The Denver Center for Bariatric Surgery Bariatric Center

On my initial visit to Dr. Chae's office I was full of questions. Susie was wonderful and put me at ease immediately. Dr. Chae was absolutely wonderful. He sat me down and showed me the visual's of what types of surgery was available and how they would be performed. He was willing to explain everything and answered all my questions. He explained steps from start to finish and also my after care. Kelly was also helpful during the nutition classes.

Dr. Snyder is very much a type A personality but cares very much about his patients. He returns a page as soon as he can, which is usually only a few minutes from the time you page him. He is one of the only doctors I know that hands out his pager number to his patients. I hate to use it but have had to a couple of times due to strictures. He makes sure things happen! I have enjoyed having him as my surgeon.

My first impression of Dr. Snyder didn't change over time, except that post-op, I realized how quickly he spoke and moved and I was worried that if something bad happened, he may miss it because he was in such a hurry. These fears were completely unfounded, however, because my health never suffered from Dr. Snyder's care.

His staff is efficient and very skilled at keeping up with paperwork. I got to know many of the staff on a first name basis and I've never been on a first name basis with my doctor's office.

The thing I liked least was feeling like Dr. Snyder has 10,000 patients and not nearly enough staff to handle that many people. Now that I am 6 months post-op, I can look back and just stand amazed that his staff does so much in such a short period of time. Again, they are really well organized, and the time that you do spend w/Dr. Snyder is focused directly on you. You don't feel like he's focused on the last or the next patient at all. The other thing I didn't like was the fact that there wasn't a post-op bariatric ward at Rose. I had severe muscle spasm's in my intestines post-op and they were painful and scary, and I would ask the nurse - "is this normal?" and the nurse would shrug and say "I don't know." I was in a ward w/other people who'd had a myriad of other types of surgery. Every day, the cafeteria brought me sugar filled jello and every day for 5 days, I asked them to make sure it was sugar-free and they never got it right. It would have been ideal to have had a nursing staff that was knowledgeable in the care of bariatric patients, especially since there were 6 or 7 of us on that floor. My sister had surgery the same week as me and her nurse was giving her advice that conflicted with what my nurse was telling me to do.

Dr. Snyder is THE person you want to have do your surgery. He is intelligent and skilled. You can tell right away that he loves doing what he does for a living and that makes all the difference. Not only is he attentive pre WLS, but he is attentive post, which is most important. This doctor has all of the elements that are vital to a life-altering surgery; skill, awareness, excellent listening skills, outstanding people skills and a real affection for obese patients.

I knew I had the right doctor when he told me that most people go to the doctor because they are sick. Dr. Snyder gets to treat the only people who go to the doctor because they are eager and ready to feel better.

If nothing else, I was informed from the start how important the aftercare was. Dr. Snyder and his staff teach so much and have follow up classes weekly, post-op. This was not only valuable, but fun to meet up with the people you'd met in the hospital and see their progression too. Even now I'm still able to ask questions via a chatroom that meets twice/month.

Dr. Snyder spoke about the major risks of surgery. I'd also studied the major risks. The things I experienced and didn't know about were things like ulcers around the surgery area in my stomach, and strictures. While both of these were awful, I would still have had the surgery because these are short term, not permanent, side effects that happen in a small percentage of patients and can be treated and do heal.

Overall, I would rate Dr. Snyder as the top surgeon in Colorado. His mortality rate is extremely low and his skill is refined. As I said before, this man loves his work and it shows.

For me surgical competence is most important, but with Dr. Snyder, you have the added bonus of awesome bedside manner.

Dr. Chae is absolutely wonderful! He is completely dedicated to his patients and cares deeply. I had consults with 2 other doctors in the Denver area and felt that Dr. Chae was the best.

I am very pleased with Dr Snyder and my surgery results. I know my journey has just began. Thanks to everyone at Dr Snyders office who helped me make this happen. I know the whole team wants me to be sucessful. I realize I must stay contacted to the team and support groups. Overall I was more then satisfied with my surgeron and his team.

When I first met Dr S, I was totally nervous, but he has a way of calming you down. In most medical cases that I have experienced, the Doctors tell you what they want to do and then you decide to do it or not. Dr Snyder tells you what he reccomends and tells you why he reccommends it. In fact, he won't do it unless you have certain pre-operational requirements met, including educational courses, extensive testing and personal consultations with Dr S himself. Going into this, I was extremely skeptical. I went to the seminar and learned a lot more, but I still had questions. I began asking people all sorts of questions. I am lucky enough to work with three of Dr. S's patients so I had my own group for questioning I also used the internet to meet people and get their opinions. When I met with Dr S, he answered all of my rediculous questions and was glad to do it. He gave me a lot of confidence that I can use to make this decision. I also bought "WLS for dummies" and found that it too was very helpful. I reccommend it. It has a plethora of information in it about pre and post op. I liked how open he was about the risks. He told me everything that could go wrong and gave me his complication rate. It was comforting to find out that his numbers are above the national average making it easy to believe that he is one of the best in the country.

I had my first visit with Dr. Chae on 4/2/04. Dr. Chae is a very warm, caring person. Not to mention extremely knowledgable. And he has a great bedside manner! I think he has a wonderful mix of both, and that is exactly what I look for. He addressed risks completely, and answered all of my questions, even questions I had after I had left and had e-mailed to him. His office staff is awesome, very helpful, and spent a long time chatting with me on my first visit.

I finally got approved, and had surgery on 11/17/04. Dr. Chae is waiving his fee, since he is currently out of network. I am so thankful for everything that Susie and Dr. Chae have done for me! If you have Great-West Health, make sure you have everything, be patient, and never give up! Dr. Chae is worth the wait!

Had some issues, but I'm thankful I was approved in time to have surgery before our insurance changed.

My first impression of Dr Snyder was very high energy, a genuine enthusiasm for his specialty and extreme competence. He has a complete team and all members follow his lead. His aftercare program is very well organized and his team, especially his aftercare program director, Kim Delamont, make the program easy to follow.

I am very glad I chose Dr Snyder.

What can I say about Denver Bariatrics and Dr. Michael Snyder? They are the entire package.

My first impression was of an energetic, in-tune surgeon who patiently answers all of your questions. He has a sense of humor which I find is rare with surgeons. My impression of Dr. Snyder was steadfast througout the entire process. As we all know, bariatric surgeons are ridiculously busy...so don't expect a three hour fireside chat with Dr. Snyder. But both of my preop appointments went well into a half an hour each. I can truly say that there was absolutely nothing that I didn't like about Dr. Snyder.

His preop education and compliance process is extensive and comprehensive. Expect him to make sure you have all the answers before the surgery.

The front office staff are so on the ball. If you have to leave a message (which is rare), you can expect to have a return call very shortly after. Dr. Snyder also accepts walkins for immediate postop concerns.

My surgery went extremely well. I had a huge Csection scar (9 inches vertically) from the birth of my twins and a huge ventral hernia. Dr. Snyder was able to successfully do my surgery and hernia repair laporoscopically! Dr. Snyder sits down with you in the preop area and helps you cope with last minute jitters. He reassures you that you are in the best of care.

During my hospital stay at Rose Medical Center I noticed that Dr. Snyder was always on the phone with the nurses station at all hours of the night. Everytime I walked by the station I would hear that Dr. Snyder was on the phone for patient updates. One nurse even commented that he was borderline fanatical about his patient care. He came to see me everyday in the hospital even if it was for just a few minutes to see how I was doing.

Kim Delamont the Nurse Practitioner is excellent. If you page her you can expect to hear right back from her...even if it seems like a minor issue. She even calls in the later evening just to get in touch with you. Her postop classes are comprehensive and geared towards making the best of your nutrition.

I started out my process by seeing another bariatric surgeon in Englewood and had to switch due to unprofessionalism on the part of the front office staff.

I am extremely glad I found Dr. Snyder. I wish I had started the whole process with him in the first place.

Dr. Snyder is clinically superior, funny, compassionate and caring. You can't go wrong.

Catherine Bullock Castle Rock, CO

My impression of Dr. Snyder is that he is a fast moving, compassionate man. He seemed very gentle and concerned with my well being, both mental and physical. I'm still convinced that he is the best bariatric surgeon out there. His staff has been very patient and wonderful. I have no complaints. What future patients should know about Dr. Snyder and his staff is that they are very concerned with you and your well being. Aftercare is extremely important, as well as before care. It's stressed by the staff of Denver Bariatrics. The risks are not hidden. You are educated to know the commitment you're making by having the surgery. I have said before, I believe Dr. Snyder to be the best choice out there.