Peter C. Rantis, Jr. Bariatric Surgeon MD, FACS

Dr. Rantis is a wonderful surgeon. He shoots straight from the hip and does not pull any punches. You may have to wait to see him, however, he gives you all the time you need with him, without any hurry. His office staff is kind and caring. Dr. Rantis believes wholeheartedly in aftercare and is very concerned for your health and well being.

My only problem is that he is no longer part of the HPPO group and I can no longer get referrals to him. My primary is trying to appeal for me to BXBS HMO to see if I can continue with him for at least continuing care only.


Dr. Rantis is number one in my eyes!!

I have only met Dr. Rantis one time. I was assigned him by the New Self Bariatrics team. Based on what I have read, he would have been my choice anyway. So I am glad for that. In meeting him, I found him to be very sincere and concerned about me. I really don't have much to say because my time with him has been limited so far.

My first impression of Dr. Rantis is that he is very upfront and honest about everything that has to do with this surgery. He is very concerned with my safety and that makes me feel very comfortable with him.

Dr. Rantis got to the point. His reputation is fantastic.

I have only met Dr. Kane at his seminar so far. He did make a great impression on me though. He seems very nice. I have heard very good things about him.

***update***4/4/01 I just wanted to add this info. My paperwork was recieved by Weight for Life on 2/21 and as of yet 4/4 the only thing that has been done is my insurance was verified. My paperwork has been on Ginny's desk since 3/21. I have called almost evey week but I do not seem to get anywhere. At the seminar they said the letter should go to the insurance company in about 2 weeks. Don't believe it. I am very frustrate.

***Update***4/24/01 Well finally my letters were sent out 4/12/01 (8 weeks of waiting). I just checked and nothing has come back yet. I would like to say though that of all the people I have spoken with at Ginny's office Ailin is the nicest. My suggestion is to keep checking on a weekly basis and to be patient.

****Update****4/26/01 Finally, my insurance company called today. They are approving my surgery they said the doctors office should have the paperwork by Tuesday. I also talked to a lady at Weight for Life she was very nice. I asked what the next step was and she just rattled stuff off I kind of got the feeling that they will not talk to me until they get the approval in hand. But she did say that I should keep checking back. You better believe I will.

****Update**** 4/30/01 I checked today Weight for Life has the approval for my surgery. Now I am back to waiting again. Hopefully they will call soon.

****Update**** 5/1/01 I spoke with Aileen at Weight for Life she said I could schedule the pre-surgical appointment. She is wonderful. I go on Thursday 5/3 I do not know how I will be able to sleep the next 2 nights.

****Update*** 5/3/01 Well I will have my 1st visit with Dr. Rantus tonight. I am so excited I can't wait. I understand I will get my surgery date then. I will update again tomorrow.

****Update*** 5/4/01 I met with Dr. Rantus last night. He seemed very nice. He was not able to tell me anything I didn't know already. He did seem to keep going over the dangers of this surgery. But I think that is to protect them. It makes since. Now all I have to do is wait for Aileen to get in maybe today I can get my date. I hope so. I have waited all day and she has not called back. This is one bad thing about dealing with Weight For Life. They do not seem to call back when you leave a message.

****Update*** 5/5/01 OK so as you can see I am not a patient person. Ailin called back last night and she said she will have a surgery date for me on Tuesday. This was all I needed to here. So now I can relax.

****Update*** 5/8/01 Well it's Tuesday and Ailin said she still does not have a surgery date. I know this is suppose to be about the doctor but I have no problem with them it's just the people at WFL. Everything seems to take them forever to do.

***Update** 5/22/01 I am sorry I have not updated this. I have my surgery date it will be 6/18. I am sorry if I seemed frustrated. But Dealing with insurance companies and now I have a deadline. If I do not have surgery by 7/1 I will not be able to have it. But I know eveything will work out.

***Update** 6/1/01 Well WFL strikes again. They had me mail my short term paperwork to them in California. But it turns out the Dr. Rantus will not let them sign it. So Ginny sent the paperwork to Dr. Rantus's office in EGV but they do not have it. So now I have to try to get replacements and get it to EGV. It is so frustrating. Why couldn't they have told me from the start I could have saved a lot of trouble.

***Update** 6/12/01 Only 6 days to go. I came into work this morning and found a message on my voice mail from Ailin at WFL. She is saying something about a cardiac clearence. Where did this come from? What is wrong with these people at WFL? I have spoken with these people dozens of times and no one ever mentioned a cardiac clearence. Now because for some unknown reason they can never seem to call my house. I will have to wait 4 hours to find out what this is about. I thought I was over all this.

***Update** 6/26/01 I think I am a little in love with doctor Rantis (just kidding). Really he is great though. He is very patient and is willing to understand you even when you are crying your heart out.

***Update** 7/2/03 I just wanted to write a short note to tell you what a wonderful person Dr. Rantus is. I had not seen him in almost 1 1/2/ years and he was very supportive when he seen me a week ago. Thanks for being a wonderful person Dr. R.

I met with Dr. Rantis on 5/12/03. I saw him about 1 hour after my appointment time. I was busy with weighing in, filling out forms, getting my picture taken, etc. before I went into the exam room.
After going through my paperwork and asking me a lot of questions, Dr. Rantis left the room for quite a while and I was worried that I wouldn't get an opportunity to ask him my questions. But he came back and sat down (which I appreciated) and answered most of my questions.
His staff is efficient and kind.
Dr. Rantis uses Weight for Life to co-ordinate all the before and after care and they are very organized. I never have any trouble reaching them, either.
I am supposed to be getting a date in July, 2003.

Very friendly. He was very concerned about me and willing to answer all of my questions.

im with dr rantis an associate of dr kane and i love him. he is so patient and understanding. the staff is awesome. he listens! there was nothing i didnt like about him. he's very caring and understands our obesity problems, he does'nt just say well you have to lose weight. i hate that. do most dr's think we choose to be fat and uncomfortable? i would rate him a ten because he has bedside manners and surgical competance also. he explained the risks quite clearly.he also told me that there are meetings at alexian brothers hospital almost every weekend for after care. he insists that i see a dietician before my surgery to help me learn quantities and how to eat properly again.

I am almost two years post op, and Dr. Rantis is still as attentive and caring as he was when I first met him...this surgery and weight loss has been an incredible journey, and there are not enough wonderful things I can say about Dr. Rantis. He is the best!

I thought maybe I would get Dr Kane, thinking he had more experience. But after I met Dr Rantis, I found him to be a very caring doctor and was ready to listen to any of my needs of concerns. His nurse Judy was awesome, very knowledgeable and willing to listen. I can't really think of anything I didn't like about Dr Rantis. He even had the nurse call me at home to see how I was doing. He is very strict on what meds and supplements I should take. All doctors have their own opinions, I respect my Dr,'s opinion for my care. I found him to be encouraging. I did have some complications with bleeding due to the lovelox, but he quickly found the problem and treated it.
I think he is great!