Leonard Benitez Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

I had my surgery March 2002 weight was 250lbs.
Since surgery I have had 3 children and my current weight is 145lbs.

My life has changed tremendously, I met a great guy, we got married and had a family. I feel very confident, I went back to school and became a nurse and recently received my master's degree.

Gasteic Bypass saved and changed my life. I had very minimal postop complications...I have zero regrets.

Thank you Dr. Benetiz

Dr. Leonard Benetiz is the best. I include all I interveiwed in this. I spoke to and visited 11 doctors before choosing him.

He has saved my life and I am indebted to him forever for his skill, compassion and care.

I am recommending him to anyone and have a great deal of knowledge on Florida doctors. There are many good ones but he is the best.

My first impression of Dr. Benitez was he was laid back and easy to deal with. As I listened to 2 of his info session I began to see not only is he easy to deal with, but he speaks not only from a medical angel, but also from personal experiecne, this is what made me decide that this is the Surgeon I would like to check into doin my WLS. When I first heard him speak at an info session it was thru another Team of Docs, and I found ALL the staff that were present very professional yet very imforative, most of them I met either had the surgery or were married/datin someone that did. So at this point the part I least hated about him was that he was On the East Coast..BUT....woooohoooo he is in the process of movin his practice to Fort Myers...which I think is a good choice..ok ok im being unfair huh...LOL...but Welcome to Fort Myers Dr. Benitez and his Staff, which when I stoped by the office to get some papers the Staff was very friendly and informative. I will be attendin yet another info session, which for me is just fine, learn more and more as I go and I wanna know what is expected from me at time of surgery...ALL SURGEONS are Different in there programs. From what I understand with my brief encounter at the Office of Dr. Benitez with the staff, he will be havin mind body and soul aftercare and this is a very BIG PLUS...im excited can u tell im ramblin..LOL..When I was serachin for a doc. I needed to have surgical competence but I also needed to have a doc who looked at patients as more then just another $$$$$ in the buckett and would be able to be show a lil empathy toward the patient..Well Dr. Benitez puts me at ease so far so this is the cross road I have came to, now I have choosen the path and travelin with a smile...wooohoooo...We be slimin down now!!
This is my impression of Dr. Benitez and staff!!!...again Welcome to Fort Myers, I been waitin..

i liked him immediately. he also had the surgery in april of 2002. like him even more. he's warm and caring. the office staff is also helpful since most of them also had the surgery. can't think of anything i don't like about him. already mentioned that he also had the surgery within this last year. yes. oh yes everyone is told about the risks from day one. rate him on a scale of 10 -- 10. both are great.

He had the surgery himself so I thought that was a very positive thing. He seems very sure of himself, friendly but kind of quiet. The office staff is absolutely wonderful. Most of the staff has had the surgery. They have a very structured program for aftercare. They have meetings and they even take you on trips to the grocery store if you are someone who has a problem choosing the proper things to eat. They also have a chaplain for spiritual guidance. I think this is a very competent surgical group. They have a very high success rate.

WHEN I FIRST MET DR BENITEZ, IT WAS DURING AN INFORMATION SESSION (WHICH IS REQUIRED BY US BARIATRIC) HE HIMSELF HAD JUST DONE THE SURGERY, WAS FEELING GREAT TOLD US ABOUT HIS OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. VERY DOWN TO EARTH MAKES YOU FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE.
HE PTACTICE WITH 4 OTHER DOCTORS- (MICHAEL PEREZ,DOUGLAS KRAHN,DAVID DIAZ,ROBERT MAREMA), THE STAFF IS ABSOLUTLY WONDERFULL.
THEY HAVE A PROGRAM LIKE NO OTHER I HAVE RESEARCH THIS PROCEDURE FOR ABOUT 8 MONTHS AND THEIR PROGRAM IS LIKE NO OTHER.
SUPPORT GROUP, WELLNESS, NUTRITION, PSYCHOLOGY, SPIRITUAL,
WORKSHOPS THE WORKS THEY DO THE SURGERY AND HELP YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
THEY WORK WITH HOLLY CROSS-HOSPITAL IN FT.LAUDERDALE, FL. THE HAVE DEDICATED ALL THE SPECIAL NEEDS FOR BARIATRIC PATIENTS.
I TRUST ALL THE DOCTORS AND THEIR STAFF COMPLETELY, THAT IS VERY IMPORTMANT FOR A FAST AND SUCSESFULL RECOVERY.

I have changed surgeons to Dr. Benitez. I feel much more confident with this group and like their mind, body, spirit approach. Very thorough and caring. Office staff is wonderful and remembers who you are after first visit.

I had met Dr. Krahn at Celebration Hospital in Kissimmee during an informational resouce meeting that is mandatory.
He was very open and addressed all questions completely.
I set up an appointment and drove the 3 hours to Ft. Lauderdale to see him as the office in Celebration is not up and running. After meeting with him, he agreed with other Physicians on the need, I immediately scheduled the remaining appointments with the Pshycologist(sp), Cardiologist and the Pulmonolgist(sp). I saw all of them on the 1st of May.

Dr. Krahn advised me that he would either do the surgery in Ft. Lauderdale if Kissimmee was not ready, whichever comes first.. I'am alittle inpatient and would like the office staff to at least acknowledge the messages I have left x6 to advise on the next step....... I 'am just wondering if it is because I have medicare??? Will keep posted of new events.
05/13/02 Spoke with Elana (sp).. this am.
My new surgeon is Dr. Leonard D. Benitez. He had surgery 7 weeks ago himself. Not met with Him will meet him On 5/21/02 for Pre-op

1-19-02 Well guys, I met the doctor at a support meeting an have decided after all this time to finally choose Dr. Benitez. He sturck me as very knowledgeable and friendly. He is in the office with Dr. Marema and I do not believe he would be if he were not competent. I wanted Marema as I know him but he is sooo busy it would be a long while to wait and I am not sure I can. I am ready. I will set it all up next week.More later.