St. Jospehs Hospital Bariatric Center

Dr. Lucas is very honest and to the point. I liked that she did not sugar coat the dangers or the fact that the surgery might not completely take care of my diabetes. She spent an hour with me going over what I could expect post-op and did not raise my expectations at all. I loved her because of her straight forward honesty.

She proved to be an excellent surgeon and even though she was chosen by Kaiser Permanente and not me I am very happy to have had her. Her staff has been very supportive and I feel if I had any questions now that I am post op I could call and get assistance at any time.

She has a very good aftercare program which is incorporated with the Kaiser weight management department. Knowing what I know now I would pick her for my surgery again.

The only issues I had were with one of the staff persons at St. Josephs hospital who did not appear to either understand or want to do the things needed at the hospital for a bariatric surgery patient. (Frankly think she was a little lazy.

The first time I met Dr. Lucas I flummoxed her. I had a JI Bypass in 1976 that was unsuccessful. She just didn't know what to say and ordered a barium meal to check out if what I said was true. When she called with results she was very negative about RNY being successful in any measure for me. I had a second appointment after I decided to go ahead with the surgery. This time she was very personable and upbeat. I really liked her and feel confident in her ability. I did find out that she will not do the surgery alone, I understand because we are actually looking at 3 surgeries in one. The disappointment is that I won't be able to have surgery until the schedules coordinate and Dr. Davis the second surgeon only operates 2 days a week.
The most inportant thing to realize about Dr. Lucas is that she is very conservative in her assessment of a patient.

She is very down business, no chit chat. But she really knows her stuff and she really cares about your progress. she is a general surgeon who performs atleast two wls in one month. She is contracted with Kaiser permanente. She address the risks of surgery very well with percentages. over all she was very down to the point, but that is to be exspected she is a very busy lady.

My first impression was that she was very young. Yes overtime my impression changed. The staff was nice but did not seem invested in the patients. What I liked the least was the lack of time. I only saw her once before surgery and did not feel like we had a relationship. The aftercare follow up has been very disappointing. I haven't been able to see her I saw one of her partners who I did not know. I also was refered to the RD with questions and concerns. Kaiser's aftercare program is run thruogh the weight management program. That program I feel overall is good. I just wish it included a better relationship with the surgeon.

My first impression; she is very confident, caring and friendly.

I feel my first impression was correct.

The staff was very helpful and friendly also.

I can't say that there was anything I did not like about Dr. Davis, she took her time to answer all my questions (whole page list), and she didn't seem rushed.

Dr. Davis is very informative and matter-of-fact. She has alot of experience (22 yrs) and success under her belt (no fatalities, leaks).

She stresses the need for aftercare and did discuss this with me. She explained the steps I will take once my surgery is complete.

Dr. Davis is with Kaiser and Kaiser has a great structured aftercare program. It is basically a continuation of the pre-surgery weight management program.

She addressed the most common risks and did emphasize the fact that they consider this to be a permanent surgery.

I am very impressed with Dr. Davis, I was assigned one of three surgeons at Kaiser and am very happy about the fact that I got Dr. Davis.

I feel that she is competent in both sugical competence and bedside manner. These are my impressions after my consultation, I will not see Dr. Davis again until the day of surgery.

My first impression of Dr. Debra Davis-Merritt is that she is a highly skilled surgeon. A little clinical, but seems to know what she is doing, and that's what matters to me. Her office staff is very efficient, but since it is Kaiser, who really knows if it's HER office staff? Dr. Davis-Merritt was very good at answering all 20 of my questions. She seemed a tad bit offended by the more serious ones, but answered them just the same. At this point in time I would rate my surgeon as a 7-10. At 9 months out with a horrendous scar and no further contact with her, I would rate her a 4-10. Her anatomical know-how is first rate. Her compassion is nil. I have a massive scar and I think it might be because this is a surgery she does not wish to perform. Otherwise, the close wouldn't have been so ragged. It was not a good job. I thought Kaiser emphasized aftercare quite a bit. I was wrong. Kaiser doesn't even know about the absorption trouble with calcium carbonate and how calcium citrate is much easier on post-ops. Once your surgery is done, it's up to you to learn everything. The only decent aftercare they provide is the monthly support group and your 3 months checkups.

After my surgery I would say, Dr. Davis-Merritt is anatomically accurate, but her compassion, bed-side manner and closing skills leave much to be desired.

Sometimes, it seemed as though I was of less surgical importance because it was WLS. She is not a bariatric surgeon, but a general surgeon and seems to resent having to do such a "worthless" procedure.

Dr. Davis-Merritt definitely has technical know-how on the important parts, her stapling and closing skills are not good. However, the surgery has worked perfectly.

Kaiser has an aftercare program for all post-ops, just make sure to know that you are responsible for getting all the important info.

Dr. Davis-Merritt didn't address the risks until I asked questions. Then she was very good at answering although I got the impression she wasn't happy about the questions I asked.

I would rate her 4-10 simply because she doesn't want to do the surgery and it shows.

Her surgical competence was excellent, but her bedside manner was appalling. And I have a terrible scar left. However, because she performed this surgery for me, I have a life that I never dreamed could happen. For that I have to thank her.