Michael Schwartz Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

Dr Schwartz is fantastic! He is really great with patients. His staff has been really helpful. I was referred to a dietician before surgery because I cannot tolerate Nutrasweet products. She helped me figure out a plan to use Splenda in making my own jello and things like that. There is a weekly support group that I can attend every Tuesday evening at the hospital and that has been helpful. I also saw the dietician in the hospital and have a 4 week out appointment for follow-up as I move into solid foods. Great experience all around and I am thrilled that I waited for him to do it. He is tops in my book!

I had my consult with Dr. Schwartz on Dec. 19. He was great, and so was the staff. Being a health care professional myself, he was very understanding with my concerns and requests. Because they were changing their practice from Vascular to Bariatric, I wasn't able to schedule my surgery date then. They said they would call me the week of January 5, of which they didn't and I had to call them. A delay in my date was because my calcium levels were elevated. They informed my GP, but not me. My GP was on vacation, so I didn't find out until the end of the week. I'm jumping through hoops to get this straightened out, but got a date of April 13, conditionally on the normal calcium count. My GP's test showed normal, and I have one more test on 1/30, which I'm sure will again be normal. This whole mess probably delayed my surgery 2-3 weeks! They're still the best and nicest staff, though.

My first impression of Doctor Schwartz was fabulous, as he was the Surgeon most highly regarded within the Twin Cities. My impression only got better over time, especially once I met him. He immediately put me at ease. I so appreciated his honesty and straightforwardness. His office staff is terrific. Even days post op, when I called at least once a day, each and every person I spoke with had a smile in their voice and never once made me feel like I was an inconvenience. He strongly emphasizes aftercare, with exercise as a very strong priority. I had my first post op visit with his P.A. 3 weeks after surgery and am still waiting to attend my 3 month post op appointment. He was very thorough adressing the risks of surgery - actually, everything was addressed during the intial 3 hour seminar I attended. On a scale of 1 - 10, he's definitely a 10+. I feel very lucky that Dr. Schwartz has both extreme surgical competence as well as terrific bedside manner. He made me feel so at ease the morning of my surgery. I would recommend him to everyone!

Very wonderful approachable and kind man. As a veteran nurse I felt completely at ease. He made me feel as if I was his only appointment for the entire day. He was extremely informative and answered all my questions completely and honestly. I don't mind the wait because I know he's the best.

Dr. Krook is a very nice guy. Easy going and straight forward. He laid everything on the line and drew me a picture describing everything he would be doing. I felt very comfortable from the beginning to end. His office staff is great! Patti (bariatric nurse)is so wonderful and 18 months post-op herself so she is very understanding. I was nervous about the fact that Dr. Krook has done so few of these surgeries but my friend had hers done 2 months ago and is doing great.
Dr. Krook has an outline of expected follow-up visits which include him and the dietician and they have regular support meetings. He was straightforward about the risks and also about their 1 fatality. I would rate him excellent for his personality and ability to get the info across to the patient.
10-10-03 I decided to stick with Dr. Schwartz as I waited so long for insurance approval and when I finally got it, it was for Dr. Schwartz's office. Also, I wanted to go with his experience. He was very nice and offered to answer any questions I had. He told me the experience they had and I felt very comfortable. He asked me if I had any questions for him but never personally gave me the risks or took the initiative to tell me too many details about the surgery.

I have not yet met with Dr. Schwartz, however I am scheduled for a consult with him on Nov. 14'03. Can't wait. Spoke with Judy Schwartz on phone about concerns I have had, she was wonderful.

I really liked Dr. Schwartz. He is wonderful! He made sure that all of my questions were answered, before he let me leave. He made sure to explain all the things that could go wrong and how we handle them, but then made sure that I understood the good things too! He was very informative and saw to it that I understood everything that he was telling me. He didn't sugarcoat a thing!
I feel like I have been on the waiting list from hell, but meeting Dr. Schwartz really made it worth the wait!
His staff was wonderful. All the gals were really nice. Some were very funny and made me feel right at home.
They send you upstairs for blood work and that was the only bad part. The person who drew my blood was not very good at at all. She actually hurt me. I have never had blood hurt before. The bruise on my arm is huge. She really shouldn't be drawing blood!!!
Overall, I feel I have the best surgeon!

Dr. Schwartz and his staff were very helpful and seem to genuinely care about their patients. I was treated with respect and given clear detailed answers to all my questions. He informed me of all my options, their risks and what my possible outcome would be if I followed the rules. He then let me help decide what procedure was best for me.

My surgery went very well and I have had no complications. After my surgery he would not let me leave the hospital until he was positive that I was ready to go home. I ended up staying an extra day due to a reaction to the anti-nausea meds causing me to sleep instead of bein alert and able to drink and walk enough.

I have gone in for 3 week, 3 month and 6 month follow ups with a physician's assistant so far. I would prefer to see him but I am told this is common practice. I will have yearly visits for life. I have not been billed for any of my follow up visits.

General & Vascular Surgery consultants sponsers a support group that has both evening and daytime meetings.

i think dr.schwartz is a miracle worker. my life has changed my life. he is an excellent surgeon. after surgery i was never nauseated, and never once had diarreah. my recovery was so quick that i was back to work in three weeks. i am a nurse on a surgical unit which requires alot of lifting and i never felt a thing wrong with my incision. i know from working with doctors that bedside manners don't make a good surgeon, so i don't judge a doctor by his personality. dr schwartz is
a nice man though, but i picked him do to the fact he had done excellent work on people i had met and talk to about it. dr.schwartz also came highly recommended by one of the surgeons i work with. now as far as the hospital, thats a different story. abbottnorthwestern hospital has to be one of the worst experiences in my life. the nursing staff is less than helpful, the nursing assistant is about the only person you see, and she barely spoke english. for my discharge instruction, nothing was discussed with me, i just asked questions and gone minimal information. a dr. whom had never done a gastric bypass in his life, was my discharging dr. he had no answers to any of my questions, and his best advise was "don't eat to much, your stomach is small now". if it weren't for the fact that i do post surgical teaching at my job, i would have been sol. if we treated our patients the way i was treated at the hospital were i work,we would be fired. i would never have surgery at that hospital again. i think abbott needs to require more from there nursing staff, like person touch and caring adittued.

My first impression:

Dr Schwartz seemed like a very nice and caring guy. I'm not used to meeting with a surgeon only once pre-operatively but I feel comfortable moving forward. It helps that everyone on this site has been so forthcoming in details about him.

He was pretty hands off after the surgery. In fact, I never saw him again after the surgery, not even post op. However, he did a helluva job on me and recovery was a cinch!