Scientific Surgical Care and Life-Lyte Bariatric Center

My first impression was VERY busy, VERY intimidating, VERY bright, VERY sharp, VERY thorough, VERY intent on getting this surgery approved by my insurance. I came to realize this man is an exceptional doctor (I'm a former RN, so I should know.) He fights for his patients tenaciously. He cares about them completely. He is very strict as to what he expects from each and every patient. He is too busy to fool with people that aren't going to do what he says. He's fascinating when he actually has time to visit with you. He's a mountain climber!! Not the little local mountains, but some of the really BIG ones! He really intends to take the insurance companies to task over their all too frequent denials. HOORAY!
The office staff can't be beat! Karen is always great, empathetic and funny. Patrick(his physician's assistant), is SO sharp and has so much experience with WLS. He can be compassionate, funny, and let you know when you're messing up and get you back on the right track.
New patients should expect a somewhat harried doctor going over your paperwork in THOROUGH detail, questioning you in detail (better know the answers), and telling you what you can expect if you don't change your lifestyle. He tends to talk non-stop, but will answer questions completely if you're willing to wait for him to take a breath. :-) LOL He is very frank regarding the risks involved and asks you to weigh them against what you're facing now. His mortality rate is less than 0.5% and those were do to their co-morbid conditions, not the surgery.
His aftercare is probably some of the best around. If you follow the "blue book", you'll do great. His follow up care is complete--first 3 weeks, then 6 weeks, then every 3 months until your one year anniversary. After that he would like you to come in every 6 months. He does blood work periodically to make sure everything is where it is supposed to be.
I would rank him at 11-12 out of 10. Some complain about his bedside manner, but he will fight for whatever you need to have the surgery, recover from it, make sure all orders are carried out completely as he writes them. He CARES about his patients! Why this beanpole of a man who has never had a weight problem, should, is anyone's guess.
Competency is most important to me. I might have an advantage having worked as a nurse. I don't fear hospitals, doctors (in general), and feel that Dr. F (as we refer to him) is a very, very busy man trying to do his very best for ALL of his people and may not have time to chat everytime he sees you.

What a man. First impression is that this man knows what he is doing and is ready to help you suceed any way he can.
No change in my impression.
The office staff were very helpfull and courtous.
He tends to be quite abrupt, this is not a truely bad trait.
He do not like to be interupted, and if you do your homework on the procedure and go in with some questions writen down is in impressed.

My first impression of Dr. Flanagan was that he seemed extremely busy, and not willing to put up with anyone wasting his time. The longer I've known him, the more I've realized that the reason he has a tendency to be demanding and forceful is because he wants the absolute best care for his patients, and expects them to do their very best to regain their health. His staff is wonderful. Patrick, his assistant, (besides being a cutie), is very competent and caring, and no matter how busy he is he never rushes through an appointment. His office ladies have had the surgery themselves, so are also a great support system. Dr. Flanagan puts a great amount of importance on aftercare. It is one of the strictest programs, I've heard about. He stresses that with the surgery, he is only giving you a tool. What you choose to do with that tool is entirely up to you. I would rate Dr. Flanagan an 11 on a 1-10 scale. He's wonderful.

My first impression of Dr. Flannagan was that he was the first person that understood what I was going through. My impression of him never changed. He has always been caring. The office staff is great, they make you feel very comfortable. I don't think there was anything that I didn't like about Dr. Flannagan, I was just afraid that I couldn't live up to any expectations, and that I would disappoint him because I hadn't reached the desired goal weight. He is very firm about what he wants you to do to be successful. If there was anything to know about the Dr. is that he is very upfront and sometimes can come across as being impatient with the time you take in answering his questions. He wants the details and not alot of fluff. The "I don't know answers don't cut it". He wants you to answer his questions directly and accurately. Aftercare is a must with him. He has support groups established at quite a few places through out the NW Portland area. He was very upfront about the risks of surgery, but also said about the risks if I didn't have the surgery. I would give Dr. Flannagan a 10. His best attribute is surgical competence. His bedside manner was good, but again he is very direct.

So far I have had one visit with my surgeon. I found him to be extremely informative and caring. I felt I was treated with respect by both him and his office staff. I will have another opportunity to ask questions when I see him for pre-op.

Dr. Flanigan was very clear that this was a major life change, and that to be successful I would have to eat a low-fat, high protien diet and especially to exercise for the rest of my life.

Dr. Flanigan has written the "Blue Book" which is given out to every patient and also to prospective patients. This book explains fully what the surgeries are, the risks, the expectations, aftercare and the patient's responsibilities.

Although my first appointment lasted 2 1/2 hours, I still had many questions. I'm not sure if this is because he did not answer them or I was too nervous to hear everything he was saying.

Very busy surgeon, high in demand. Some people have complained about his bedside manner but I haven't had a problem.

Waiting time for first consultation can take 4-6 months or longer.

VERY strict aftercare which I'm sure is the reason his success rate is so high.

Dr. Flanagan is a very straight forwared person. He is dedicated on helping us who need the help. He listens and doesn't condem you like most doctors do. He is one of the best. His office staff is wonderful. His nurse, Karen, is a wonderful person and very easy to talk to. He follows his patients and has wonderful support groups around Oregon. He is very honest about the risk of this surgery as any other surgery. But what is the risk of being super morbidly obese? Most patients feel his bed side manner isn't the best, but his surgery techniques out weigh anything else. My daughter and uncle had this surgery and I didn't see anything wrong with his bedside manner.

When I first met him he was very busy and still managed to talk to me. Office staff was very helpful. I really liked the walls covered with past patients before and after pictures.

He seemed rather busy, but very informed and did take the time to answer questions althouth I was pretty tense and couldn't think of a lot)
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Office staff is very nice. They've made me laugh at myself a couple of times. I like that. I just wait and they always contact me about the next step.

I will have another session with him right before the operation.

I understand that his aftercare program is righteous. I'll be almost bathing in Betadine! Not much aftercare information yet but I have an appointment to talk over all of this stuff.

He felt there were more tests needed before surgery and postponed it for a few weeks. I feel that is a sign of being very thourough.

So far A-

I feel very good about him operating. I've heard wonderful things about him. I met a man at the pool that had used him and he rated him A+.

Well known for demanding the best from his patients, nurses and support staff. The nurses won't waver one inch in carrying out his orders. They have great respect for him as well they should. He really knows what he's doing. I don't think he's much interested in the on line info we share because he says there is no way to validate who the experts are. his bedside manner is more than gruff...it's intimadating, but i wouldn't let anyone else lay a hand on me for this kind of surgery. his staff is just delightful, from the nurses to the gals to the physicial that assists him. top notch all the way. my advise to future patients...listen to him...he's the expert. don't let him intimidate you-know that he has saved soooo many lives, he probably has a right to have the personality he has...he is ALWAYS right! On a 1-10 rating i would give him a high 12