Obesity Surgery Center Bariatric Center
My first impression Of Dr. Anez is he is very busy and business like. But after a couple of visits he seemed to warm up and by the time of surgery he was like a friend.His office staff was very friendly and helpful. They did all the work for my insurance co. and scheduling my surgery date. Dr. Anez was very persistant in emphasizing aftercare. He explained it is a life long commitment and asked several times if I was ready to do it.
He has a support group called the Staple Club
Which is a very big help. I felt very comfortable with his knowledge and experience
8/16/02 I had my first visit with Dr. Anez. He was everything that I had read about him. He is soft spoken, confident and complete in explaining the procedure. I had done alot of research on the internet, so I knew most of it, but he explained it again and filled in the blanks. His office staff is very nice and work quickly to get approval.
8/19/02 The lady from the office called and asked me and asked if 9/25/02 would be okay for a surgery date. I said sure! She said she would call back after I was approved with dates for tests and nutritional counseling.
9/27/02 I had surgery on 9/25/02. Everything went great! Dr. Anez was ahead of schedule and I was in surgery by 1pm. I was not scheduled until 2pm. Everything is healing fine. He was both surgically competent and has a good bedside manner. I have only seen Dr Anez once since the surgery. He came in to release me from the hospital. The other times I have seen his assistant, Maria Zimmerman. She is wonderful! She has had the surgery herself and is very compassionate to Dr Anez's patients. She is easy to talk to and has a wonderful sense of the feelings you go through after the surgery.
Dr. Anez was great. Very quite but straight forward and to the point.
Met with Dr. Anez on 7/23/02 for my initial consultation. I am not a good first impression judge, I like to have the opportunity to speak with people more than once to get a feel for them. However, I waited for over 2 hours for him to see me; as he was assisting in surgery ~ a good sign that he pays attention to patients, regardless of in the office or in the operating room.<BR>
Dr. Anez was very knowledgeble and verbal of the entire process. I learned he has performed well over 2000 RNY operations. And he did not hide any of the mortalities that happened (2 in his history - none of which were a result of the surgery). *NOTE* If this scares you - get over it! I have found more risks associated with Obesity than Surgery! After reviewing a booklet with him, I was on my way.<BR>
The office staff was more than cordial. The atmosphere did not strike me as "Let me get rich off you" - with high end / high priced furnishings, paintings, etc. as I have seen in other offices. Everything catered to larger people. A table was covered with HUGE 3 ring binders of 100's of people's before and after pictures (something that was useful in helping my wife deal with this - more of that later). Furthermore, the people in the waiting room varied from initial consults like myself to long term post-ops, and everyone was more than happy to talk.<BR><BR>
Overall I give this visit an A+.<BR><BR><i>developing... more later!</i><BR> <BR>
Dr. Anez is very personable, friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. He offers an excellent program: monthly support group meetings lead by nutritionists and/or "seasoned" patients who provide excellent tips and personal experiences. You are required to have 2 pre-op and 2 post-op nutritionist visits. Tons of information is provided in a classroom style setting and one on one appointments. Various other related support group information, seminars, workshops, etc. are offered and are optional, not required. He explained the risks and provided a detailed informational booklet, that he went over page by page with you. I think both competence and beside manner would be ideal, but surgical competence is the most important to me.
I've only met dr.anez once but he seemed to know what he was talking about and he was very friendly as was his office staff..the only thing I had a slight problem with is understanding his accent...otherwise he was great...dr.anez definately empahsizes aftercare...he let me know that this wasn't a quick fix and that this would effect how i eat for the rest of my life...he does have a structured aftercare program as well as required visits to the nutritionist before surgery...dr.anez did clearly address the risks of the surgery...overall...sofar he seems like a competent physician.