Pinnacle Surgical Group, PLLC Bariatric Center
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Dr. Elariny is very thorough and takes his time explaining everything to you. He is a kind and compassionate man.I am very confident with my choice.
Dr. Schweitzer was formoraly located in Richmond, VA. I'm not sure if he still practices in VA or not. I located him on his web site and he's listed in Washington, DC. This is much closer for me in MD. My appointment is set for June 19, 2001. I will write more about my impressions then. The reason I want to check this doctor out is, he's the closest surgon near MD that does the surgery lap!
UPDATE 3/16/01
Bad news! I received a call from Dr. Sweitzer's Washington, DC office and he is no longer woking with George Washington hospital. His soon to be new location is Baltimore, MD and he will be with Sinai Hospital sometime in June. When I asked if I could reschedule my appointment with him they told me I need to call the Baltimore # (410) 601-5843. I haven't called them yet, but I will and I'll give you an update then.
UPDATE 3/20/01
I found a new doctor who does the DS lap, his name is Dr. Vanguri and he's located in Baltimore, MD (410) 529-7500. I left a message to schedule a consult and hopefully I'll receive a return call this week!
UPDATE 4/02/01
I have a physical scheduled for April 26, 2001 with my PCP. She said she won't give me a referral to see any WLS until I have this appointment. My first consult with Dr. Vanguri is scheduled for May 10, 2001.
UPDATE 4/16,2001
Dr. Vanguri's office called last week. He is going to be out of town for most of May, so they want to change my appointment to April 19, 2001. This should be great news but it could cause a problem because it's one week PRIOR to my PCP appointment and she was very clear that she would not give a referral prior to my physical. Someone told me to check if she will backdate the referral date, her office told me *no way!* Great! Now what am I going to do? I'm getting very fustrated! Will I ever get this WLS?
UPDATE 7/24/2001
Due to an auto accident on April 28, 2001 I've been out of work on leave without pay for 12 weeks! I'm improving, but still having pain. I returned back to work yesterday 7/23/01. I really wanted to have WLS over the summer, but it looks like I will have to wait until next year to get the time off work : (
UPDATE 10/29/2001
I made it to my FIRST consult today after many failed attempts! I met with Dr. Elariny in Arlington, VA. I got lost and had to call three times for directions. Mrs. Elariny was very helpful in helping me find my way to the office. My first impression of Dr. Elariny was a good one. I think he has very kind eyes. I asked him if he ever had a weight problem. When he answered "no", I asked why he does WLS. He said he got great results the first few times and he was very excited to find this tool to help people. The only thing I didn't like about the visit was how he arranged a group meeting that took hours! I think it was good to hear other pre-ops questions, but I would have prefered to research all on my own and get in and out of there quicker! Dr. Elariny barely skimmed over "after care", basicly just saying a few workds about the importance of protein and vitamins. I don't belive his aftercare program is very structured, but I expect this area to improve with time and experience.
I already knew 3 people who had weight loss surgery by Dr. E, and all raved about what a wonderful doctor he was. At my first consulation, he was sooo focused, he wanted to make sure you really understood each different surgery, and the risks involed with each one. People may say that you are taking the easy way out... but there is a lot more to the weight loss than just the surgery. For the rest of my life I will always have to monitor nutrition, and lifestyle. Then met with you to decided which surgery would be best for you.
Has my impression of him changed.... YES, he has gone from someone who was going to give me a chance to be free from fat... to my life safer. Only being one month post op, I feel absolutely wonderful. I am 23 years old, and I actually feel like it, instead of being 23 in a 60 year old body!
Dr. E is a busy doctor, and if you expect to get a call back in 10 minutes... think again, but never even with the minor complications that I had, feel like I had been left to the curb. I called his office at 7 one night, and HE answered the phone... He really cares about his patients, and it shows.
To me... he is the BEST doctor a person could ever want. I had my procedure done lap, and have 5 very tiny scars....only 1 of them measures 1 inch. When I was in preop waiting to be takin back to the OR, and intern studying under Dr. E said that he was here to study under him because he is "the best." To me that says it all.
Dr. E holds a support group meeting once a month at fairfax hospital. At first it was disorganized... but from the help of some wonderful post-ops it is very well run now. Dr. E is present when possible, and he also runs a pre-op thing before hand. There is also a yahoo group for Dr. Elariny's patients, both looking for the surgery and post ops... and that has been the most invaluable tool too have.
I was very impressed with Dr. Elariny. I learned so much from him about my surgery, and what my options were. I like that he lets you choose how long your connections will be, so you can customize the operation to yourself. His office staff was so nice and helpful. Oksana is an insurance WIZ. She really knows her stuff! Shauntae is very thorough (and patient!). I have read the negative comments about Dr. Elariny on this site, and can't believe someone would waste their time on such negativism. I have never encountered a more caring physician than Dr. Elariny. (Even when you page him on the weekends!) He truly cares about his patients, and his staff does an incredible job considering the overload of work they have. Please go see him for yourself-don't let others opinions influence your decision. You could be missing out on the chance of a lifetime! I would recommend him to anyone.
He was very caring and nice. He was thorough in what surgeries he did and the risks associated with them. I would recommend him to anyone. Shauntae, the office manager, was very patient and nice to me. When things went crazy, she jumped right in and helped me. They were very caring and sympathetic to the plight of the overweight.
Very happy with him and his office.
Had my 1st consult on 1/10/01. I believe our consult group was the 1st to use a video made by the staff to discuss the various surgeries available as well as expected results and possible risks, etc. During the video the doctor came out and checked on us to make sure things were going smoothly. After the video he addressed questions both generic to the surgeries and specific to individuals in the group. After all the questions were answered he met with each of us privately to go over our file as well as discuss what surgery we were interested in and why. Dr. Elariny gave me a stong sense of caring about my choice and wanted me to have the facts before deciding. After weighing several of my health factors I agreed that a sleeve gastrectomy would allow a good deal of initial weight loss and could be followed with a DS if desired after I had reduced some of my comordities risk.
I was approved for the sleeve gastrectomy on 10/18/01 and have a surgery date of 11/29/01.
I would love to hear from others to help remove some anxiety!
I have the BEST doctor in the whole world! Dr. Elariny is the best. He is VERY knowledgable and professional.
My impressions only improved after I met with Dr. Elariny.
Dr. Elariny's staff are all wonderful and professional. I had a lot of contact with Shante, and the others. I have nothing but good things to say about his staff.
I liked everything about Dr. Elariny.
What I would like people to know about the doctor is this. He is on the cutting edge of bariatric surgery. The doctor is always studing this issue and trying to learn more about morbid obesity and weight loss surgery. I am very impressed. He is in a teaching hospital, he has interns and others involved in reasearch and delevelopment involved with his programs. Dr. Elariny is always teaching and learning about morbid obesity and weight loss surgery.
He has a wonderful aftercare program which he emphasizes strongly. I was instructucted by the doctor to keep up with my program and sent me home with detailed instructions.
Before you meet with Dr. Elariny he has a group meeting with all who are interested in this surgery. He answers many if the questions you have at that time. Later he meets with you individually and answers any questions you have. Before surgery, he goes over all or any concerns regarding the surgery. He will inform you again about any risks.
Over all, I rate Dr. Eliarny 100%.
He is excellent in surgical competence and bedside manner. I would referr anyone to Dr, Elariny.
Dr. Elariny is a soft-spoken, matter-of-fact guy. He's hot into chit-chat and he's not condescending. He has a good sense of the alienation fat people have from the medical establishment.
He just did what he needed to do during my consult, took the time he needed to answer my questions and didn't appear impatient.
His office staff are friendly. The office, though, could use a little remodeling so that he has reasonable exam room and consult space. But I was perfectly happy with the experience. I didn't have to waste time boo-hooing over how awful it is to be fat, he just took the facts and didn't in any way act paternalistic or condescending, which would have irritated me.
He addresses the risks of surgery adequately - enough to actually scare me! But this is good - I wanted all the facts.
Heads up, Elariny patients: going to this surgeon could be hazardous to your credit rating. Yesterday, I received my first and only bill from him--with the dunning notice that it was ">120 days past due"! How can a FIRST bill be overdue on its arrival? I saw Elariny for a BPD/DS consultation in December 2000; he did the pre-op work the following January. We then parted. In July 2001, Elariny billed my insurer for the consultation and pre-op procedures. Of course his office sloppily coded the bills as "treatment for obesity," and BCBS turned them down flat. Elariny's office had not communicated with me at all, and had not asked my assistance, but I wrote to BCBS on my own initiative and the bills were paid in August. Elariny then proceeded to bill BCBS again for the office visit and scopes for which BCBS had just paid him, and when BCBS rejected the bills as already paid, he dispatched to me his first and only bill for my deductible (he isn't a BCBS preferred provider), with its bald declaration that it is more than four months "overdue." The bill itself disproves its own claim of lateness, as it doesn't list any prior billing activity. I just talked to Elariny on the phone, and he defended the "overdue" notice on the ground that the insurance company hadn't paid him promptly (why didn't he bill them promptly, or properly?)--and then this prince among men hung up on me. So look out: if you're planning on applying for a mortgage soon, think twice about Elariny.