Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery Associates Bariatric Center

I met with Dr. Higa on 1/14/04. He was very laid back and very nice. He was honest about the surgery and took the time to hear my questions and concerns. He was very upbeat and made me feel very relaxed and comfortable to have him as my surgeon. He basically told me that it was better for me to start planning now for my eating changes. What more can I say. I feel like I'm genuinely in good hands.

MY FIRST IMPRESSION OF DR. BOONE WAS BOY ISN'T HE HANDSOME. OVER TIME I REALIZED HOW KIND AND CARING HE WAS, AND HOW COMFORTABLE I FELT WITH HIM.
HIS STAFF WAS VERY KIND. HE REALLY DIDN'T ADDRESS THE RISKS OF SURGERY

I meet him on 1/08/04

Dr. Higa was well imformed and presented well during my initial consult. I was impressed with his source of knowledge and confidence with regards to WLS. Great sense of humor and bedside mannerism. It appeared that Dr. Higa was motivated, honest, and supportive about my descision to seek WLS. Dr. Higa provided me with a referral to psychologist in town and was really honest about the following steps (i.e., psych. eval, insurance approval/denial, risk to the WLS,etc.).

Dr. Higa has a rare combination of warm bedside manner and superior technical skills. I was impressed with his knowledge, breadth of experience, and deep personal interest in the field. His office staff are friendly, sometimes harried, and waiting room times can be 45 to 90 minutes, which is a real downside. The pre-op education is limited to a booklet on the procedure, and they give you post-op diet instructions only a week before the surgery. In my opinion, this is insufficient in comparison to other bariatric education programs I have seen offered by other surgery practices. However, Dr. Higa's excellent surgical competence far outweighs the minor pitfalls in his practice. I would highly recommend him.

I met Dr. Boone when my husband had his surgery in May 2003. He was on call for his associate Dr. Ho. I liked him right away. He checked my husband for a leak. Dr. Ho was going on maternity leave in July so I switched to Dr. Boone at that time. We have no complaints at all with either Dr. or the staff. Once you get your consult they take your calls right away. They have monthly support groups every month at St. Agnes. I live in Bakersfield so I have not attended any thus far. Robin Dr. Boones nurse had the surgery herself and she is great. I would highly recommend Dr. Boone. His bedside manner is great and surgical competence is a 10. I had no problems what so ever.

My first impression of Dr. Higa was that he is extremely personable, funny, sincere, honest & hard working! He has proven to be all of the above and then some. I truly admire his dedication to his patients and how he made me feel like I was the only one he was caring for. I never felt like he was too busy for my questions. And Alice, what a Godsend! She's his right hand and I just love her. I even had a weekend panic and the oncall doctor, Dr. Bruce, was very accomodating & met me at the office on a Sunday after noon to clean out an infected incision & prescribe a heavy duty antibiotic. I got two calls from the office on Monday to see how I was feeling..... This group of doctors and nurses truly are 'caregivers'.

He was wonderful. He was so patient in answering all of my pre-op/post-op questions. And, he was very patient with my Mom who also had her list of questions. I am 2 1/2 years post op. I feel like I have been re-born. I have had no post-op complications. I have lost 152 lbs. to date. I am now waiting to start down the plastic surgery path - with my tummy tuck scheduled for 1 Dec 2003. My WLS date was 5/15/01. This is now my "re-birthday".

My first and only impression (only met him once) was a good one. He came in and was very nice. He asked me right off the bat "what can I do for you"? I told him that I wanted to see me look like how I feel inside. Told him Im shocked when I see myself in the mirro. He laughed and understood and told me he could help me. How awsome is that. Ive never even thought that someone could help me. He is a very imfomative and well trainied doctor.

Yes I have met with Dr. Higa and let me tell you he is with out a doubt the BEST THERE IS!! need I say more? Dr. Higa treats you as if he has known you all of your life. He answers your questions honestly and then gives you the opportunity to ask more. after your surgery he is right there to check up on you and to make sure EVERY THING is going the way that HE wants it to go. I would reccomend Dr. Higa to anyone in the state of California looking to have this surgery he is the GREATEST.
Lucy Whittle