The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates Bariatric Center
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My first impression of Dr. Brody was positive. He really knows his stuff as a surgeon and in that regard, I would recommend him to anyone. As for bedside manner? He has "zero". He's not a people person; but maybe that's what makes him such a skilled surgeon. I'd go to him again if I needed other surgery. He explained everything and was very straight-forward about the risks.
His nurse Julie K. is great. She was a lot of help. But the Cleveland Clinic as a whole, does not have a great aftercare program. There are no support groups. You're on your own except for the follow-up appts. with nutrition and endocrinology. Phsychiatry is available if you need it as part of follow up too.
I went to my PCP doctor on February 13, 2001 and he gave me approval based on the fact that my health has been going downhill since I started going to him 4 years ago. I called a surgeon, Dr. Mark Jaroch and he is very busy. I have a consult appointment scheduled for August 15, 2001. Dr. Jaroch does have a support group that he recommends to all his patients, pre-op and post-op. They meet twice a month. I met Dr. Jaroch 5 years ago, before this surgery was very popular and he told me my insurance does not cover it. So, I tried about 7 diets under the supervision of physicians. Now my husbands insurance company does cover WLS and I'm ready. I will let you know if Dr. Jaroch has changed much in the past 5 years=) After speaking with 4 people that Dr. Jaroch's office referred me to, not one of them recomended that I go to him, so I never did go to my first appointment. In July 2001 I decided I to try to have it done laporoscopically ( if posssible), so now I'm going to Dr. Fred Brody at the Cleveland Clinic. I met him in September and loved him and my surgery is now scheduled for Feb 5th.
I liked Dr. Lin at my first visit. The visit started with a video of him explaining the process, risks, benefits, etc. and then he came in to the exam room to see if I had any other questions and to talk about the process. He made sure I understood what I saw and what would be involved and took his time with me. My impression of him hasn't changed. His office staff has been terrific as was the care I received in George Washington University Hospital.
I am still in the initial aftercare stages but so far, so good. I am under the impression though, that it will be very good long term.
I would rate him extremely high overall. His surgical competence is probably higher than his bedside manner, but I have no complaints. I think he's a very busy man and I certainly never felt cheated with the time he spent with me and he always came across as very concerned about me.
I highly recommend Dr. Lin.
please be aware that any mis-spellings are due to rapid typing not incompetence.
at cleveland clinic, the gbs (gastric bypass surgery) journey begins with a visit to endocrinolgy. physical history is obtained and an attempt to "sell" you on the ccf protein diet is attempted. BE FIRM! let them know you are interested in the referrral for gbs. PERIOD. come prepared with info on the pro's and cons of the surgery, your health history, etc. do not be badgered into submitting to anything else. being firm will also help to insulate you from what might be construed as a less than sympathetic or understanding view of the challenges of being overweight.
in my case, a very nice resident took my history. he stepped outside and asked a nurse for some assistance on something regarding my chart. the nurse asked him if he had suggested the ccf protein diet. he responded he had and that i wanted gbs. the nurse responded, "well of course she does. they all do. they think it's a magic cure to being fat. they have to stop eating and get off their butts." when the resident returned with the doctor, i asked who the nurse was to write a written complaint. the doctor was both patronizing and unapolgetic. he refused to divulge the nurses name. instead he told me that it was friday and that i should just forget it. not. as i told him, weight loss and obesity is a major and life shaping issue for many people. even coming to the hospital with the intent to seek help is a MAJOR step for many people. the comment i overheard was unprofessional, insensitive, and hurtful. my struggle with obesity has been torturous and painful: as is the case with many. tears came to my eyes when i heard her. i know that if i had been a different type of person that one comment would have sent me home never to return. that said: get your information; do your research; be prepared; and stand your ground.
also ccf requires you to have an ekg and appointments with their psychiatrist and nutritional services prior to consulting with dr. b. you must also have a final appt with endo precluding seeing dr.b. that said, try to schedule your appts all at once. or schedule them yourself, telling the appointment person in each department why you are scheduling. stay firm and consistent. even if you have not been to your first endo appt, try to schedule your other appts as close to the endo appt. to expedite the time between initial appointments and the actual surgery. be proactive.
My first impression of dr. b was actually quite pleasant. while many on this site lamented that his demeanor was a tad bit dry, i found him to be thorough and very complete in his explanation of the surgery. he expects you to know about what you are getting into. in fact, the psychiatrist and nutrionist also expect you to have done your homework too. be an educated consumer. dr. b provided a pictoral depiction of the surgery which was helpful. in addition, he added the statistical data on the pro's and cons of the different types of gbs (gastric bypass surgery) which allowed for a concrete and visual comparison and contrast. he did not sugar coat the risks and was very blunt and honest about the lifestyle committment ncesssary after the surgery.
i promise to update the info after my surgery and after subsequent meetings with dr. b and his staff.
while aftercare is emphasized, it must be pointed out that there is currently no formal aftercare program as implemented with some other area centers. there is a support group that currently meets on the first tuesday of the month from 7:30 to 8:30 at a heights area church in the evenings. kim l on this site can provide additional info. i believe the meetings are at the church of the redeemer. in addition, i am very committed to beginning a saturday morning group to accomodate other individuals. let me know if anyone is interested!
at this point i can not think of anything particularly negative to say about him. i might add that my experiences with the staff at another VERY WELL KNOWN GBS center in cleveland have somewhat influenced my feelings. those people at the other center were rude, unprofessional, and some other choice words.....that said, anybody in my opinion is better.
at the end of the consult, i explained to dr. b the time constriction i faced regarding scheduling and he told me i could schedule the surgery although my insurance company had not yet pre-certified the procedure. mind you, i came ot the consult with the 5 yr weight loss history required by my insurance company to accompant the letter of necessity the dr would be sending. however, the office staff denied my request to schedule the surgery. at the time of my consult, which was on 10/14/01 surgeries were being scheduled for 11/15/01 on.....
well, by the first week of november i had been pre-certed by my ionsurance company and the next available appointment is not until 1/22/02. i have accepted that date, however, my employer had given me until 1/7/02 to do the surgery to accomodate the need for time off. i am praying something changes. in all fairness, i must add that yvonne, dr. b's surgery scheduler has been very patient and understanding...i call every week praying there is an earlier date available and she is vey nice. i work in a field where people can really get on your nervees thinking their needs supercede everyone else's and i know how nerve wracking it can be. yvonne is an asset to dr. b's team!
anyway, some of this whole scheduling snafu would ahve been avoided had the staff at the dr's office actually mailed in the5 yr weight loss history to the insurance company along with the letter of medical necessity. the nurse acted as if she had no idea about what i was talking when i explained to her what i was talking about. dr. b, when i told him i had the info the insurance company would require placated me by saying that he rarely had any probs once he sent in the letter of necessity. ihad done my homework thoguh and knew that the insurance company would require this info. dr. b told me to tell the nurse, who as i mentioned had little clue as to what i was referring.
i asked the financial counselor what to do after the consult and she gave me a fax # to send the info. well, i called the insurance company and they never received the faxed info because the dr's office gave me the wrong number.....anyway i faxed the info, they got it, but they couldn't even look at the info until the dr's letter was there. anyway, had my info been included with the dr's info my approval woeuld have been granted a week and a few days earlier.
the office staff, when i called them when i was told by the insurance company i had been approved was to call to get the pre-cert info directly from the insurance case management department, but did not. thus i had to wait an additional 2-3 days for surgery scheduling. this all led to the date being pushed beyond the original time frame anticipated.
anyway....so far so good. at this point i am, on a scale of 1-10, about a 7.5 with my rating of the entire cleveland clinic process. my main area of discontent has to do with the level of patient care in the endocrinology department. since endo is the first step in the process for cleveland clinic gbs....i truly believe the patient experience there is crucial in planting the seeds for solid patient satisfaction.
I'm going through the Cleveland Clinic with Dr. Brody. Seen him on Oct. 22. Ithought hes was nice and professional. His staff explained everything I had questions about. He also stated to me that he thinks I won't have any problems with insurance.
I did extensive reseach on surgeons performing this surgery. Dr. Paul P. Lin of the George Washington University Medical Center, turned out to be the kindest, most compassionate surgeon I've ever met. He patiently answered every question I posed and carefully detailed possible complication that may occur so that I was fully informed.
My appreciation of Dr. Lin, has only increased with time.
His office staff, Cathy his secretary, Annetta his surgical coordinator, and the others whose names I do not know, exhibit the same caring and compassion as Dr. Lin.
There is nothing negative about him.
How long one must wait for your first consultation appointment.
He insists on following each patient weekly/bi-weekly/monthly for at least 18 months. Then follow-up is monthly/quarterly.
Yes, see above.
He completely outlines EVERY possible risk, then resures you, based on your particular physical condition, how many of these risks are likely for you.
A+++
Both are excellent!
I did not like him, and I still am not crazy about him. The office staff is much more helpful and understanding. The thing I liked the least was his bedside manner, so to speak. He showed no compassion etc. He is very good at what he does, but if you are looking for someone to help and understand you it is not him. He never even mentioned after care other than to go see the dietician and the endocronolist. He does not have an aftercare program. He told me what he was going to do in surgery and them proceeded to tell me if I had any leakage I would die. As far as the actual surgery great, the rest not even good. I used to thing both, but now I seem to think surgical competence is more important than anything else. But this is just my opinion and how I reacted to the situation, others may not agree with me after meeting him.
I had surgery on 6/26/2001. My first impression of Dr. Brody was that he was very serious. That impression hasn't changed. I actually saw him on the consultation day, then not again until after my surgery (2ce in the hospital). During consult he was very explanatory and answered my questions. In the hospital he seemed in a hurry. He is a man of few words. When asked, he told me he'd performed over 100 lap gastric procedures. Of these, half were the bypass. I think he did a fine job on me (so far). He is not a bariatric surgeon, rather a general surgeon. Those going to him should know that while you won't have as long a wait as with some other area hospitals, you also won't have as detailed a program as you may have with St. V's. If that is ok with you(it was for me) and you are willing to do your own research and ask questions, then fine. But if you want to have your hand held thru the process-- you may want to try another hospital (just my own opinion). I'd rate my hospital experience a C+. I'd rate Dr. B an A on surgical skill, a C on bedside manner and a B on personality. (incidentally, to be fair -- I'd rate myself a C+ on personality :-) -- no one's perfect.
Today is 7/25/2001 and I have to amend what I said above. Dr. Brody ran the Clinic's first support group and I found him to be quite personable and caring. The Clinic is now taking steps to organize their WLS program and called this meeting to garner feedback from patients who've had the surgery. I thought that was a great move and hope that it means that the process will run much more smoothly from here on out.