Center for Laparoscopic Surgery Bariatric Center
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- My first impression of Dr Rutledge was how truly concerned he was about his patients.rn-My impression did not change other than to intensify. He is a very caring down to earth individual.rn- His staff made every effort to help with any problem you may have.rn- Dr Rutledge let you know when you were asking a dumb question. He answered it, but he let you know.rn- His experience with weight loss is bar none the best and his track record is without question impeccable. rn- You must have after care contact with either him or if you live too far away with your own physician set up before you even have surgery.rn-There is always his personal phone number and his staff available to contact. You have monthly updates to send in and visits to check on your bloodwork.rn-There is not a structured aftercare plan but it is all layed out for you what you should be doing.rn-There is a huge patient manual that must be read and many steps such as a patient letter and former patient contacts that show that you understand the risks of his surgery (MGB) and other forms such as the Roux-n-y. Pros and cons were shown with all.rn-He is an excellent physician and surgeon and a wonderful human being.rn-Dr Rutledge has both the surgical competence and bedside manner.rnI would never have surgery with anyone else and would reccommend him highly. I would not have done the Roux-n-y.rnrnrn
Dr. Robert Rutledge, is currently practicing in Las Vegas, Nevada, NC. He is one of the nicest, caring and most professional surgeons you will ever meet. Before having surgery with him, he has devised a complete learning process that allows the patient to be fully educated and aware of all the necessary information regarding the procedure as well as pre-op and post-op guidelines. He has a website at: www.clos.net. This site is full of helpful information. Currently he is training other surgeons and opening offices all over the US.
I would highly recommend him for this procedure.
Dr. Rutledge is a gifted and talented surgeon. He is kind and really understands the obese patient. He is a pioneer and has saved my life. He is currently operating in Las Vegas, not Joplin MO.
There is some contraversy about his procedure the Mini-gastric bypass. In my opinon and those of hundreds of his patients, and our PCPs who have nothing to gain by supporting or not supporting the MGB, it is a desirable surgery. Many surgeons object because the procedure costs less and is "new". My surgery took less than an hour and I was home in less than 24 hours. I DID require a revision as I was more than 200 pounds overweight. Some small percentage of people do not lose ALL their excess weight, but this is true of EVERY wls. I have not had any issues with re-gain. It was a great choice for me. Do your research, make your own decisions. I have NO regrets about my decision, but I did a LOT of research before making a decision. I would trust my life (I DID!) and that on anyone I loved and cared about with Dr. Rutledge.
First impression: Cocky, and rightly so!
Later impression: He hung the moon for me!
Office staff: Top notch!
Liked least: Nothing!
Future patients should know that this is the BEST program in the world, bar none!
Aftercare: Extraordinary followup -- that's why this program is so exceptional!
CLOS has a VERY structured aftercare program.
I was fully informed on all risks of this program/surgery.
I would rate this program and surgeon as TOP NOTCH!
Dr. Rutledge excels at surgical competence and has a good bedside manner. I chose him for his surgical competence. Dr. Rutledge and his staff have excelled in all aspects of my care. I have nothing negative to report.
Dr Hargroder has been wonderful. He has been more than willing to calm my fears, and take the time to just talk to me. My impressions have not really changed since I met him. His staff is pretty good. I loved working with his office staff, but I was not too thrilled when I had to deal with the MGB staff.
I hated the pre-op process. It is done almost totally online. I think that leaves a huge amount of room for error. When people are evaluated based on respones on a form, they miss a huge amount of information.
I think Dr. Hargroder is a wonderful person, and a great surgeon. He has so much compassion for his patients.
He is really big on aftercare. If you miss an appointment, or don't make an appointment, he or his staff will call or email to make sure everything is okay. They also offer support groups for people who are wanting to learn about the surgery, or who have already had it.
Dr Hargroder was very realistic about the risks that go along with this type of surgery, but not to the point that I left his office terrified. I felt I had a complete understanding of all the risks of the surgery.
Overall, I would give Dr. Hargroder an 8 out of 10. He is wonderful to work with, but in dealing with him, you have to deal with MGB office people, that are not that great to work with.
His surgical competence seems to be great. I have had no problems at all with my surgery. His bedside Manner is out of this world. I know he must be a busy man, but he always made it seem as though he had all the time in the world to talk to me.
Dr. Hargroder is one of the nicest people I have ever met. The fact he answers his cell phone when I have called him still amazes me. He responds to my emails, attends support group meetings and I could go on and on. He explained everything in layman's terms. His office staff are wonderful. Star, his patient rep is very nice and helpful. I would recommend them to any potential patient.
Before we are accepted for surgery, we must complete a packet, that consists of ten contacts with other patients who had the same surgery; reading a manual that describes all kinds of options and the risks and complications that can happen; a letter of support from a spouse or a close family member or friend. Also we must have a letter of support from our PCP and a Psyc Eval.
After care is great. I called doc on his cell phone and he always got back to me. I still email him with questions and he gets right back to me.
I would rate Dr. Hargroder as excellent. I checked out his creditials, from other sources besides his website and he is very well qualified for what he does. I have no complaints.
I was impressed with Dr. Hargrouder the first time I met him at my clinic on the day before my surgery. He spent over an hour talking to me and an other patient and our support people anserwing any questions asked. He explained the procedure and what we could expect after surgery he was very honest and up front with us. Dr Hargrouder then talked to us separtly to make sure we understood everything that was going to happen and asked if there were any questions he could anserw. His office staff Star Sweet met us at the hospital Tuesday morning and stayed with my support person until I was brought to my room. Dr Hargrouder stop to see me before they took me to surgery just to say hi and told me I was on my way to a better and healthier life and he'd see me later. When Dr Hargrouder came in the next day to discharge me he spent a lot of time making sure I understood the diet and meds I had to take. I had to stay in the area until he took the staples out seven days later. I had to call and check in every day with him or Star so they knew how I was doing. When I went in to have the staples removed I spent over an hour with Dr.H going over diet and med instructions. He addressed aftercare and the importance of followup and staying in contact with him until I return next year. Both him and Star are wonderfull and caring people. I did trust him with my life and do not regretet it for a moment. Everyone should be so lucky to have him or someone like him for a surgeon.
Dr Rutledge is VERY enthusiastic about his laporascopic MGB procedure. He has moved to Los Vegas but Dr. Dasher is continuing the CLOS procedure in Statesville NC.
Dr. Rutledge is an excellent surgeon and is very through and professional in his selection procedure. He requires a great deal of eduction, research and commitment to life style changes from all patients in order to screen out potential problems - his patent manual is 100 pages! He limits the MGB to 350 pound individuals so his post-op complications and recovery are amazingly short and pain free. I believe he cares about each and every patient and genuinely wants to help us. I would rate him excellent on both surgical competence and bedside manner. He was a professor and is very knowledgeable but approachable and chatty, and has a well developed web site.
He will answer most questions one has but has not the data on long term bile reflux problems other surgeons want to refute their concerns about the modified Billroth 2 technique he uses that I requested. Unfortunately his MGB procedure is not accepted by most of the Bariatric community and he has had bad publicity and a law suit regarding bile reflux and the MGB. (which I understand He won)
On the otherhand most of his patients adore him and the operation to the point where he has almost a cult-like following. I interviewed over 50 past MGB patients and did not discover the bile reflux problems detractors claimed. However if one is unlucky to get a bad case of reflux it will probably need revision. Mind you the operation is only about 7 years out so long term data is unavailable. I do not have bile reflux problems at 4 months post op and have lost 50 pounds with minimal problems.
Aftercare is a structured program that PCP's are to follow. I am involved in an active local MGB support group. The patient manual goes into great detail about the risks of surgery and I have never seen a more through patient sign-off procedure. pre-op one reads, initials, summarrizes and signs off on numerous risk catagories.
His office staff (CLOS staff) are very, very through, most have had the procedure themselves and are willing to answer any questions. The CLOS system is a franchise type of operation where Dr. R has trained other surgeons by supervising 100 operations and taking on the more difficult cases himself.
I guess the thing I liked least was his inability to tell me what the longer term (more than the 30 day stats) on serius bile reflux problems, and his strong Marketing approach. I would like to see more about long term diet follow up but realize that each patient is very individualistic in food tolerances.
I and the 5 close friends who have had the MGB are amazed at the efficacy of the MGB procedure and highly recommend it - in spite of the bad rep about bile reflux.
I decided I would take my chances with the MGB and bile reflux over the Roux en Y and Dumping Syndrome, and at this point I am very happy I did.