Michael H. Wood Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

Dr. Wood is part of the Liv-Lite company. Before you see the great and powerful Oz, you need to go thru some hoops. You must be a)pre-approved by your insurance company, b) have your psych exam and c) have an H pylori test done. You should first contact Liv-Lite at their 800#, give 10 minutes worth of personal health & dieting history. They will then contact your insurance company for approval. Trust them, they are experts at this. Kudos to Donna Mark for her follow through. Once you have insurance pre-approval, you may call Dr. Wood's office and schedule a consult, and schedule the psych exam and lab work for before the consult. The current procedure for the consult is that they schedule 4 or 5 people at once for an initial run-thru of his procedures, followed by individual consultations and Q&A.
Warning: you should allow at least 4 hours for this. They do not schedule all of you at once, nor do they tell you this is a group consult. Nor do they tell you why you are waiting so long. Bad, bad. When I went, they didn't even have a bariatric scale. Yeah, yeah, they had moved offices, but puh-lease, this seems to be a fairly required item for a bariatric surgeon's office. I had seen Dr. Wood at his monthly 'support' group mtg previous to the consult, so I knew what to expect. He is quiet, courteous, dignified and wants people to succeed. He also has a great sense of humor, but you may not see that immediately. He is very skilled; check his CV. He does address the risks of surgery and answers all questions exhaustively. I rate his surgical competence and his bedside manner as excellent. I felt I was in very good hands, and I was very confident. I did think that, given my medication list and history, Dr. Wood should have been more prepared for some of the medication questions I experienced, however, he was willing to listen to my opinions. Dr. Wood has monthly meetings where the procedure is covered; these are an excellent informational source. These mtgs are always supposed to be the aftercare support mtgs; I think this could be improved. Comments regarding the hospital are found under the rating hospitals section.

I have not met Dr. Wood yet my first appointment is June 14th. I had my first appointment today it was great. I got there 2 hours early because I thought it would take longer to get there. Dr. wood consulted with me and another person at the same time and then we split up for our own consutations and a talk with the nutritionist. Dr. Wood is very knowledgable about the procedure and the after care, he also has a good sense of humor. The office staff was very nice and helpful they got me in 2 hours early and I was on my way home at about the time of my original appointment. I left with a surgery date of 8/26/02.

Although I can't say I came back from my initial consult with Dr. Wood with a warm and fuzzy feeling about him, he was extremely informative, spared no words, was very matter of factly about the procedure, really let you know what he was going to do, and what may happen as a result. I guess one could say, he tells it like it is !! I truly came away feeling as tho' I had chosen the best one to do the job! He is extremely experienced in his field, really enjoys his work, his staff is so wonderful, and so over-worked, God love each and everyone of those gals in his office!

My surgeon was late to our consultation but I understand that he is a busy man. Some of his office staff are really nice and others, one in particular, was very short with me and I did not care for that. He really emphasizes aftercare and the need to drink lots of water. I like that fact that he has a structured aftercare program. He addressed the risks and the benefits of having the surgery very clearly. I would rate him a 10 and that is because I have met with him on other occasions. He is very knowledgable about what he is doing and I feel very comfortable with him.

I first met Dr. Wood at a seminar that his clinic puts on. My first impression, was of a caring, very through person. I am still waiting for my initial one on one consultation..Well I have since had my appointment with Dr. Wood, and also went to another one of his seminars. He is changing hospitals to Bi-County in Warren. So I wanted to check that hosptial out. I have to say that whenever I have had the pleasure of hearing him speak I have come away with new knowledge about not only the procedure, but the science behind obesity. I can't wait for my date!!!

I have had my consultation with Dr. Woods and he went through the whole procedure with me and what to expect and made it clear that exercise and water are very important, also what my risks are and so forth. His staff is really nice and worked with me and the insurance co. to get this approved. There was nothing I disliked about him, as a matter of fact my heart was beating out of my chest cause of how nervous I was, but he put me at ease. He feels that I would be a great candidate cause of my age, weight and co-morbidities. I give him a very high rating,,,,high in the good way!

Well today 4/26/02 is 11 days post op and I swear Dr. Woods and Dr. Sapala are great!! I am so happy I had them as my surgeons and everthing went great and they were great at putting me at ease over any worries i had. They also answered any questions I had too.

I have not met Dr. Wood yet. My consult with him is scheduled for 4/24/02 ~ but I have read nothing but good/great things about him. His office staff have all been incredible, getting my insurance approval and making all appointments for me. They even scheduled my psych eval. Will update after my consult. God Bless!!

4/25/02 I met Dr. Wood yesterday for my initial consult with him ~ and all I can say is WONDERFUL!!! He explained the surgery, including a drawing, went over risks and complications and was very honest and to the point. He is very competent and professional and has this adorable smile that makes you feel very at ease. I couldn't of asked for a better surgeon!!

I have not met with him yet. I have only heard great things about him and his staff as well. I hope for me to have that same impression of them. I will update once I have my first consult with him soon.

Changed Doc's. Haven't met him yet. The office requires you to fax in certain paperwork, and to get insurance approval before your first visit.

Dr. Wood is an exceptional surgeon. My first impression was a good one of him, he was very friendly and still is. His staff is effiecient and sweet. Dr. Wood may start out just like an ordinary surgeon, but he winds up being a friend and over seer. Dr. Wood only wants his patients to succeed with the surgery. He is very time conscience and concerned about your every need and problems if they should arrise. He was very up front with the pros and cons of what could happen during and after surgery. Overall I rate my surgeon on a scale of 1 to 10 Dr. Wood would be a 20!!! :) He's wonderful I can't say anymore or less about him and his staff.