Anthony Gonzalez Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

THE MAN IS A GOD. tHE STAFF IS OK, AND HE IS NOT VERY FRIENDLY SNF QUITE SERIOUS. HOWEVER, HE IS NOT THERE TO BE MY BEST FRIEND HE IS THERE TO PERFORM A JOB. THIS SURGERY HAS CHANGED MY LIFE. I WILL BE FOREVER GREATFUL TO HIM. HE IS A VERY BUSY MAN AND HIS OFFICE IS ALWAYS PACKED BUT IT IS WELL WORTH THE WAIT. HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING HE IS NICE BLUNT AND HONEST. THE MORNING OF THE SURGERY HE MADE ME FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE . HE WAS VERY NICE AND CALMING. I DIDN'T EXPECT IT. HE PERFROMS SURGERY WITH GOD RIGHT NEXT TO HIM. HE IS TRULY GIFTED!

Dr. Gonzalez is quite personable. He comes across as very knowledgeable and witty, which is good because he puts you at ease right away. Over time you can feel how much he cares for his patients. His office staff is great albeit a bit overworked from the huge volume of people wanting to have surgery. I personally did not find anything off-puting about Dr. Gonzalez. You should know that at times the office wait can be quite long but the staff is working hard to overcome this. He has specific ideas as to how he wants you to feed yourself and yet he is pretty liberal as to how to accomplish this. He really lets each individual patient find his or her own way. He is very very honest and upfront as to what the risks of surgery are and he gives you a blow-by-blow account as to what exactly to expect in pre-surgery and post-op recovery and during your hospital and home recovery also. I would rate him TOPS!!!! If I had to do it again I would go to him hands down, no questions asked, no hesitation. For me his surgical competence was excellent. He has fine bedside manner but is obviously a very very busy surgeon, but no matter he's great.

My first impression of Dr. Gonzalez was that he seemed very young and he was sort of cute. I thought, "how embarrasing this cute guy operating on my fat self". But he was very nice. Spoke very well. I mention that because I have heard other surgeons talk, and some don't sound that good. I think his office is under staffed. They are very nice but they need more stff helping with the phones and answering questions. Overall, my experience has been good. Just remember, PATIENCE!

Dr Gonzalez did an excellent job with my Lap/RNY. NO leaks, no problems and I was home on the 3rd day. He had to fix a hernia at the same time. I go back to him on 10/23 for a follow up visit.

I have to admit, I was a little upset over the 2 1/2 hr wait for his intial consultation which was a group, not individual like I thought, but he was very informative, was clear on any risks involved. I didnt hear much about aftercare, but Iam sure that will come. I managed to see him the same day for a one on one but spent a total of 5hrs at the office. He took his time with me once I was able to talk with him and made me feel much more comfortable about the whole procedure. It was clear the office staff is greatly overworked but they were still were courteous. Dr Gonzalez's office is very very busy, thats what I like the least. Dr. Gonzalez has a good reputation, so does all the surgeons in his group. Iam looking forward to surgery the end of Sept. I will keep you updated!

Dr. Gonzalez is good. He explains everything, although, he didn't have to explain anything to me, because I was very, very well informed. He was amazed :). His staff was curtious and really wanted to help, although getting thru to them was a pain. I understand because they have lots of patients and I am sure they receive hundreds of calls a day. But, they were very good to return phone calls.

I met with Dr Gonzalez. Had to wait a long time approximately 2 hrs. I thought that it was going to be a one to one but it was a group meeting. He was very matter of fact and I felt confortable with him. have a scheduled appt on the 14 th of August . In the mean time I will get my paper work ready. His staff was very courteous. He seems to be a kind person . The only negative is the wait.

<font face="garamond" color="purple"><b>Today is June 19, 2002</b> Went for my follow up appointment. I am 2 weeks and one day post op and have lost 25 pounds :-) Waited 3 hours in Dr. Gonzalez's office! Unbelievable but everything is going so well, so I won't complain. ~Diane~
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<b>Today is May 29, 2002</b> Went into Dr. Gonzalez office with my pre-approval authorization number and all the information he needed. Carmen is the woman who handles all of the insurance side for the doctors office. She was amazed and even hugged me for doing all of the leg work :-) My surgery date is scheduled for June 4, 2002! That is 6 days!! There was a cancellation while I was in there.
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<b>Today is May 8th, 2002</b> I decided to reschedule my appointment with Gonzalez because BCBS is requesting a Psych Evaluation along with a detailed diet history. I would like to have my pre-approval before our next visit. I also scheduled my appointment with the Pulmonary doctor. Both appointments are on May 29th.
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<b>Today is May 1st, 2002</b> I went to the group meeting at Dr. Gonzalez's office this morning. It was very informative and direct. You learn the good and bad regarding the surgery and your life change afterwards. He requests a Psych Evaluation and a Pulmonary clearance. He will give you the name of the doctors he wants you to see. The Pulmonary doctor is no problem he is under my insurance. But the Psychiatrist he wants you to see charges $400.00 for the evaluation. I scheduled it with a doctor in my own network and will give her an outline of what he wants. I refuse to pay to wash someone else's hand. If approved he will get $25,000 for the surgery, I think that is enough, don't you? Again, I was there 3 hours! His office tried to charge me the $200.00, but I only paid the co-payment. BCBS insured me that the visit would be covered. My next appointment (one on one) is May 8th.
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<b>Today is April 26, 2002</b> I met with Dr. Gonzalez on April 10th, 2002 for the first time. I like Dr. Gonzalez's approach but agree with everyone else, the wait is ridiculous (3 hours in the waiting room and 7 minutes in the room)!! Calling his office for an appointment or to ask question is like an act of congress. Be patient and put it on speaker. It is worth the wait thus far. The staff is great, very friendly and attentive to each and everyone. But don't have enough hands and ears for all the patients. I have an appointment with the group on May 1, 2002. He charges $200.00! Because the insurance does not cover the first consultation without pre-approval. So, since I don't have $200.00 to give him I decided to go the pre-approval route and felt it would be best so they would cover it from beginning to end (HOPEFULLY THEY'LL APPROVE IT)!!

5/19/02~ My original surgeon had to be switched. It felt like eternity waiting for my consultaion and now he can't see me on the scheduled date because of some restructuring in his office. So rather than to continue waiting for a further date, I chose to have my consultation with one of his colleagues. Dr. Anthony Gonzalez is my new choice. 3½ weeks to start this venture.
6/12/02~ I met Dr. Gonzalez. He vivacious and eager to explain every detail about Weight loss surgery. I am happy the lord chose him for me. He is very knowledgeable in the matter and made me feel very comfortable and at ease towards all my worries and skepticism in refernce to going ahead with this option. I am now more willing than ever to do this drastic meassure.

I have met with Dr. Anthony Gonzalez twice, the first time in a group setting and the second time for my personal consultation. I really liked his personality. He doesn't pull any punches and tells it just like it is, no sugar-coating from him. His office staff is awesome. The only thing that I didn't like about my visits (both times) with Dr. Gonzalez was the wait. It was HORRIBLE. But, obviously it didn't shy me away from wanting him to be the one to operate on me. Aftercare is very important to your success from what Dr. Gonzalez preaches to us. I attended one of the support group meetings that is held at a local hospital that he recommends highly. I learned quite a bit from that one meeting. I plan on becoming very active with the monthly meetings. From what I can tell so far, I would rate Dr. Gonzalez and his knowledge about this surgery a "10". Let's hope I can give him the same rating after surgery, but I believe I'll be able to.