Kent Sasse & Surgical Associates Bariatric Center

I FIRST MET MR. SASSE THREE DAYS AFTER MY 33RD BIRTHDAY 1/30/2003. WHAT A WONDERFULL GIFT, THIS YEAR A NEW LIFE HOPEFULLY WITH NO MORE PAIN. HE'S VERY NICE WENT WITH MY HUSBAND ROBERT,HE AND I HAD LOTS OF THINGS TO ASK HIM AND HE ANSWERED THEM ALL. FILL VERY GOOD WITH MY CHOOSE OF PICKING MR. SASSE
TO DO MY SURGERY. P.S. HE MAKE YOU FILL GOOD
NOT LIKE A FAT PIG.

Dr. Sasse is a wonderful doctor. When I first met him, I thought, "oh boy my kid brother is going to do surgery on me." He was very soft spoken, and took the time to answer all of my questions. I have never met a surgeon with such a great bedside manner. I would recommend him to any one.

Great bed side manner, very caring,answered my questions clear and consise. Karen B is the nurse, she has had the proceedure and was very knowledgeable. Very overworked,but they have added someone to help her now. Everyone is very helpful. Very truthful,did not pull any punches.
I was very anxious when I had my problem after surgery.On 12/22/02 I felt I was having diahrea while I was away from the house. I ret'd home to find out it was blood and blood clots. I called my doctors exchange and my doctor was on vacation. Dr Gamos was on call.(not a bariatric doctor)it
took 2 hours for Dr Gamos to get back with me. He referred me to the er dept. at the hosp. in case I loss excess blood. I was in emergency from 6:55 until 2am.
At about 9pm Dr Gamos intern came to see me and advised he was going upstairs to do another surgery and he would see me after I was admitted. They admitted me at about 2am.
At that time they admitted me to the hosp. I am a diabetic and was very concerned that I had not had anything to drink or eat since 3pm that day. I asked questions and they answered me. They wanted to watch my blood count and make sure I did not need a transfusion. I saw Dr Gamos at 2am and he advised they want to keep me in the hosp. NPO in case they need to run any test or proceedures. They started an IV. Dr Watson came in at 7am and said he wanted to get another blood test at noon and he would probably discharge me. I wasn't sure why I had the problem. He tried to re-assure me and explained what he thought happened.At 3pm I was discharged to home and advised to make an appt with my doctor next week.
I have an appt on Tuesday at 2:30 pm.
Everything went ok and I was told to start eating purreed foods. On thursday I took my granddaughter to the movie. I had a bowel movement then. This is now Saturday and I have not had a bowel movement. I am getting concerned. I do not have a number to call with questions. I have an angel but she did not give me her phone number. There is a support group but I did not attend prior to surgery and this month I had just had my surgery and it was a christmas party I did not feel up to going to a party. Overall my experience has been good. My daughter is 33 and has been staying with me in the evening. My mom lives accross the street and my sister from California came to assist after my surgery for a couple of days. I have a good support system. My physician and the staff have been excellent. I have many questions about food.

First Impression - Very knowledgeable
Office staff - excellent
Future patients should know that he is a very talented surgeon.
Aftercare is very important.
We talked about the risks of surgery numerous times
I would rate him as 4 star

Competence and bedside manner are equally important

Dr. Sasse looks to be a rather young guy by explaned everything I felt I needed to know. Didnt suger coat things and told me there is a chance of dying. The staff at Western Surgical Group is so friendly and Karen and I hugged after we met. Nice to know someone who works so closely with others who want this proceeder and yet had it done themselves. Makes me feel more comfortable.

Dr. Sasse was very nice and although I have already been through the intial consultation with a previous Dr. he explained everything to me about the proceedure.

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He office staff was very helpul,Karen his clinical coordinator was very helpful.

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Try to have everything together before you go it makes it go alot smoother call the office and ask for a packet before you arrive.
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Yes
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Yes
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The risks were explained to me fully.
p
The knowledge of the Dr. and the staff was very comforting
p
Both were great.

My first impression of him was that I thought he was pretty young. After talking with him he seem like he has a lot of experice. I really like him. The staff has been great everytime that I call and I return my phone calls in a timely manner. Overall I was impressed.

We met with Dr. Kent Sasse of Western Surgery Group on Tuesday, May 14, 2002. Prior to meeting with the surgeon, we had an initial consult with nurse Karen Baumann who is herself down 150# post gastric bypass surgery. She was very helpful and informative. Oh yes, my outlook brightened when she told me I didn't look my age and that I was considered "smaller". HUH??? How can you be "smaller" morbidly obese?? I found out that another of the group's patients had died within the past month(3 total out of 140+ surgeries)- no specifics but was told she was a very sick woman to begin with. I had to sign an aftercare commitment that included support group participation and exercise. Dr. Sasse explained many aspects of the surgery, pros and cons, and answered our questions. He examined the area of my abdominal hysterectomy scar due to my concern of possible scar tissue interfering with the laparoscopic surgery. I also expressed my concern about my internist's seemingly negative attitude toward the gastric bypass surgery. I feel that with my co-morbidities (type II diabetes and hypertension), I should be a good candidate for this procedure. I had an appointment scheduled for Friday, May 17, 2002, where I wanted to discuss these issues at length with the internist and try to gain his approval and a letter of recommendation. Overall, I was pleased with Dr. Sasse and his staff. I now have an appointment for the psych eval on 6/21/02 and then the insurance approval process starts from there. (I'm so rattled about meeting with the internist that I break out in a huge case of hives! Turns out I had nothing to worry about. I told him about all my research, attending two seminars, reading books and internet information about the procedure, and when he asked who the doctors were and I told him I had seen Dr. Sasse, he was very encouraging and said he would give me a letter of recommendation! YAY!! He further said he thought I'd be a great candidate for reasons other than my weight (which I think meant he thought I was emotionally stable... :^)

I met with the doctor in Oct. 2001, he was really good with me as far as anserwing all of my questions and concerns. I left looking forward to my surgery date. His office staff is wonderful. Joy in his office is the best. She has also had this surgery and looks wonderful.

DR SASSE IS ONE OF THE MOST GENUINE PEOPLE I HAVE MET..HE WAS VERY SUPPORTIVE AND NEVER MADE ME FEEL EMBARRASSED OR ASHAMED OF MY WEIGHT. HE WAS VERY HELPFUL AND REALLY TOOK THE TIME TO ANSWER ALL OF MY QUESTIONS (NO MATTER HOW DUMB THEY MAY HAVE SEEMED). HE EVEN CALLED ME AT HOME 4 DAYS POST OP TO SEE HOW I WAS FEELING..HE IS A TRUE JEM!