Lloyd Hiler Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

i was immediately put at ease. he was kind, gentle, compassionate and informative. at no time did i feel that he was condesending or not listening to me. i found out later that his fatheer a general surgeon himself, died at the age of 60 at 400 lbs. it is interesting to me that this is a mission for him, he has a very personal stake in helping others.
his office staff and i got off to a slightly rocky start. because they did not call for the sleep study when i went in it was delayed about a month. it is extremely important to me to be able to do the surgery over the summer because i am a widow, teach school and have no sick days saved because of problems with co-morbitities and cannot afford to take time off next fall(we start in mid aug). i am approved but have no surgery date because the surgeon requirs that you sleep with the mask a full 2 weeks before your surgery, no exceptions to decrease your chances of getting pneumonia. this problem with the staff has been resolved but because of it i am 2-4 weeks behind in scheduling. the staff apologized and have been very nice and helpful since but it cannot bring the time back.
i will be attending a meeting of georges angels, the built in support group,in 2 weeks. they did not have a meeting this month because of one of their annual socials and even though i could have gone it was not the way i wanted to start my association with the group. there are nutritional services and a mirade of other services in the center. george cowan heads the obesity wellness clinic at university of tennessee here in memphis.even the name wellness center seems a good omen to me. it is very well thought out comprehensive program and i would highly recommend it. i am having open rny with gall bladder removal and hernia repair, there will be another surgeon as well as dr cowan to cut down on the time of anesthetic and i was told i would be in the hospital for a week after surgery to make sure that i am well enough to go home. the psychiatrist that i was referred to was excellent and i look forward to having him as part of my aftercare team, this was also set up by my surgeons' office. going into this as a highly educated person of 51 i cannot think of a better program. i highly recommend people trying to find a comprehensive program vs a surgeon with no support program.
in answer to the question about the risks of surgery, i had done so much research of my own that i clearly understood the risks so i didn't make him go through it for me and told him what i knew and he concurred, if anything he may err on the positive side but i can see why. he has done approx. 3,000 of these surgeries and his statistics are phenominally good as it pertains to post op problems. i do not believe he has ever lost a patient which is also phenominal when you consider how sick many of his patients are when they hit the table and at what risks we pose because of our weight.
i will be glad to update after my surgery to let you know how i think about the remaining questions.