James A. Sapala Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S., F.A.S.M.B.S.

I have not had the pleasure yet but will on July 13. This is July 9 as I write this so it's quickly approaching. This will be my first consult. Insurance has ok'd the procedure so I'm raring to go. Dr. Sapala's office staff have been wonderful to me so far. More after the 13th!

I met with Dr. Jim today. I took a girl friend along since my hubby was stuck at work. He was really enlightening about nutrition and eating and about the surgery itself. He answered all of my questions. My girlfriend who is also ow was ready to go home and discuss with her hubby! Dr. Jim and his staff are great. Very personable. The girls have a lot of fun at work which makes the patients more upbeat. Very, very positive experience. I would highly recomment him. His success rate has been exceptional. He's only had 3% not be successful with the surgery and his morbidity is 9/4500. Odds are well in my favor.

dr sapala has a great personality
and terrific bed side manner.

his lack of concern or it seemed
to me. and he wasn't very imformative

the staff seemed to be helpful at cetain
times.

he was in a hurry to go to the next patient

need to have prepared questions for him

well not alot

there is a booklet you recve after surgery
on the things he would like you to accomplish
he went over all the risks factor involved about the surgery
he great for a surgeon

both are excellence

1. Dr. Sapala was wonderful. Very friendly, great bedside manner. I felt very comfortable with him.

2. Dr. Sapala has been the same each time I have seen him.

3. Very nice and helpful, especially his nurse "Theresa"!.

4. No complaints

5. 100%. Very good about answering questions and telling you what to expect etc.

6. Yes

7. He was very informative especially concerning blood clots forming. Because I have a trach he also put in a Greenfield Filter to prevent any blood clots in my lungs.

8. I can't say enough about how nice and friendly he was and makes you look forward to your next vist with him.

9. Both

well i havent met him , they wont see me un
till i have insurance approval.
3-27-01
i had my consultation today , it went very well i like dr. sapala, he is upfront about the risks, he is also very caring i am glad it will be him doing my surgery.

In my opinion Dr. Sapala is wonderful!

For any J.W.'s considering this surgey, he is a doctor you might want to talk to. He told me he has never had to do a blood tranfusion on any of his patients. He respects our religious beliefs and concerns.

He is very personable and makes you feel like he cares about you and your health. He took all the time necessary to explain the surgery and let me ask any and all questions needed.

He has performed over 4,600 gastric bypasses. He has a great staff. Barb especially is very understanding. Barb and a couple other of his staff has had this surgery also!

I had no problem setting up appts. I saw him 2 weeks after I first called and answered many questions. I was sent a packet of information. An evaluation form for a psyc workup and an order to get blood workup. I got them all taken care of before I even went to see Sapala.

As soon as his office recieves all the necessary information they will set my surgery date. They even asked me if I had a prefered time for the surgery to be done. I chose June as soon as I am off for my summer vacation, since I teach. Won't have to miss any work. And will have the summer to recoup!

Dr. Sapala was recommended to me by two co-workers and in my opinion seems to be a good doctor and knows what he is doing.

Aftercare seems very important to him. And there are some major life changes in eating habits you have to make to have the surgery be a success.

I was impressed with him after going to one of his seminars.
I had already visited with a surgeon at the Bariatric Treatment Center and after hearing and meeting Dr. Jim,
there was no question that I wanted him to do my surgery. Everyone at his office was caring and supportive.
Dr.Jim explained the risks involved and stressed the importance of all the aspects of aftercare.
I have nothing negative to say because I have been pleased with all the aspects of my surgical experiences with Dr. Sapala
I have and will continue to recommend him to others.
Please know this is just my opinion and I'm sure others might have other things to say.

This man has the most enthusiastic and up beat approach to people!! He has made it a joy to
go through this scary process. His nurses
(Barb in particular)made it possible for me to realize my
goal to just get through the pre-op and again
now post-op. I feel totally free to call with
ANY question or concerns!! As for aftercare, I'm afraid it could be better. There is a support group meeting once a month, but I've had no bloodwork done since the surgery. I know I can always call with any questions or concerns, but it seems a bit lacking overall. That's why this site is so valueable to me!

I was very nervous (as we all are) when I went to meet Dr. Sapala and his staff. I couldn't even remember my phone number when I needed to fill out insurance info! However, he is a wonderful man who truly cares about his patients. He is very compassionate about the work that he does and he has a lot of confidence. I trusted him with my life... and here I am post-op to talk about it! The thing that made me feel the best, is that a couple people working in his office have had the procedure. I talked to them to find out the negatives, the positives, how they felt about it. When you can actually see a person that had the procedure done, and see how much better they feel, and they re-assure you what a good choice you have made.. it makes all the difference in the world. When I left his office, I was so excited. My husband and I both knew that I had made the right decision.. no question! The only thing I didn't like was the hospital stay. The nurses were friendly (you know, you get one or two that aren't) but the hospital itself was not as clean as I would have liked and I had to remind them a lot about medication and things that I needed. The Drs there were wonderful and took a lot of time explaining things to me. I am glad I had this procedure and I am particularly glad I chose Dr. Sapala.

Dr.Jim is wonderful. Just one meeting with him and I'd trust him with my life. God has anointed this man with a heart, mind and skill to improve the quality of life of the people with a weight problem. God never half steps at anything, "GOD ALWAYS SENDS HIS BEST!"

Dr. Sapala seemed to be a great person that really cares about his patients. Everyone in his office was friendly and I felt very comfortable while i was there. He explained everything to me, answered all my questions,was very honest and up front with me about the risk of the surgery. I was informed that his office has monthly support meetings that everyone is encouraged to attend and that I will be involved with his office for the rest of my life, between the monthly support meetings and the yearly checkups. I also met Dr. Wood (His Partner) while I was there,He also assists him during surgery, He too was a very nice person. together the two of them have done over 4500 of the "Micro Pouch" sugery's and have only 9 fatalitys. Those are odds that I can live with.Overall to this point I would rate him a 10.The only thing that I was disapointed with was my butt kept getting stuck in his chairs. Being a bariactric Surgeons office you would think that he would get some larger chairs. I guess it's only us big people that notice stuff like that.....