Norman Estes Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

My first impression of Dr. Estes was he was very friendly, and seemed to know exactly what he was talking about..He more or less let me know I was not accepting him as a surgeon..but he was accepting me as a patient.
The next time I saw Dr.Estes I got the opinion that he is very sure of himself and he has no qualms in saying so..He actually said to me.."if i was having this surgery myself,I would want me to do it"..I thought that was pretty self-assured.
The office staff is great..The first time I went to the office i was forgotten about and I had a 3 hour wait in the waiting room..the next time i went i waited possibly 10 minutes so I think some straightening up was done there.
Dr Estes nurses are wonderful..they are very informative and always available either on the phone or on the website.
Dr. Estes has strongly stressed that WLS is a tool and the surgery can be beaten..It is up to me and me alone to make sure this does not happen.
Dr Estes did tell me the risks..but we also discussed the risks of not having the surgery.and I can't see the surgery risks are any worse than not having the surgery.
Dr. Estes is very knowledgeable..and has been doing this surgery since 1997.. He did tell me up front he has lost one patient back in the 1990's soon after he started doing this surgery due to the patient having a blood clot and before they started using the anti-blood clot injections.
Dr. Estes very much impresses me.The beside manner doesn't matter so much to me as surgical competence that is what counts.

Dr. Estes is one of the kindest men I've ever met. He is a very soft-spoken person and is so dedicated to his patients. He has years of experience and is very patient with all questions. I feel very confident in his skills. :)

My first impression was that he knew exactly what he was talking about and to listen to him very carefully cause he would be able to explain himself well. My impression has not changed about him, he proved out to be a very nice, understanding, very clear, and helpful man. He did inform me though that he does pick his patients within the first 10 minutes of meeting them. He can tell whether or not he would want to do surgery on them. He seems extremely concerned and wants you to realize that there can be complications that could arise. He explains that well. He answered any questions i had, which werent a whole lot cause he was so informative from the beginning. He even drew out the procedure to explain how he does it. He does the open surgery. He also explained WHY he does it open and i tell you the way he explains it really makes you want to have the open done instead. His office staff were very nice BUT when they sent me information they forgot to send me the correct address to the medical center. It was a simple mistake i believe. But i did inform them that they need to make sure that they patients have that information especially when they are coming from far away and dont know the area. There was not one thing that i didnt like about dr. estes. I was very comfortable telling him about myself and asking some personal questions too. He also wants you to make sure that you realize that in order for this to work properly that you have to follow orders and change your lifestyle and way of eating. He emphasized the importance of eating healthy and taking in a good amount of protein. He also informed me of other ways to get protein other than the famous several glasses of milk, cause i am milk sensitive. I would rate him an excellant dr overall!! I would recommend him to anyone having this surgery done and he hasnt even done the surgery yet!! :-)
His bedside manner and surgical competence were both Excellant with a capital "E"!!!!
ATTENTION!!!!
This is in my own opinion and this dr is excellant but i am sure that is only in my own opinion and that things could change or be completely different with someone else. I went in with a learning attitude and i also had a positive attitude. He might not be as nice with someone that is overly testy, rude or with a negative attitude. So this opinion is ONLY my opinion of him and could be different with anyone else. I am NOT to be held responsible for anyone reading this and thinking that they will be treated the same and then not getting the same treatment. Dr's are very different with their patients and they adjust accordingly!!

I was very surprised with the amount of time he took with me. He did not rush me. Has a very good bed side manner. Wanted to make sure I was very informed about risks and benefits, and lifestyle changes. The bariatric program at OSF Saint Francis in Peoria is very impressive. They really take the time to do things right. There are a lot of hoops to jump through - education class, support group, psych eval., but I think that just prepared you more and makes for a better outcome. Will let you know more after my surgery date!