Northside Bariatric Surgery Bariatric Center

NOTE: This is my personal experience and should not be construed as either a recommendation for or against choosing Dr. Macik as a bariatric surgeon. Anyone else's experience may differ. I am a Kaiser GA member, which only refers its members to 2 surgeons in the Atlanta area. Dr. Macik is the only one who does the sleeve out of the two. I chose him because I wanted the sleeve and also liked that he could do my surgery at Northside Hospital. I had my VSG on Dec 17, 2009. The surgery went well with no complications. During my 2 day stay in the hospital, Dr. Macik did not visit me in my room to discuss how I was doing. He talked to me once out in the hall when I was walking and another time when I was walking and he was sitting at the nurses' station with about five others present whom I didn't know. I was discharged the next day without seeing my doctor again. Northside Hospital staff were excellent care providers. During my first weekend home, I woke up in welts and hives, so paged Dr. Macik's office doctor on call. I waited until 8:30 am to be reasonable. Dr. Johnson, who was on call for the weekend, yawned and sighed through the short conversation, expressed no concern about my hives, and told me just try some liquid tylenol for my stomach pain if I was having a reaction to the Percocet. During the next two weeks, I also had occasion to call the office's bariatric nurse who is no longer there (Honoree). I called her with a concern that I could not eat/keep things down so it was difficult for me to take the daily aspirin recommended as it was tearing up my stomach. She advised me to "just take it with food" and you'll be fine. As I could *not* take in food, I stopped taking the aspirin. [Dr. Macik has a new (to me)bariatric nurse, Robin, who is very nice; she listens attentively and takes notes and is very empathetic]. Dr. Macik's aftercare program consists of seeing you at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and then every 6 months out for the rest of your life. His office also gives you a diet guidelines list to follow, but it is not specifically for sleevers and is really a gastric bypass f/up diet. Once in awhile his staff will collect measurements; however, when I asked for a comparison at my 3 month mark vs. when I started, I was told they could not provide it as my original measurements although taken were not recorded. Each time I have seen Dr. Macik, I have had to tell him my chronic nausea is not going away; his response is that everything I am experiencing is normal for most people and that it will pass. At my 3 month f/up appt he continued to tell me my nausea, inability to swallow anything dense, and overall feeling weak and tired was not unusual. He also stated that in fact, I was probably eating too much! I continued to express my concern that I feel I am vomitting too much for this far out and that the contractions are so great that I often also urinate and/or defecate at the same time -- making me very afraid to eat at work or out in public. He simply listened without comment. Prior to my last appointment with Dr. Macik, I had just seen my Kaiser nutritionist, who spent an hour and fifteen minutes thoroughly questionning me on what I could eat or drink, and she advised me to press for further tests as she felt my experience was not normal at 3 months out. I pressed and Dr. Macik gave me an order for an upper GI series, which I am having on Monday. I will not be returning for any more f/up aftercare by Dr. Macik. From this point on, I am choosing to continue my aftercare with my primary care physicians and specialists at Kaiser. I believe that surgical competence is important (yet the sleeve is one of the very easiest bariatric surgeries to perform). However, I also believe that "bedside manner" is equally important if one expects to have a lifetime relationship with a client. It does no one any good to have face-to-face meetings if each is going to be at cross-purposes all the time; i.e. "I need help" vs. "No, you don't."

Dr. Macik was very informative and addressed all of my concerns. I have not seen him since this visit because all is well and I will see him at my preop visit. The office staff is great and regardless of how many ?'s I had they were always there. Future patients should know that Dr. Macik is very professional and is a expert in his field. After care was the most important part of the initial consult because he was informing me of life long life style changes that I will be faced with after surgery. The aftercare program is structured a friend of mine had the surgery 4 months ago and they were deligent on all of her follow up visits. Dr. Macik described the risk of this surgery in detail to me. I would rate Dr. Macik as a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. He is a competent surgoen that cares about the future and well being of his patients.

Very Quiet, but became the best surgeon I know!! He is wonderful. I have had no problems and he is dedicated and structured to make you have a successful wls. Everything about him is great!!!!!!!!!

My first impression of Dr. Macik is that he is very quiet but straight to the point. He knows what you are going through and understands alot about how you would like to change your life. My first impression is what I expected of him and still feel great about him being my surgeon. Dr. Macik's emphasis on after care is very serious. He could not stress enough about taking care of myself and being honest with my body that is and will continue to change over a course of time. Dr. Macik has a very good structed aftercare that is 100% COE and thats what Im looking forward to the most.

Macik came very highly reccommended and I healed very well with only one small incision. 2yrs later 77 lbs two fills, no issues. Office very easy and responsive.

I had my consult with Dr. Macik on September 22, 2009. I was quite nervous starting the day before the appointment. Dr. Macik was very informative and answered all my questions. I am very excited and happy that I have chosen him to be my surgeon. I also have to say that Tiffany in his office put up with me calling every day to check on cancellations for two weeks leading up to my appointment. She never got irritated and encouraged me to keep calling. That definitely earned "kudos" in mt book!

Only now do I really appreciate what a great, great man Dr. Macik is. Not only is he an expert surgeon, but he is also a wizard in managing medications, nutrition, exercise, complications, etc. Words can not begin to do him justice. When I asked Dr. Macik detailed questions, he was more than willing to patiently respond in great detail, so that all of my questions and concerns were addressed. I am glad that I chose him as my surgeon and my bypass is working perfectly.

i had a great impression of my surgeron, i actually work@the same hospital he works @. His office staff is the best.

I had my Pre-Op today and I must say that Dr. Macik was in a very happy mood. Usually, he doesn't show expression or talk a lot, but he did today. I was very comfortable after leaving and getting everythng finalized for Wednesday. Tiffany and Honorae (nurses in the office) are fabulous!

Dr. Macik was excellent. I told him the reasons why I wanted the surgery and he gave me all the positive outcomes and then he said lets get the process started.
I was given a list of pre certification requirements that was very helpful
His staff was very nice. I would recommend Dr. Macik to go to. Also he takes Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO. I think it was a blessing that 2 years ago, my employer approved the only the gastric lap band and the gastric bypass surgery laprascopic but not the gastric sleeve and I had to have illnesses associated with obesity: high blood pressure, sleep apnea, diabetes, etc.