University of Washington Medical Center Bariatric Center

He is very professional, he took the time to make sure that I understood all the things that could go wrong with this type of surgery so that I was making an informed decision.

He has been a constant cheerleader for my success. He encourages me to exercise more and to use the services of the people in the clinic.

The staff is great and they really seem to care about my success and how I am doing. I met with the dietitian and social worker today. I will be going in to see them every Wednesday for the next few weeks for support and education.

Sometimes he makes me feel like what I am feeling is in my head and that I am only making excuses not to exercise.

If you do what he tells you, you will lose weight. He is very informed and makes sure you understand everything that is going to happen before, during, and after surgery.

He thinks that a person shouldn't have to go through this process alone. In fact he wanted me to bring someone with me to my appointment before surgery so that he could be sure that I had the support of the people in my life.

He has been instrumental in the UWMC developing a support group that will start meeting monthly at the surgical center. The social worker associated with the center told me about the group starting in March. There is also a dietitian who I can call whenever I have a question about nutrition.

As I mentioned above he went into all the possible risks of surgery in our initial meeting. He wanted to make sure I understood the risks and was making an informed decision to have the surgery.

On a scale of 1-10, he is a 10. For the most part he has been exceptional. I would highly recommend him to anyone in the area that is looking to have this surgery.

Even with the two infections in the incision and the long healing time I would do it all over again with him as my doctor because of the support and encouragement I receive from him and his support staff at the Univeristy of Washington Medical Center Specialty Surgery Clinic.

Dr. Flum is the best. He really cares about his patients, especially what they have to say. My opinion has not changed, he is still the best and I would recommend him to anyone. The only bummer part is his clinic is very booked up. And you must excercise and eat protein!!

9/19/03 Dr Oelschlager is not doing the surgery. But <b><font color="red">DR. David Flum <font color="purple"></b>, who is also a surgeon at UW Hospital will be my Doctor. I met him today. He seems to be a very straightforward person. Answered my questions and took the time to discuss problems that might come up because of surgery. Everyone in the office has been very helpfull and I will update this as I go through the steps.