James Swain Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

He seems very competent and positive about the possibilities of success. The mayo clinic is wonderful to deal with. It is amazing how many Doctors are patients there.
6-16: 5 months today and I have virtually no scars. It has been amazing so far, I still have a long way to go but as for Dr. Swain, I would recommend him to others.

I work for Mayo Clinic so am somewhat familiar with Dr. Swain. I met with his resident first, Dr. Garvey, who was very nice. Because of am a transcriptionist, he went into detail about the surgery. Dr. Swain feels I will be a good laparoscopic candidate. I also met with a dietitian who went over aftercare thoroughly. Mayo also as a support group that meets monthly and I will be attending that in January.

I was a little worried I would not be approved for the surgery after speaking with Dr. Swain. He emphasized the life change necessary the need for comorbidities for approval. In retrospect, he was trying to make sure I was ready for such a drastic change and had truly considered and explored all the ramifications my such as surgery.

I have complete confidence in Mayo and Dr. Swain.

5-22-01
My first appointment with Dr. Swain will be on July 3rd.

7-9-01
Dr. Swain has been swamped by all of the people that have been waiting to have weight loss surgery. My appointment was at 2:00 in the afternoon and he said he had seen 12 other people that day.

My first impression of Dr. Swain was that he does not have an in depth understanding of the morbidly obese person. He told me as we were ending our consultation that he didn't want me to go out and gain a bunch of weight before my surgery. He wants to know that his patients are committed to the surgery.

I don't know about the rest of you but my weight problems were not brought on by short bursts of binge eating.

I am going through with the surgery because of the confidence that Dr. Swains collegues have in him and his abilities.


8-3-01
I have completely revamped my opinion of Dr. Swain. I went to a group meeting that he spoke at and realized I could not have been more wrong.

His comment about not gaining weight is grounded in fact. During his internship a patient went out and gained 60lbs in the two months before the surgery.

He is extremely knowlegeable about the surgery and what it entails.

I sort of feel like a bozo for my first opinion. I think it shocked me so bad that he wasn't doing scope surgeries that my mind wasn't right during the rest of the meeting.

8-24-01
Dr. Swain has a team of surgeons that he works with. Dr. George (her real last name is Jojornowski or something like that) is really wonderful. She's extremely knowledgeable and personable. She and Dr. Swain really made the surgery as painless as possible.

I think that Dr. Swain has a much better bedside manner than I had anticipated. He is genuine type. And you feel like he really does care. Dr. Swain also shows a high level of commitment by attending the obesity group monthly meetings at the Mayo Clinic.

I really liked Dr. Swain, altough it's a little disconcerting to
have my doctors so young(not that I'm that old..) He answered all my
questions, spoke to my parents (caregivers post op) and was very friendly. He
considereds himself to be a part of a team, together with an endrocrinologist,
psychatrist, and a dietician. He says he's just the tech guy.

Mayo is currently setting up facilities for Lapriscopic surgery, (I had mine
open), and they hope to be up and running by November. They're still
waiting on equipment, personel, facilities, ...

My first impression was very positive. He studied under Dr. Kelly and a member of our support group told us that he saved her foot when another surgeon said it couldn't be done. The surgical staff at Mayo say he is really excellent. The help and support you get at Mayo is excellent. We have a support group that meets the third Saturday of every month at 9:00am outside the cafeteria at the Mayo Hospital (5777 Mayo Blve, Phoenix, AZ). I'll tell you more after I go through my surgery.

I love Dr. Swain. He did an unrelated surgery on me last year and I think he is wonderful. Dr. Swain has great "bedside" manner and a sincere interest in your health and wellbeing. He explained the risks involved with such a serious surgery and the importance of aftercare/follow-up. I trust Dr. Swain with my life, and there's not much more to say about that.