Abbott Northwestern Hospital Bariatric Center

I just meet my surgeoun yesterday (8/13/02). He came highly recomended from two of my doctors. The staff at his office are great (especially Judy and Christa). They have you go to a class before even signing up to get the processing going to have the surgery.
Future patients: see if you can get Judy to bring either surgeones to the class (Drew/Schwartz).
After care: the doctor sees you 3 weeks after the surgery and then every 3 months for a year. I think this is nice and I know my other doctors will be incontact with me.
Address risk of surgery: He addressed them very well and was very open to answer any questions my husband and I had.

4/3/01
I haven't met with the surgeon yet. Went to the informational meeting and was quite impressed with the representation of the clinic.

10/3/01
Have an appointment to meet the surgeon on 12/20. Not having met him yet, I cannot speak to my impression. However, if the way his office is run is any clue, I'm sure he'll be great! His office staff is supportive, understanding, and right on top of things!

2/2/02
I met with my surgeon on 1/4/02 for the first time. He was very reassuring. He took his time to answer my questions, and he was very down to earth. I have faith in him and am looking forward to my surgery.

2/18/02
I am post op now, and considering there weren't any complications, I would say Dr. Schwartz is wonderful. He came by to visit each day in the hospital. He's very matter of fact and to the point which is fine with me.

7/8/02
For all of my follow up visits I've been seeing my surgeons PA. She is great and very helpful. They are very open that if I ever feel I need to talk to or see my surgeon instead that that's fine. I love this Dr.'s office.

I met with Dr. Drew for the first time today. I found him to be very calm and supportive. He answered all of my questions as well as going over all of the risks and benefits of the surgery. He confirmed that I was definitely a candidate for the lap procedure which was reassuring. The office staff was very pleasant and the office itself felt very comfortable to me. My surgery date is May 9 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

Saw him briefly before my surgery and he came to see me the next morning and wrote discharge orders etc. I saw his PA for my three week post op and I will do all of my follow up care with her.

I would recommend Dr. Drew to anyone comtemplating lap surgery.

I have my consult with Dr. Drew on June 18th. Will find out more then!

6/25/02
Well, I have met with Dr. Drew and he seems like a very nice man. His office is extremely busy and we had to wait an extra 2 hours to see him! Now, I will be #4 in his list of placing lap bands, but after meeting and talking with him I feel he is very capable of the surgery. He is very interested in keeping up with the aftercare as well. Expect to wait a while to see him, he's a busy guy!!!

My meeting with Dr. Drew was very good. He made sure I knew just what I was in for. He took the time to answer all my questions. even the ones on the touchy subject of deaths. When we were going over the risks he made sure I understood. He spoke to me like a person.
The staff is wonderful. I have loved being able to call Judy Schwarts(nurse) with any and all questions. She has been incharge of my case from day one and has kept me posted on things that need to be done.

Have seen him a few times now (had a few problems) and he is the kindest most concerned doctor that I have ever had. I HIGHLY recommend him to anyone.

Nice man took his time to answer all my questions. Was VERY busy but honest.

The office staff is great.
He'll be the first to follow up with me and then I'll be moved to someone else in the office for aftercare.

Reminds me that surgery is a tool and I've got to do the rest of the work.

I met Dr. Schwartz for the first time last week.
My first impressions of him were that he was a busy,
busy person. He did a short exam and then sat with me
while I asked my many questions. He was patient and
didn't make me feel that he was in a hurry. We also
have both adopted children and were able to "bond"
as we spoke about our experiences with adoption as well.
He was lighthearted and yet, quick to remind me
that this was/is a serious surgery. The one thing that I
can away with was that he would do everything is his
power to make this sucessful for me.
His aftercare doesn't seem too structured. He
has a certain timeline for patients to follow regarding
office visits. He also was firm about seeing
his patients for their life time.
His office staff has been wonderful! Judy Schwartz, RN;
is his wife. She did the orientation session that I
attended and then handled all of my insurance
paperwork for me. She also spent time on the
phone with my discussing my sugery options, and
addressing questions that I had. I also have
appreciated Christa. She handles the scheduling for the
office and has always returned my calls promptly.

I have not met the Surgeon yet. I attended a very informative session held by the partners head nurse, Judy. What a wonderful representative! I was planning on doing self-pay, but armed with new information, I am going to fight my insurance company! Good luck to everyone on their individual journey to a healthy future!<br><br>Update: Had my surgical consult on 12/13/01. Dr Schwartz was nice. His opening statement was "we are not doing this surgery to make you beautiful, you are already beautiful!"...I could not help thinking..."I bet you tell all the girls that!"...it was a bit cheesy, but I choose to think he was sincere. I really am not chasing beauty, but better health! Dr. Schwartz has allot of experience doing these surgeries...so I am trusting him to get a good nights sleep and do a great job on mine!<br><BR>
Update: Post Op. Dr. Schwartz was terrific! He inspires trust with his attitude and demeanor. I was so calm as I waited for surgery. He was fantastic the day after surgery when he came to visit. I am very happy with him and the whole experience!<br>Update 3/6/02 I saw the Surgeon's PA Kelly. I was impressed with her knowledge. She was great. I like the office staff and the support from them.

He is a good surgeon, but a very busy one. You don't spend much time with him. He did a great job on my laporoscopic surgery. The scars are healing well and hardly even noticable. His staff is friendly and helpful. I liked least his attitude toward doing the surgery without using blood, but I was grateful that he was willing to do it my way. The thing I think you should know is that you will not see very much of him. He has an assistant that you see who is very nice. You are also responsible for your own care after surgery. YOU have to remember to make the appointments that you need with the doctor. Over all I am pleased, I just need a better memory for my appointments (and medicines.)

I hve my consultation with him on March 22, 2002