a truly exquisite surgeon and human being who genuinely understands and cares about the morbidly obese patient and the problems that we have faced throughout our lives. I have absolutely no "negatives" to report....on a scale of 1-10, he's off the scale :-) Please feel free to write me privately if you would like further [email protected]. Best wishes!
   — Diana T.

November 13, 2002
DITTO!! There is nothing bad you can say about Dr. C. He is off the charts! You will always be thankful you chose him.
   — Jill B.

November 19, 2002
Danyel, I am a patient of Dr. Champion & Dr. Williams' office, ditto to all that have replied here. Diana Thompson was my angel. She and others gave me much needed information about Dr. Champion, who now has a new colleague, Dr. Michael D. Williams. This professional gentleman is indeed, "off the charts" and knows what he is doing...Highly skilled is putting it mildly. Diana has said it all and then some. No matter where you live in the United States~ in this region, he is the BEST. Go to his website: www.drchampion.com. I KNOW that he has patients who have travelled from as far as Belgium, Russia, Alaska and other places to have him to do their surgery. Laparoscopic RNY is the way to go!!Best wishes in your search, but I KNOW you will be most pleased with Dr. Champion and/or his colleague. Speak candidly with one of the nurses and perhaps order the application packet. As with ANY surgery, there is good and bad, however, Dr. Champion is ESPECIALLY skilled with those patients that are more obese than others. Additionally, there is housing readily available close by the hospital that is relatively inexpensive. I am/was considered a "lightweight", but had multiple co-morbs (see my profile). I believe you will be quite pleased with Dr. Champion or his partner though. Hope this helps your decision.
   — yourdivaness