Chicago Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery Bariatric Center

I decided to have the surgery because I had sleep apnean, irregular heartbeat, and I was told by the doctor that I will have diabetes because of my weight. I attempted to loose weight for many years tipically using the atkins diet but always found myself loosing some and regaining, plus more. I would gain more weight with each rebund. Because of the irregular heatbeat and sleep apnea my personal doctor stressed that I needed to loose weight. Not being sucesfull loosing weigth on my own I upted for cosmetic surgery (lipo suction). Thant was not succesful . I consulted with my doctor again and after discussion he agreed that one of the options left was to have the gastric bypass surgery. My wife and I did the research as to who does more of this particular surgery. We came up with Dr. Frantzides and my doctor confirmed that Dr. Frantzides would be the one to go to. After having met with him, I felt comfortable and decided to have the surgery. I went through the pre authorization that my insurance required and couple of months later I had my surgery. I am 3 years post now and feeling great. Before the surgery the sleep apnea was soo bad that my wife couldnot sleep in the bed with me anymore. Diabetes never became a factor, my blood pressure is much better,my cholesterol is normal, and my wife has returned to the bedroom. When it comes to food I learned to chew food, eat slower, and leave food on the plate where before I felt obligated to eat everythinh that was put in front of me. The surgery gives you permanent results unlike the diets. This is the kind of surgery that should be more widely used rather then restricted. Because of the comorbidities that come with obesity we would save Amrican Health Care System and the tax payers a lot of money and lives because it helps you elimate cholesterol, high blood pressure, imroves diabetes, and minimizes sleep apnea. If more people had the surgery it would make for a healthier America.

I had the gastric bypass. Dr. Frantzides was wonderful, the operation was fast, in and out. I lost 89 lb the first 6 months. The Dr. and his staff are super friendly, and very thorough. I have no regrets, I would do it 100 times again. There is not one single thing I regret.

I had my one year post op visit today with Dr. Frantzides. Thus far, I have lost about 100ibs. This surgery has changed my life. Having this surgery with Dr. F was the best choice that I ever made. He has been wonderful and supportive from the very first day that I stepped into the office and every day since then. I feel more confident than I ever have in my entire life and generally just feel better. If you are considering doing gastic bypass, there is no other surgeon that I would ever consider besides Dr. Frantzides.

My surgeon - Dr. Frantzides - impressed me from the first visit.
He spent over two hours with me answering all my questions, explaining the different types of surgery, etc. I was sold on him when I left the office. I was scared to do the operation, but I knew this was the doctor I wanted to do it. He was not in network with my insurance. The surgery was expensive, but I have no regrets.
All of my subsequent visits have been the same relaxed, non-rushed visits. He insists that I ask questions and won't leave the office until he is satisfied I have no more.
His staff is wonderful. My wife and I have called numerous times with questions and always gotten quick, detailed answers, interrupting the doctor if necessary.
The doctor visited with me before and after the surgery and his compassion and interest in me impressed my family and I both.
I have had four follow up visits already in the first month to make sure I am well, to review the food plans and to monitor blood work.
I would recommend Dr. Frantzides to any patient who is thinking about weight loss surgery.
I am 4.5 weeks post op and have lost 35lbs already.

Dr Frantzides performed my RNY on June 3, 2003. I lost 130bs within the first year, and now 7 years later I have only gained 20lbs back and have stayed here for many years. Having Dr Frantzides do my RNY was the best thing I have ever done, and not a week goes by where I don't thank my deicion for having it done. He was and is brilliant!

I decided to have the surgery one day when I had to go to the hospital because of shortness of breath. The doctor told me at that time that if I didn't loose 100 lb I would be dead by the age of 30. My brother and my mom took it upon themselves to find the right surgeon. They made an appointment with Dr. Frantzides. Before I met him I was scared because at the age of 27 it was my first surgery of any kind. When I met Dr. Frantzides I was comfortable going through with having the gastric bypass. Now two years later I have lost over 150 lb and my life is better then ever. I can do soo much more than I could have when I was overweight. After the surgery my congestive heart failure has improved, the shortness of breath that took me to the hospital is gone, and my sleep apnea is gone too. I got married and started a family. I am very thankful to Dr. Frantzides, my life is forever changed.

I had two open surgeries to treat my Gerd. After the surgeries I was obese and still had problems with my antireflux. I was always coughing and chocking and had shortness of breath and trouble keeping my food down, eventually it got to the point where I couldn't even swollow the food anymore. I was considering not attanding my grandsons wedding in order to avoid a choking episode and spoiling his ceremony, it was becoming to be an embarrasement to be in public and go through the choking. I went to see several doctors, and had many, many tests. All the surgeons told me the same thing, that they would not attempt to perform this surgery, I was too high of a risk. To have it done laparoscopically was not even an option with any of them. One of the surgeons told me that if I was his mother he wouldn't do it. The thing was that they all agreed that I did need surgery. After seeing a gastroenterologist.I ended up with Dr. Frantzides and sure enought he did it. He removed a portion of my stomach and performed a LAPAROSCOPIC GASTRIC BYPASS. I am one month out and I lost 18 lb so far. I can breathe, I don't cough, I don't choke. Before the surgery I choked on water, I choked on everything. Dr. Frantzides was the only one that gave me any hope when I first came to see him, and eventhough I knew it was going to be risky, our confidence in him was so great, he took away all the fear. Dr. Frantzides sat down with me and my husband and went over what he would do, and how he would do. I saw Dr. Frantzides in December and had my surgery in January, one month later I am feeling great and very thankfull to Dr. Frantzides. My life is back to normal.

September of 2008 I had a gastric bypass surgery. It was one of the biggest steps in my life. I came in there weighing at 270 lb and my motivation to have this procedure was because I wanted to be healthy, I wanted to live healthy for myself and my family. Prior to surgery I have experienced heartburn, difficulties breathing, snoring at night, fatique, and I was only 28 years old. The main reason was because of my hip dysplesia and the extra weight was putting pressure on my already worn out joint and causing pain to both of my legs from the hip down. After surgery I honestly can say that it was a tough month for me. My body went through a dramatic weight, I was learning to adopt to a new lifestyle. I did experience sorness, mild pain, and doubt about weather I did the right thing. Eating just leiquids, no solids was a hard thing to adjust to but that was ok because that was all that my somach needed at that time and I was told that in due time my stomach will be ready for solids. A month later I was back to work in light duty, adjusting to small proportions of food and hydrating. I became excited at seeing how much weight I was loosing. The first 3 months I lost 40lb. I felt stronger, lighter. Now a year has passed and I weight 180 lb and still loosing.

As a physician myself you would think this would have been an easy decision to make.I always thought I would never consider such a major surgery for weight loss. However out of curiosity, I thought I would go and speak to Dr F. ( really wondering about Lapband and very skeptical about any surgery). rnrnBefore the visit I did a lot of research about his skills, experience and expertise. It all seemed too good to be true. He had published extensively on the topic of Laproscopic Gastric Bypass, he had done more of the surgeries than any other MD I could find(really important in this type surgery, where data shows that experience effects outcome). He had only converted one surgery to the open approach which is an execeptional result. Very importantly many of the techniques and some of the surgical instruments for this procedure were based on his research.rnrnI was even more skeptical, but after one visit I knew if I was going to have this done it would be him to do it( despite the fact that he was not in my insurance network and I would have to pay for a much bigger part of surgery costs).rnrnHe was very confident but not arrogant. He made me feel comfortable. He was direct and answered questions honestly. I felt like he really could help me succeed in this scary endeavor. Most importantly, he didn't try and sell me on the surgery. He said \"You seem skeptical, if your interested call me back and well set you up\". He also does some modifications to the standard procedure which help to prevent the worst of the side effects, even though he could skip the modifications and do the easier approch. This was so important in making my decison to go forward.rnrnFeeling well informed and questions answered, It was less than 24 hours before I was ready to have a surgery , I would never have considered six months before.rnrnHis staff is great and some of them have had the surgery which was nice since I could ask questions about their perspective. rnrnIt would be hard to find a surgeon, for this procedure, who has as much technical expertise, knowledge, experience, an impeccable record in terms of outcomes and maintains such an open and caring approach to the patient.Be sure to consider this when picking your surgeon.rnrnThe surgery has gone really well. I wish I had seen him 5 years ago.rnrnFrom a physician turned patient I can't reccomend him more highly!rnrnI have no complaints (and I am generally not easily impressed by most physicians). rnrnRemember this type of surgery is all about the skill and experience of your surgeon.rnrnUPDATE rnAt less than 11 months I had already lost 165 pounds. I feel great. I work out 7 times a week and eat all the foods I like (just in moderation). I have a new healthy life with a normal blood sugar(previously newly diagnosed diabetic), no more acid reflux, the arthritis in my hip which prevented me from standing more than 10 minutes seems to have cleared. My cholesterol previously dangerously high is very low now.rnI walk everywhere and take the steps every chance I get. rnI owe my healthy new life all Dr F and the confidence he had in his abilities and in me to do this.

Three years ago at age at 57 I weighed 286lb, I had two heart attacks and a heart bypass surgery. In conversation with my regular doctor, I jokingly said that perhaps I need to have \"that stomach surgery\". He took a look at me and said, \"It will add 15 years to your life\". Obviously, that got my attention. He recommended that I speak with Dr. Frantzides to gather more information. rnrnI was seen by Dr. Frantzides promptly,and he gave me all of the time I needed to talk about the procedure, what would come from it, and what I could expect long-term. rnDr. Frantzides explained to me how his procedures were somewhat different, in that he preserved the vagus nerve. I had the surgery 3 months later, after being cleared by the insurance. I returned to work 1 week later and began loosing weight immediately. I was pretty carefull to follow his directions about what I ate. Over the course of the next year, I lost 100 lb, and other issues like blood pressure, and marginal sugar issues all went away. rnrnSince then, I have put some weight back on. I am now 2.25 years post surgery and in discussing the weight that I put on, I understand now that the surgery is not a solution, but a tool to help me maintain a healthy weight; I still have to eat wisely. rnrnI am determined that I will loose the 20 pound that have I put back on. rnrnThis is one of the best decision I have made; I expect to enjoy my grandchildren for years to come.rn