Robin P. Blackstone Bariatric Surgeon MD, FACS, FASMBS

I had RNY on 7/5/11. Dr. Blackstone and her staff are awesome! She is very personable, knowledgeable and skilled. She made it a point to visit her patients every day in the hospital. I am very satisfied and very glad I chose her.

Dr. Blackstone is amazing and I am so happy I chose her for my surgery! She took the time to put my husband at ease about the surgery in preop which meant alot to me. She is great at what she does & she has a great bedside too. Not something you see very often. I suggest anyone looking at having WLS go to her!

Dr.Blackstone is the best. Had my surgery 5/9/2011 RNY. She is the TOP of her field and you just jump a lot of hoops getting to that day because she wants the best for you and no surprises. Her team is the best as well. I was back to wrk in 2 weeks. No complications. I will support her and sing her praises forever. Met a lot of nice people in the process.

In really love her. She is so thorough, took a lot of time with me. We had to reschedule my original surgery date in May, until I healed from an accidential burn to my belly. Took 3 months to heal and reschedule. But we are on track now. The staff has been really helpful, but it was terrible disappointing to have to wait so long to get rescheduled.

Dr Blackstone is GREAT!

Nice lady, started with partner but her practice was bought by hospital and he didn't want to be an employee of hospital.

Office staff is hot and cold, some nice and caring and some not so great.

First visit with doctor (partner who left) was great, but same day visits with other staff was bad. Dietitian didn't have time, Exercise person wasn't there and Psychologist approved me without the testing results. Appt was on a day before holiday so it appeared they all wanted to leave early for day.

Nurse Practitioner is the one who gives orders etc and the one I had was not the nicest nor asked about prior health issues I had.

Also hospital recorded someone else blood work by mistake in my chart and I was treated based on wrong data until they found it 24 hours later.

These are all my personal impressions and my personal experience, I have found no other party that experienced the same issues I did.

Dr. Blackstone came highly recommended to me from a friend that had her as a surgeon 15 months before my surgery. She pointed out to me that she was selected as the top surgeon in Arizona for bariatric surgery.

My first meeting with Dr. B was at my pre-op appointment with her. Both my boyfriend & I enjoyed her sense of humor and confidence. She asked how I was feeling and I replied, "Both nervous & excited." She said that's to be expected, but that the important thing is that she was not nervous at all.

Although I had a scheduling error with Dr. B's staff early on, everything else down the road was great.

I think future patients or people shopping around for a surgeon should know that in Phoenix Magazine's Top Doctors issue (2010) she was selected by 5000 Phoenix physicians as THE top bariatric surgeon in the Phoenix Valley.

Dr. B has a hand in all aspects of her program....from the actual surgery to nutrition, exercise, & psych aspects. She demands the best of her staff and has selected the anesthesiologists from Scottsdale Healthcare Shea that she considers the best. (Mine, Steven Wickland, was also the top in his field according to the Phoenix Magazine article.)

One of my favorite things about the experience was that Dr. B has someone come up from the spa in the hospital on the 2nd day of your stay to give you a massage treatment. That was so welcome and needed. The gentleman that did the foot, leg, shoulder, & neck massage said that only Dr B (and her associate) include this treatment as part of the recovery process in their program. He thought very highly of her, saying that he thought she was one of the top surgeons in the world.....that she really cares about her patients.

I did encounter one night nurse(she was not assigned to me, but did respond to the call button) that was less than remarkable in many respects....even to the point of being rude. When I spoke to Dr. B about it the next day when she came in to see me, she apologized and had the nursing supervisor come in to see me within 30 minutes. That evening (although she wasn't assigned to me) the nurse I'm speaking of came in and apologized to me. All of the other nurses were fantastic. Laura, Robin, Dorothea....Remarkable nurses/aides!!!!

These are my personal impressions of Dr. B & her staff & realize that other people may have different experiences and making no statement about what they may experience.

My first impression of Dr. Blackstone was that she was very confident in herself as well as her staff. From her pictures I had expected her to be on the quiet side, maybe a little soft spoken, but she was animated and energetic...very fun.
My impression hasn't changed, but at the same time I've only ever seen her twice. Once for my consult and then once on the day of surgery, each for about 10 minutes total...if that.
The staff at Scottsdale Bariatric is very nice and, overall, very coordinated. Only when one of the other surgeons left the practice for an emergancy did things become chaotic and frustrating. I've had multiple appointment re-schedules, but this is only because Dr. Blackstone had to absorb all of the other surgeon's patients. Before that, everything ran smoothly and I never had any problems at all. The staff is very friendly and helpful, no matter who you talk to. Melissa is direct, but wonderful.
The only thing I didn't love about Dr. Blackstone was how little I actually got to see her. I didn't even see her after my surgery in the hospital. I know she's busy busy busy, but it would be nice to hear from her once in a while.
I would tell future patients that if they want Dr. Blackstone as their surgeon, I am convinced that they probably won't find a better one in AZ, or a better staff to work with, but be prepared to be patient and wait a while to get in.
Aftercare is strongly emphasized, but not really practiced lately, again...because of the other surgeon leaving...I've had a couple problems getting in to get fills or having them re-scheduled for very far out.
There is a class that is required to go to before surgery that goes over all of the risks of surgery as well as every aspect of diet, nutrition, exercise, relaxation, etc...after surgery. Not all surgeon's do this, but I feel it's detrimental to one's knowledge about the surgery they are having done.
Overall I would rate Dr. Blackstone a 9. The only reason she wouldn't get a 10 is because you hardly ever see her and because of the current scheduling issues that are due to the other surgeon leaving (I'm trying to emphasize that so you know that this isn't their normal circumstances).
Well since I never saw her bedside manner, I'd say that her surgical competence is what sold me on her. She is the only female bariatric surgeon in the state and she has seriously made a name for herself. I felt absolutely comfortable with her doing my surgery, much more so than other AZ surgeons I met with.

I only have good things to say about Dr Blackstone. My first actually meeting with her was on March 11, 2010. She was easy to talk with and answered all the questions I had. She was concerned that my diabetes was not in control as previously thought.

Her office and staff were just as nice as Dr Blackstone - they kept in touch, answered my many questions and did not make me feel like a fool for asking the same questions over and over again.

Dr Blackstone has a terrific aftercare program - My first appointment is this coming Tuesday for Post Surgical Nutrition. I can't wait!

Dr Blackstone and I went over the risks for surgery and the risks of not having surgery. For me it was simple - if I did not have the surgery I was headed for heart disease ... not acceptable. With surgery I have a better chance of getting under control or even eleviating several medical problems I have : type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, difficulty walking/sitting for long periods of time. I cannot say that I was not well informed.

How would I rate Dr Blackstone? Pretty close to a miracle worker! hahaha She is an excellent surgeon who really care for the quality of her patients lives. I would recommend Dr Blackstone to anyone.

I think both are importation, surgical competence and bedside manner. If a surgeon doesn't have both, the patient is not getting the care he/she deserves. Nothing calms a patient faster than a Dr who is just as competent in the operating room as well as in the recovery room.

Dr Robin Blackstone is absolutely AMAZING!!! I would recommend her to anyone and everyone wanting to have weight loss surgery. My first impression of Dr Blackstone was that she is very personable. She is very understanding of my personal goals and needs. I was able to have a great conversation with her about surgery and weight loss in general. Her staff has been great as well. I wish I could have seen more of her, but I know surgeons are very very busy. The program available at Scottsdale Bariatric Center is the best program out there. The support and information available is amazing. I had a friend that had surgery elsewhere, and she asked me for how to do things after her surgery, and even asked to make copies for herself of information given. The followup classes have been great. Overall, I would rate Dr Blackstone a 10.