The Surgical Weight Loss Institute of Kansas City Bariatric Center

The first time I met Dr.de la Torre he was very nice. He is sensitive, personable and answered all my questions. Every time I've met with him he has been so nice. His nurse, Natalie, is very nice as well. I'm confident in his abilities and have heard a lot of good things about him. He also has several years of experience with this surgery.

Dr. Scott seemed very nice and knowledgable. I have not had any complications since my surgery 2 years ago. I am very pleased with his skills and care. He, and his team, have a well balanced pre-op education for all patients to be aware of complications and lifestyle changes.rn

I originally met Dr. Fearing at the seminar in Springfield in July and because she was new to the MO Bariatrics program in Columbia, I had my mind set on Dr. Scott-as I could check on his credentials and read his comments on line from other patients. Dr. Fearing had the first opening when I made my consult, and I jumped at it, so I could finally get this journey started officially. When I had my consult, she spent 45 minutes with me, explaining everything and going over my knowledge of each and every step of the process. She made me feel completely comfortable, has a great sense of humor (as I joked with her that she was the only person EVER to fondle my fat-so she MUST be special!! LOL) When we were done, I went to shake her hand and thank her, and she hugged me instead. She seems very concerned, knowledgable, and very intelligent. She is down to earth and I felt very very comfortable with her. The program there is very strict and they stress before and after care and you have to walk that line-or jump through the hoops, or you just dont get in. I would rate the surgeon herself an A so far, and the ONLY complaint I have, is not regarding her, herself, but sometimes you have to call the office 10 times before getting your answer to a question or situation....granted, they arent emergencies, but it gets frustrating all the same.rn01/26/07rnWell, I have since had my surgery w/Dr. Fearing and Dr. Scott worked with her-let me say I personally ALWAYS saw my surgeon for my pre-op appts AND post op. I CANNOT stress enough how AWESOME she is! She IS compassionate, understanding AND knows what she is doing. She spends ALL the time with you that you need, you dont feel rushed and before surgery, while I was being prepped, I lost it-and I mean the big time crying-it all hit me at that point and I was scared out of my mind-she saw me before prepping AND she came in and held my hand while they were prepping me on the operating table. I saw her after recovery and then she checked in on me every day-even when Columbia got that huge snow storm and the hospital was on lock-down and she couldnt make it in-she called my room to check on me and how I was doing!! I got sick after my one week check up-and had to see my doctor at home-and her office called to check on me, not once, but twice to make sure I was getting what I needed from the doctors here. This surgeon is truly an angel to myself and my family and I feel one hundred percent confident in her. I could NOT find one thing she could even improve on, except for the front office staff-but thats it!! When I got frustrated back in October regarding ALL the pre-op testing I had to go through, she said to me \"I know it is frustrating, but I do NOT want to walk out and tell your wonderful husband and 4 beautiful children that I lost their wife and mother because I didnt do all the testing I needed to beforehand, I NEVER want to have to do that\" She feels for her patients and truly is a gift.

My first impression of My Doc was great...He was doing a slide presentation for us and could not get the laser light to work and made a joke about putting ourselves in very capable hands...LOL! It put everyone to ease. rnThe staff at DePaul is absolutely the best people. They are all so nice and friendly but most importantly they are very knowledgable and helpful.rnThere are such strict and stringent aftercare taught before surgery, that I feel that I am in very good hands. The risks of surgery were also complete and detailed. rnAlthough I have yet to have my surgery, I feel as if Dr. de la torre and his staff will make this as positive as any surgery can be. rnI do not assume that all people will have all positive things to say about thier experience but so far so good with mine. rn

I only met him once and I got a very good feeling from him. rnI feel he really care about his patients and he knowledge is wonderfull I do know he teaches this surgery to others.rnThe staffs at the WLS are just wonderfull and so much fun to be around with they made me feel so special.rnHis surgical skills are wonderfull and his assitance took care of me and his staff too they prepared us for all after surgery cares and so on I feel really good about this WLS they are wonderfull.

I've only had two brief meetings with Dr. Scott but so far by I like him. The last meeting we had I mentioned that I was having trouble with my insurance company. (My PPO is going to stop covering 100% of the cost of bariatric surgery at the end of the year so they were putting me off even though my case was cut and dried). Dr. Scott recommended that I mention legal action the next time I called, so I did. I was approved the next day. My surgery is scheduled for Dec. 18th. I'll write more after that.

Dr. Roger A. DeLa Torreof Bridgeton Mo. was my surgeon, I thought he was a very good Dr., Yes he does have an aftercar program. He addressed the risks but I had confidence in an knew he was good an I knew I had to do something about my weight and I had a real calm about it, I knew I would be alright. I would rate him a number 10. Even before surgery as they were trying to get my IV started they use a numbing solution so it doesn't hurt so bad if they don't get the first time

Dr. Scott is very nice and professional and helpful to answer any questions I had both before and during and now, after surgery. I felt good choosing him from the beginning, even though it took a little longer to get in to see him. I thought, why mess around, this is my life we are talking about...and this whole thing will affect my family for good or bad--a lot depending on how good the surgeon is. Well he is all that I hoped, and I would recommend him to anyone.

My experience has been great. I went to a seminar where I got to hear Dr de la Torre speak before I had the surgery he is very nice and very knowledgeable. His experience and credentials speak for themself. His office staff is awesome. His nurses are all wonderful. They are as excited to see you succeed as you are. I am now almost 8 months post-op and have had some complications, his staff has always been right there to help me figure out what to do and Dr. de la Torre and his collegue Dr. Scott have performed two more surgeries on me (gallbladder and hernia repair) and were still as knowledgeable and efficient as with the bypass.

Dr. DeLaTorre is an excellent surgeon. My first impression of him was that he was not supportive of the VSG, but willing to perform it for me. He was concerned I wouldn't have the results they've seen with the RNY or LapBand. However, once he was assured I'd done my homework and had made up my mind, he was pleasant and supportive. His staff is a bit overworked and hard to reach, but try to be as helpful as they can when I call with a question. About 10 days after surgery, I called him after hours on his emergency line as I had a minor episode that scared me...he called me back in less than 5 minutes, and was very pleasant. I was impressed with his responsiveness. However, the only downside is I think he needs to educate himself on the issues surrounding the VSG, and begin offering this as an alternative to his other patients so that they are informed of their choices. Since I was the first to have this procedure done in his office, I'm sure at this will improve as he has more VSG patients. They have a good aftercare program they offer. I would opine that surgical competence is more important than bedside manner. He definitely has the former, and is not too bad at the latter overall.