Hazem Elariny MD Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

I judge his competence to be excelent.
I am 10 weeks post-op without any unexpected problems. If fact I have very few problems at all. (hope it stays that way ;-)

I was a little concerned that I was not experiencing any of the more serious problems others were reporting.

I attribute this to my following his instructions and his surgical skills.

I found his staff to be very friendly and
willing to provide my insurance company with
everything they have requested to date.

Only negative, is occasional long waits for follow-up appointments. At first this troubled me, but the waiting room becomes an impromptu support group. Very helpful to here what others are experiencing. In fact I was left wondering if this was not planned.

I feel strongly that this surgery must be sought out and not recomended, but once that decision has been reached, I would recomend Dr. Elariny to all who might ask.

I beleive that surgical competance is the primary concern in selecting a surgeon, but Dr Elariny is also very personable with a good bedside manner.

My first impression of Dr. Elariny was that of a quiet, thoughtful man who was extremely intelligent. I liked him immediately! My impression of him has not wavered in the least! Dr. Elariny's office staff is very busy but has always been polite and helpful. There is nothing that I have found to dislike about Dr. Elariny. He has a wonderful program that addresses every type of bariatric surgery known to man I believe. He is probably THE TOP SURGEON IN LAPAROSCOPIC BARIATRIC SURGERY!!!!!!!!!! I had close to 2 hours of adhesions to get thru. Most surgeons would have thrown in the towel and just cut but not Dr. Elariny. He taped my surgery and I was VERY impressed with what I saw. I am a nurse so I knew what he was doing every step of the way. Dr. E has a very good post op program not only with follow up care but support groups as well.If I had to rate Dr. Elariny it would be 100% +++++++++++. I could not have been more fortunate than to have had him as my surgeon. His surgical competence far exceeds any other surgeon in this field. His bedside manner is wonderful. He makes you feel that you are the only patient he has. I thank God every day that I found him!

12/18/02 - Made it home after a whirlwind trip down to Arlington, VA. My dh and I attended Dr. E's support/info session last night and were really impressed with him. He completely explains in detail all of the procedures he performs - the pros/cons of each and distributes handouts w/all the info. We then went to our hotel - where I had a sleepless night anticipating my appt. this am!! Surprisingly my appt for for 11 and we were seen a bit after 12 - we were ready for a long wait - as I had read that he typically runs late. The consult wasn't as long as I thought it would be - a few ?'s from the doc - a review of my forms I filled out, quick look at my belly and a few more ?'s - quick - easy and painless!!! I think we were only back there for about 15 minutes - but it was all the time we needed!! So now we wait for ins. approval and luckily Dr. E said he has had good response from my ins. - Cigna PPO - so now we wait for an approval and a date!! I would recommend Dr. E to anyone who is interested in learning more about WLS. The staff at his office and friendly and helpful as well!! I'll keep updating as things happen.

I THINK DR ELARINY IS A WONDERFUL SURGEON. I AM REALLY HAPPY WITH THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF MY SCARS. HE IS VERY BUSY HOWEVER THE OFFICE STAFF IS QUITE GOOD VERY BUSY AS WELL, BUT THEY DO GET AROUND TO CALLING YOU BACK. I GUESS BECAUSE HE IS SO BUSY YOU MIGHT GET THE FEELING HE DOESN'T CARE BUT HE REALLY DOES.IF I WAS GOING TO HAVE THE LAP I WOULD DEFINATELY RECCOMMEND DR ELARINY, YOU WON'T BE SORRY.

I narrowed my list down to two doctors, Dr. William S. Peters in Peckville, PA and Dr. Hazem A. Elariny in Alexandria, VA. I had consults scheduled with both doctors. Each works very hard to make sure you understand all the procedures they do and asures that you understand the possible side-effects and potential complications.

I chose Dr. Elariny because he does the lap DS and I feel that that is a better surgery for me. I have a very bad back and have been totally sedentary for a long time. Recovery seems like it will be slightly easier with a lap surgery. Also, Alexandria is slightly closer to where I live now and I know the area because I used to live there.

His office staff has a reputation for being unorganized but, other than an appointment having to be rescheduled because of a conflict, I have no complaints. My insurance submittal must have been made the day after my consult because the approval letter is dated 4 business days later.

Future patients should be aware that frequently Dr. Elariny runs late for appointments. Be prepared to wait several hours. It isn't wasted time though because there is a whole waiting room full of people to talk to and all the post-ops I've met shared their experience of surgery and recovery willingly.

Dr. Elariny stresses the importance of aftercare and has a regular monthly support group and there are currently 3 private weekly support groups meeting in the area. I like it that he has a nutritionist on staff for pre and post surgery consults and problems.

Dr. Elariny's surgical competence is tops, over 300 surgeries with no deaths and he does everything lap. That is much more important to me that office organization. He really listened to my concerns about my back pain coupled with the pain from the surgery and is addressing the issue.

I have an appointment with Dr Elariny for December 18th.
I have met Dr. E during the group introduction session at Northern Virginia Community Hospital. The presentation of information was extremely useful, and confirmed the surgery type I wanted.
I can hardly wait for the initial consult.

UPDATE:

I met with Dr. Elariny on June 12, 2002. He sent me to have many medical tests which revealed that I am healthy enough for surgery. I was quite impressed with Dr. E and look forward to having him perform my surgery.

The only negatives I have to report are the office is very small, the staff is overworked and Dr. E is almost ALWAYS late for appointments. Some times, many hours late.

Dr Elariny is my hero. His dedication to his skill and his patients are obvious at the first meeting with him. He talked with me several times via telephone prior to meeting with him, and the surgery was a trouble-free experience. He has a friendly and helpful staff, who doesn't mind answering any questions you have, or helping you with anything that they can. He has superb surgical competence, and an even greater bedside manner. His patients really matter to him. He gives a great detailed sheet for aftercare, and stresses to call if there are any questions at all about anything. He fully addresses the risks/benefits of surgery, and on a scale of 1-10, Dr Elariny rates a 100! Don't take my word for it..join his group and see for yourself!

Dr. Elariny was a jewel. I had decided originally to have the RNY, but changed my mind after a few weeks. I went to see Dr. Elariny and told him I was interested in having the VBG done with the partial stomach removal. I got in to see him within 2 weeks and my surgery was 2 weeks later. My surgery went beautiful. I went into the hospital on Tuesday morning, have my LAP VBG and was back in my room at noon. Never had one moment of pain and went home the next day. Four days later I went back to work.
Dr. Elariny was patient, informative and you can easily tell that he has dedicated his life to these surgery's. I personally thank him for my life back.

While on this site I ran across another kind of surgery "The Duodenal Switch). As soon as I saw it I knew that this was THE surgery for me. I only wish that Dr. Rohrscheib did this type. I really liked him and he is close to home.
My 1st inpression of Dr. Elariny was he really knew his stuff. He was very friendly at the support meeting and stayed after and just talked to people.
The thing I like least is that him and his office staff were running around like crazy.
He definately needs more help. Also I think rooms for each patient would be good.
I truly believe he has gotten so popular that
he can't grow fast enough.
He very much emphasizes aftercare and has his own Nutritionist on staff.
Dr. Elariny does address the risks of surgery. Even tho I have mild sleep apena he still wants me to have a C pap machine ready for use after surgery.
From what I have seen and from his message boards he is an excellant Dr.
I feel surgical competence is definately better but a little bedside manner sure maked you feel good also!!!
These are just my personal impressions of my own experience and that I am making no statements about what other people may experience.