Cahaba Valley Surgical Group, PC Bariatric Center

June 24,2002

Had my appointment today at 3:00 at Dr.Stahls office..The nurse was very nice..I didn't have to wait long..They weighed me..(ugh)326 lbs..yuk!!Then she measured my height..I have shrunk an inch..Then I went in to talk to Dr.Stahl..He was younger than I thought..But he was very nice..He answered
all my questions..All though I had done so much research I already knew the answers..But I wanted to hear it from him..But all in all I liked him and I trust him..He was very streight forward and very truthful..He told me about the down side and the upside of the surgery..To me the good out weighes the bad..We'll that is all for right now!it is just a waiting period now..for insurance... updated later with mor info!!

I met Dr. Sherer when I went with Toni for 2 different procedures. He is very personable and reassuring. When I went to him for a consult for my own surgery, he took the time to answer all my questions, and made sure I heard directly from him what I could expect. I feel really good about him and his staff.

I went and seen Dr. Sherer. He was great. He talked at first then let me ask all the questions I wanted to. I think I'm really going to like him.

I have not met Dr. Sherer yet, but have heard good reports about him here. My boys pediatrician is also Dr. Sherer's kids pediatrician, he said Dr. Sherer was a real gentleman. I have my appt on June 13. I can't wait. I would do it tomorrow if I could! I have decided to change my appt to Dr. Stahl. After doing some further research, some things left me feeling uncomfortable. He did not come highly recommended, Dr. Stahl did. The only thing is my appt has been bumped back to August 13, I am on a cancellation list. I do not want to wait that long.
May 16!
My appt with Dr. Stahl got moved to June 7! It always helps to know people. I am so excited and I can't wait.
May 7
Had my appt today. Dr. Stahl was very nice. He explained a lot, but I knew a lot of it anyway from research and talking to people. His office is starting the approval process. I hope to be having surgery in about a month or so.
The office staff was very nice also. I went in there expecting a long wait, but I was called back in less than 15 minutes.

He was very nice and very caring. He was honest about everything including the downsides which I thought were minimal compared to what I was facing in the future. Even though he had people waiting because he was behind he still took time with me and never made me feel rushed. So far his staff has been very helpful and nMy first impression of him was very great he was very kind and understanding. Overtime I think my opinion has changed becuase he really pushes therapy before considering surgery failure. While I do not think I have a surgery failure (I made him check with an up gi to make sure) I really had to push to get this cleared up for my on mind sakes. The office often runs 2 hours behind so be prepared to wait. The aftercare program is non existance I am being treated by my PCP sorta the blind leading the blind but I am teaching her a few things. Overall he is a wonderful surgeon and I would reccomend him to any member of my family that was considering this or any other type of surgery.ice.

Dr. Sherer is a great doctor. He truly cares about his patients and understands the concerns they have. He is thorough in his explanation of the WLS. He has a great bed side manner.

Dr. Sherer was very informative. Explained in detail the risks involved. Professed to be a tool for God. Bed side manner was wonderful. I would recommend him to anyone.
You will need to ask your PCP for aftercare. I'm blessed with a wonderful PCP so Dr.Sherers's lack of aftercare is not an issue for me. Although if I were to have complications I know that Dr. Sherer would be there 100%. I would choose him over anyone.

My husband and I met with Dr. Sherer on March 21. We both were very impressed. He spent a good deal of time with us and was very happy to answer any questions we had. We both really like him. His office staff was very nice. We did have to wait for two hours to see him though. He was in surgery. I guess if I had been the one in surgery, I would have wanted others to be patient while they were waiting. Not much aftercare emphasized at the first meeting but I am supposed to meet with the office staff again on the date I have my pre-op visit to discuss aftercare. He was very open and straightforward about the risks of surgery.

Post-op: He was absolutely great. I feel I have had excellent care from Dr. Sherer. He spent a lot of time with me during my post-op visit and answered all my questions. I would definitely recommend him to anyone.

I really liked Dr. Stahl. He's the kind of doctor that gives you the sense that he's not just in it for the money. He lays out things good and bad, answers your questions. His office staff the day I was there, wasn't entirely friendly, upbeat, or anything that made an impression on me. Everyone just kinda looked at me, did their thing, went on their way. I was the only one in the waiting room. No one asked me any additional questions or went over my package information with me. I was told that they would send off my request to my insurance and to start calling after about a week.

My biggest complaint so far would be that it took 3 months to get in to see Dr. Stahl and nothing was done to further any insurance info or anything. Now, I'm faced with a checklist of things that I have to go back and do, the psychiatric eval, my primary doctor approval. So two more appointments that I've had to schedule and wait for, then to get these papers to Dr. Stahl's office for my insurance. I'm feeling lost in the shuffle right now and that I'm having to do all the work to get my surgery approved.

But all in all, I trust Dr. Stahl to do my surgery. I have a friend that has had open RNY and she liked Dr. Stahl also. As long as you trust your surgeon to give you all the info and to do the best job they can, then you'll be alright.

I had my consultation with Dr Sherer on April 12. I thought he was nice, he came in the room and started explaining to me first, about the seriousness of the surgery. He told me that I was twice as likely to die from gastric bypass than open heart surgery! He told me a lot of info, but didn't ask me if I had any questions. I had lots of questions, but I didn't get to ask many. He did spend a lot of time telling about the procedure but I had read so many books and learned so much online, that the questions that I had were specific questions regarding "his" way of doing things.He asked me did I want lap or open, I told him that I wanted whatever he thought was best. He said he would do the procedure,lap. But he also said if it was his wife, he would want her to get it open! That really confused me.

I am so glad that I have been reading other people's journals, so when I felt so "down" the next couple of days, I was not so surprised. It is gonna be a long wait for insurance approval. I am really kind of down but I guess that is expected. There is a lot on my mind. I am NOT going to let the loooong wait on insurance approval drive me crazy. I had planned on start to watch what I eat, exercise, tan, after I saw the docter, but I don't think so.I will wait til I get a date, then cut back on colas and such.