Chicago Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery Bariatric Center

Dr. Frantzides and his staff were extremly sensitive to my needs and concern. His office staff was very kind and professional. I had received a call back from his office after my visit to check if I had any additional questions or concerns. Dr. Frantzides was highly recommended from a very high profiled Internist from another medical center. The reputation Dr. Frantzides and his staff have for patient concerns is outstanding. To give a short example when Dr. Frantzides was about to enter the room a post surgical patient was discussing with me the surgery and post surgical care and he excused himself and said go ahead talk to each other I will return in a few minutes.

Dr. Frantzides is a very assured physician. Over time, I felt that he didn't know how to relate to his patients except weigh them. His office staff were courteous. Kathleen makes promises and does not keep them. Perhaps she is over-worked. My family completely dislikes Dr. Frantzides. They only have negative comments about him. Aftercare? Only if you don't have a scale. My advice now is: if you need the surgery, Dr. Frantzides knows his stuff. You must be very, very independent to do your own education and aftercare follow-up with a PCP. I'm glad I didn't need much help from him -- I believe he is incapable of giving help. Many others have had great experiences with Dr. Frantzides. I hope that you do also.

First impression, first meeting: How much do I love this man? I called yesterday for a consult, he had an opening for TODAY, I have a date, two months from now. He is pragmatic, treats you like an adult, adorable, confident (he told me that NO ONE in the country was better at lap surgery than he...and based on his history, I believe him). Totally remarkable. I'm thrilled. And I have gone through 5 months of hell at the Wellness Center at Northwestern...so this was delightful.

Dr. Frantzides is very renowned in the field of minimally invasive surgery. See these sites:

http://www.rush.edu/patients/surgery/profiles/frantzides.html


http://www.weisshospital.org/ClinResearch/Index.cfm

He has contributed much to the medical literature and he has practically done everything there is to do laproscoptically. So in terms of his surgical competence I am very secure. He was very warm, had a good sense of humor, and was patient to answer all of my questions even though I was his last patient of the day and I was not even on his schedule.

The office staff was polite but somewhat discouraging when it came to getting an idea of how long the process will take. For example they told me that I would not be able to get an appointment until August 8 but scheduled my friend for July 11. They also told us that we could look forward to a surgery date around Christmas or New Years. Dr. Frantzides saw me on July 11 when I accompanied my friend to her appointment and he scheduled us for August 12 and 13. There was also a big mix-up with the insurance company. Somehow the secretary send in my information with my friend's social security number and forgot to send in my friend's info all together.

Dr. Frantzides sent us to a number of physicians and clinics for cardiological, pulmonary and blood work. So he is very concerned about the health of his patients. He reassured us that the entire procedure will be done laproscoptically and that he has never once had to opt for open-surgery.

Dr. Frantzides has a plan for after care and has a support group through his office. He has made us aware of the options for weight loss surgery as well as the risks involved.

I am impressed with Dr.Frantides' expertise in the field, his confidence puts me at ease as well as his bedside manner. BUt mostly I'm glad to have a competent surgeon.

The least thing I liked about the experience is that you only see Dr. Frantzides once before you go into surgery, but I guess that's customary or is it?

My advice to any one wanting an appointment with Dr. Frantzides is to be persistent with his staff, have a lot of personality when you meet him and ASK for an early date. :)

I have not yet meet with my surgeon. I reserched Dr. Frantzides and decided this was the surgeon for me. He has contributed to serveral articles about minimally invasive surgery and I want to have it done lap. I called Dr Frantzides ofice because my PCP's IPA is putting me thru hell and back with their referral process. I considered changeing to another pcp however she only referrs to Dr Vitello at UIC and I decided I want it to be done Lap not open. To make a long story short the reason I called the surgeons office was to ask them if they knew of a pcp I could switch to and I was given the name of one. I talked to their office and was please to know they would get me in but the soonest was july. I am hoping to get in to to see the surgeon very soon after that as I am starting school in august.
well July 11 Fth has come and gone I had my appointment with the surgeon. I waited in his office for about a 1/2 hour after my appointment was but I can see why his waiting room was packed with pre and post op people. he was very nice and explained everything in complete detail. i have been resurching wls for aprox 2 years so what he had to say was nothing new. he did have a rather nice folder to hand out with a lot of information in it incase I had forgotten to ask anything. kathleen takes care of the insurance stuff she in my opinion needs an assistant she does a great job granted the process is a little slow probally due to the high volume of charts she handles on a daily basis. Dr F stress after care to a high degree. I hope to writing a review on his bedside manner very soon one thing that I am eternally grateful for is the fact he moved my surgery date up a whole month due to the fact I start school in August two hard courses and I do not want to miss school!!
thank you thank you dr F.

I researched Dr. F on this site and was very impressed with his credentials and experience. Our first meeting did nothing to tarnish that impression. He was straightforward, answered all questions and made me feel very comfortable. The office is a little challenging due to it being so small but his assistant, Kathleen, is wonderful. The aftercare program is very structured with regular visits and monitoring. Overall I would rate him as the best and be glad to discuss him with anyone.

I me with Dr. Frantzides the first week of May 2002. I was scheduled for Lap RNY on July 3, 2002, we ended up having to reschedule to July 30, 2002 because my insurance took some time to approve me. Dr. Frantzides is a wonderful man he expalins everything to you. I liked that he first asked me what I knew about the surgery, he knows that many people who are investigating this have done there own research on the internet before ever coming to his office. He has made me feel very comfortable with the procedure and my recovery. He took time to explain the diet that I would have to follow after surgery, but he also assured me that I would eat normally again (just smaller portions)I would definately recommend Dr. Frantzides. I spent alot of time on this website researching Dr's before I finally picked Dr. Frantzides and after meeting him I know I made the best decision for me and my family.

He was the most considerate doctor I have ever met, He appologized to me for running 20 min. late for my 1st appointment with him.
His staff has been friendly and attentive. He works as the director of invasive surgery at Rush University Medical Center and is a very kind man. He went to school in Athens, Greece. I found his Greek background very interesting. Dr. Frantzides is a "mother-hen" when it comes to after care. He was very disappointed when I had to postpone a post-op appointment for one week. His aftercare diet is handed to you after surgery in the hospital and a dietician goes over it with you before you leave the hospital. He has meetings for those considering surgery to attend where he explains all about the surgery. He does the laproscopic precedure and is very good at it. There is also a "fellow" that works in the office with him by the name of Atul Madan, who is wonderful for anything you need to ask or help with. I find my visits with the doctors a joy, they are always so interested in you.

I really liked Dr. Frantzides. He seems honest and straight to the point. He has an extremely positive personality and he made me feel safe just communicating with him. The hospital that he works at is huge and spacious with several specialty departments and the hospital staff is wonderful also.

I had my initial consultation on 01/17/02 and my surgery date was set for 03/04/02. My first impression of Dr. F was that he was very professional, concerned, informative, sensitive and understanding. He also gave me the impression that he was extremely skilled at what he does. After calling him for the first time my consultation was scheduled in one week. Which is unusual for such an experienced physician. He is the Director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Program at Rush-Presbytarian St. Lukes Hospital in Chicago Illinois. This hospital is one of the finest hospitals in the world. I researched several hospitals and surgeons and Dr. Frantzides (Bariatricexperts.com) attracted me to his program. He is truly a brilliant doctor! Dr. Frantzides has 200 contributions to the medical literature and has written a book on laparoscopic procedures, and invented two medical devises used in Laparoscopic surgery.

The wait to see him is minimal and his staff is extremely nice and professional. The actual surgery date is set during your consultation and his office staff handles your insurance provider with getting approval. I would rate him a 15 on a scale from 1 to 10 because he is above average in surgical skills, surgical competence, bedside manner and his personality is extremely positive. I am glad that I joined his program. I emailed him quite a few times and each time he responded back in no time. I am truly happy with his services. Other surgeons that I have talked to did not seem to interest me as much as he did. At your very first visit he gives you a Pre-op and Post-op packet with instructions that are very informative. Included is a WLS booklet, an interesting story from People magazine regarding a WLS and he answers all of your questions from a to z without any hesitation. I felt extremely confortable at his consultation and I found his assistant Dr. Atul Madan attentive and responsive to all questions that I felt the need to ask.

I met with Dr Frantzides on Feb 7, 2002. After filling out some paperwork I had to wait about 30 minutes before I was called in. His office has a small waiting room and it was full... they even had people sitting in a seperate room. While I was waiting I was lucky enough to meet two patients that were post op and they both told me how happy they were that they had the surgery and wished the best for me. I first met with Dr Matan who is Dr F's assistant. We talked for nearly 30 minutes about the surgery and he seemed very knowledgeable. He answered a large number of questions while discussing the surgery with me but also was able to answer the few questions I had left very thouroughly. He then listened to my heart and poked on my belly a little bit to determine what size of the laproscopic equipment they would need. I then met with Dr Frantzides for a few moments he basically just wanted to know if I had any further questions. His office assitant Kathleen is very nice and I have been in contact with her over the last few weeks trying to get everything worked out with my insurance. I would definately rate both him and his staff a 10.