Kenric Murayama Bariatric Surgeon MD

Dr. Murayama is a very sensitive and warm physician. His skills as a surgeon is impecible. He has excellent communication skills and his staff all respect him. He is no longer in Chicago as he has relocated to Hawaii.

My first impression of Dr. Murayama was, "Uhmmm he is cute"!!! Really though, I was very impressed with his knowledge and how many patients he has had. Dr. Murayamma is awesome. I felt like I had hit the lottery after my first consultation with him. I thought, "I know I am a winner." He and his staff were so nice and caring. Not once did I feel slighted in anyway. Dr. Murayamma was recommended to me by many people, including my insurance. I am happy I made the right decision in selecting him as my surgeon. He is so caring, positive and patient.

My first impression was is wonderful and patient. He answer all my questions and explained everything in detail. His nurse Roseann was real nice and told to call anytime I have a question. He just told me take this surgery is not a cure, just a aid to help to keep the weight off. He explained all the risk. That I should attend the support groups.

I had my visit with Dr. Murayama at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on January 10, 2003. Dr Murayama's session started with a YOUNG dr. who explained all about the surgery to me. He was very thorough and even a pretty good artist I might add. Dr. Murayama came in immediately afterwards and asked if I had any questions. Not that I am a know it all but I was so well prepared and probably overwhelmed I really had no questions. He seemed genuinely concerned about my needs and had a nice friendly manner about him. He examined me and said I'd be a good candidate for the lap and that was just about all I needed to hear. His staff came in to talk to me about "what happens next." Unfortunately, even with quick approval it looks like surgery will be in April sometime. Over all it was a very informative and friendly visit.

Dr Murayama is wonderful. He is extremely polite. He asked me if I had any questions and answered them. He then explained the surgery, afterwards asking if I had any other questions. Actually, he made me feel quite at ease when I told him about some of the other abdominal surgeries I've had and he said this one shouldn't be as painful. I'll let you know on that one.
I don't care to have to wait 2+ months to have surgery, but I guess he is busy. My hope is that they get my approval quickly (I've already been in touch with insurance) and that someone else cancels.
I don't think I'm more important, just anxious to get going on this. I've been doing research on this for about 2 years and began the actual process July of last year (2002).
Dr Murayama's staff is pleasant beyond all measure.
I don't particularly care of the feeling of being on an assembly line, but think that is partially just my perception and not the way things really are. Afterall, when someone has done this procedure (or anything) so often, how can one expect them to act as if it's something new.
Anyway, Dr Murayama gave me a lot of confidence with this surgery and is satisfied that I've realized it is only a tool and not a cure. I believe we probably talked about 20 minutes. Seems like not very long, but then again...I've researched so much of this already.

His office staff is great. Their very friendly as well as he is. I wanted Laposcopic suregy, he was reccomended to me from the wellness center at Northwestern. I also wanted an all inclusinve program with help beforehand as well as after surgey and this center provided that for me.

I met him at the Northwestern Networking group, which is the group that they have before you have had suregy and then at my visit. He seems kind and very honest. He tells you the pro's and con's.

I hope he has surgical competence, his office has done about 150 of them this way.

Dr. Murayama is great. He is the head of lap surgery at Northwestern Memorial. His nurses and administrative staff are top-notch...helpful and friendly. They made things painless for me. Dr. Murayama was comprehensive and straight forward in the delivery of information and was willing to spend what ever time I needed to respond to questions.

Before you can see the Surgeon on Northwestern, you have to go through the Wellness Center for evaluation by 3 professionals: the doctor (Mine Kushner), the nutritionist and phycologist. Once they agree you are a candidate, you may make an appointment with the surgeon.

After care is emphasised by Northwestern. A twelve month program is required with the doctor and nutritionist. A peer support group meets once a month...wish it were more often.

The surgical team (doctor, resident, nurses were great)...The aftercare team (Wellness Institutes) leave a little to be desired. I often feel like I'm being pushed through my 15 minute slot so they can say they saw me and charge my insurance company...wish it were better.

My first impression was great. He was very personable and very informative. Big on eye contact an makng sure that you understand. I felt very safe with him. I am glad he is going to be my surgeon. When our meeting ended he shook my hand and said "We are going to take good care of you"
They have a very structured after care with there being a lot of emphasis placed upon it. It is through the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
I am still waiting for insurance approval.
So I can't rate him totally. So far so good.
Overall I was very impressed with the Wellness institute. They do everything, Psych eval, dietician, support.
I did have one negative experience. The first doctor I met there, Dr. Kirchner, in my opinion was not very caring. He, In our opinion seemed put off by our questions. I had my sister and husband with me. We had lots of questions. We were inerviewing them. Deciding if I wanted surgery at all and if I wanted them to do it. He seemed annoyed and he said "You shouldn't be worried about those things now. You should be deciding if you want to have your digestive system changed for the rest of your life".
We were interviewing him. In doing so we wanted to know statistics and other facts which would help me make my final decision.
I don't wish to see him again.
Everything else at the Wellness Institute was great.
These are just my own personal impressions from my own personal experience. I am not mking any statements about what others may experience. The above is just my experience.

Very nice and understanding.

I can't say enough about Dr. Murayama. I liked him right away when I met him in my pre-op consultation. He was warm, informative, told me about the complications and risks, explained everything. He told me about himself, and the other surgeon he partnered with, they do it as a team. Dr. Murayama is a lap specialist, as well as an excellent GI surgeon and has performed the RNY for a year now. He teams with Dr. Pestowski, who has peformed the RNY for three years. I thought this concept was outstanding.

When I developed a complication a week later, a more uncommon intestinal reaction (an internal hernia caused my intestine to bunch up behind my stomach), I became even more appreciative of Dr. Murayama. He was with me every step of the way. He's an incredibly warm, compassionate doctor - he followed up with me, checked on, reassured me, held my hand, came with me to my endoscpy, everything. He ruled out everything first by conservative treatment before having to do surgery because I was still vomiting and they couldn't see what was wrong. He tried to do it lap, but had to do it open, and I then developed a nasty infection in the incision. Total, this meant I was in the hospital a long time, almost a month. And again, he was with me every step of the way.

His nurses, Susan and Roseanne are wonderful, totally responsive and empathetic. I'm impressed becuase honestly, their case load is enormous. Sometimes the response, communication was slower because of the case load, but never to a point of discomfort. If you feel Dr. Murayama didn't answer all your questions, all you have to do is let him know and he will sit down, and is SO attentive. When I had that second surgery, again, the whole team was with me every step. When I first became ill, and I was ill - in horrible pain and vomiting non-stop - I called and Dr. Karen Denim was on call and she talked me down from panic. When I was still ill, I called back and Susan made things happen QUICK. She pushed my paperwork through - I called at 9:00 a.m. and I was at my upper GI test by 10:30 a.m.

Dr. Murayama also is very team oriented - not only do his patients like him, but so do his associates, and the residents who work with him. And he's the kind of doctor who lets others do what they do best. I even heard good things about him from the nursing staff on my floor and the patient care associates who wheeled me to my tests!

If I had to pick, I would always choose surgical competence over bedside manner. My thinking was, hell, I can get the warm fuzzy stuff from other people, I want the guy doing the cutting to know his stuff. With Dr. Murayama, I got both and felt very fortuante. This week (6/24/02) he is on his way to his first Bariatric Conference. He's a great doctor.

10/15/02 5 months post-op
As of last week, my incision finally closed, including the area where the seroma was. My next appointment with Dr. Murayama is 11/5. He has kept a watchful eye over me during this entire process. The case load at the hospital has grown SO much, even in the year since I first started this process. And yet, the level of dedication just increases - Dr. Murayam attends the monthly support meetings because he really enjoys them.