Michel Murr Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

I had my first appointment with Dr. Murr on 4-17-00. I was very nervous going to see him as I am a nurse and have always known the doctors that I go too. Dr. Murr was so nice to me. He was informative and appeared to really care about me. The staff in his office were tops. Very friendly and made me feel comfortable. Dr. Murr explained what approvals that I needed and we spoke about my many medical conditions. He has made me totally comfortable in persuing this surgery.
5-9-00 Awaiting second appointment. Unsure when that will be. Martha told me I had to wait one month before second visit but guess he will be out of office until June. Very frustrating getting some mixed messages. Not sure at this time how long this will take and am very concerned over my health and continuing to stay healthy during this waiting period. I have got all my approvals from cardiologist, pulmonary, dietition, psychiatric now waiting on office and meicaid not even submitted yet. Seems slow but maybe its me.
6-29-00 On 6-12-00 I had my second visit with Dr. Murr. I had 2 pages of questions ready for him and he was patient and took his time in answering all of them for me. It is easy to like Dr. Murr he is a quiet but personable doctor, gives you the information that you need. The office staff have all been very pleasent.

My first impression of him was good.Very much reinforces the support groups and wanted to make sure that I understood exactly what was invoved and that I was making the right decision for me. Plus very good looking. (Hey it doesn't hurt) On my second vist he kept me waiting a little while but only because he wants to make sure that everyone is satisfied with all the questions they ask.He spends as much time as nessacary with each patient.and did I mention he was good looking :)

My first impression of Dr. Murr was ok. He was running 2 1/2 hrs. late, so I was just glad to finally meet him. By the time I met him I had such a bad headache from, I guess, high blood presure that I can't remember everything he said. I have done so much research on the internet on this surgery, I feel I am going into this with eyes-wide-open. He did not tell me anything new except that all the "asprin" products that I take will have to stop after my surgery. Well, hopefully I won't hurt like I do after I get over the surgery. Martha, his coordinator is just great, sooo nice! I am waiting for my second appt. I wish this was not such a long process!! I began this journey in Sept 2000. I was hoping to have my surgery in March, but it looks like I will be lucky if this happens in May 2001.

This has been a long drawn out process for me. It started almost a year ago and I finally have a date for surgery Feb 26, 2001. I started by calling Dr murrs office in Feb and got an appt in June, I was like this is so far off. I of course had rose colored glasses on and thought I would have the surgery by end of Aug. I saw Dr Murr on June 17th or so and he was very nice. He answered all my questions. Martha his assistant is a very organized person. She will tell you like it is. I had to have a sleep study done as well as a phys evaluation and the nutrionist as well. This all took a while to get the reports in the office and Dr Murr was on vacation as well. I soon grew many patience and decided to just sit tight and wait. I got my second appt on Sept 18th and Dr Murr ask if I was ready and I said YES!!!!!!!! I then had the insurance to deal with. I had gone to my PCP and it was her idea for me to do the Gastric Bypass, when it came time for her help she basically threw me under the bus...I was so upset.I went to her office as I was told she would not talk to me unless I came in. I was then told by my PCP, that she did not think I had enough medical history and she felt it would not be approved. Now this was total BS!!!! I have been her patient for the last 15 yrs and have tried diet after diet and while under her care. So I left her office feeling like I had no one on my side and felt helpless. Dr Murr's office took the record she had sent to their office and Martha did her best from what she had. Cigna had my request for more then a month and it just sat there, finally on Oct 12, I was told that Cigna had denied me due to not enough weight loss attemps noted in my PCP records. I was very angry, I had been to her for years about weight loss. I then waited for the the denial letter so I could appeal, and was just about ready to say forget the sugery, I felt like i was not going to be able to get this done. But then I have a friend who use to work for Cigna and she knew some of the people at Cigna in the grievance dept and she was told what I needed in order to get this approved. I had to send a very detailed letter explaining everything I have tried to lose weight and what my weight has done to my health and the amount of money its going to cost Cigna to treat me for problems related to my weight if I was not granted the approval on the WLS. It was about a week and I got a call from my friend telling me to write out yet another letter outlining at least 1 diet i was on for at least 12 weeks. This seems to be the ticket!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I did. I was approved at last in aout a week. I was called by Cigna and told Merry Christmas, I was approved!!!!!!!!!!! I felt as though I had won a grand war. And I do not have my PCB to think at all. I was then called by Dr Murr's office the following week and was told I could have my surgery Feb 27th!!!! As I was writing this post, I was called by my surgeon and ask if I wanted to move my surgery up to Jan 30th, they had a cancellation. I wish I could have. So all in all don't give up. It may take a while, but all good things are worth waiting for.

First visit to Dr. Murr, was a very positive experience. He is a great Dr. and I'm very please with him.
The sataff is great! Martha is a terrific
coordinator, and very helpful!
I'm very lucky to have found such a great team!

I'm very happy with Dr. Murr.

Dr Murr, my first impression was that he was a very quiet, and business-like man. he was very persice in the things he wanted you to do before your acceptence in the WLS program.
He asked you questions about yourself, your health, and the reason you wanted this surgery. It seemed to be very important to this Dr that you had a support system, and a supporting PCP. He wantd to know how your family felt about this kind of surgery for you. Very soft spoken, and every "I" dotted and every "T" crossed, every detail gone over and explained. I would reccomend him highly

I consider it an honor to be able to share my
comments about Dr. Murr with everyone. In my
humble opinion, Dr. Murr is an extremely kind
and caring physician. He is a constant
professional and it may appear at first glance
that he is not very personable, but he is.
His skill as a surgeon is incredible, and he takes
special care to make sure everything from a medical
and psychological perspective is checked out throughly
before considering you ready for surgery.

Martha Entel, Bariatric Coordinator is extremely helpful and friendly.
She will provide you with as much information as possible, and arranges all the monthly
support group meetings. She also becomes a friend to many
of Dr. Murr's patients. She constantly asks for feedback from you to help make the program
better.

Dr. Murr has a excellent post surgical care program. I greatly value the monthly
support group meetings. I only wish they would be able to offer the support groups more
often, but understand why they currently only have them once a month.

Dr. Murr's skill as a surgeon is also leading to an increasing load of patients, so be patient
in setting up appointments with him. Try to do as much research about the procedure while you are
waiting for your appointments. Research any co-morbid conditions you may have, and start requesting
copies of all your medical records that will prove that you have these conditions.

Martha was able to provide me a comprehensive list of nutritionists to consult with while I was a pre-op patient.
Besides Dr. Murr, I would give my nutritionist, Cynthia Sass, my highest compliment.

Dr. Murr was willing to spend as much time with me as I needed. He thoroughly addressed the risks of the surgery. The
entire program in his office both pre and post op is very structured, and all questions or concerns are addressed.

I offer my highest personal recommendation to Dr. Murr. He has changed my life, and continues to take excellent care of
me. I never felt uncomfortable talking to him about anything, and he showed me tremendous respect. I greatly apprecitate this.

He seemed to be nice, but very reserved and businesslike. I went in for a consultation and he said that I was definetly a candidate for the procedure. I wish he was more "friendly" but then again I was very nervous.

I have seen the surgeon who will hopefully do my surgery, Dr Murr. On my first visit, first a woman resident came and asked me questions about why I wanted the surgery and what I expected. She left the room about 3 times during this visit. I waited about 15 minutes, then Dr Murr came in. He was strictly business until I told him that a former patient had told me great things about him, then he seemed to be more friendly. He explained the surgery to me, asked me some questions about how long I had researched this and then asked to look at my stomach. He explained to me that I would have to see a sleep study docter to make sure I dont have apnea and explained to me that I would have to take birth control after the surgery for one year. He has monthly support meetings at Tampa General Hospital. He wont do the lap unless you weigh less than 275.
4/10/00 had my second appt w/Dr Murr and he is wonderful. He said that my paperwork and records were well organized and I shouldnt have any problem getting approved. Now, I am crossing my fingers... and toes!

Dr. Murr is a very kind, soft-spoken man & is
extremely knowledgeable & professional. I was
very impressed when I read his resume on his website.
I am an RN and I already knew some about RNY,
but he went into detail to make sure that I
understood all the risks & benefits of this surgery.
His office staff is great-always very helpful, especially
Martha, the bariatric surgery coordinator. I
think the program there is very well organized.
They do have a good aftercare program & really do
emphasize post-op treatments & lifestyle changes.
Although Dr. Murr looks like he never had a fat
day in his life, he seems to understand what
obese people endure in their lives, & sincerely wants
to help them.