Roger De La Torre Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

Well, I had done lots of research into this procedure before I was willing to go through with it. His credentials for this surgery are outstanding. Upon meeting him I found him personable & knowledgable. He answered any pre-op questions I had to my satisfaction. Janet Quinn the coordinator was lovely pre-op as well.
The pre-op phases were so organized and went so smoothly. I had traveled 240 miles for my pre-op & they were able to do it all in one day.
Once I was hspitalized however the story changed. I ended up in ICU for a bit. Then nurses there were great. Once I got moved to the floor however I might as well have been at home by myself. The quality of care was deplorable. No one would do any thing for me unless I physically walked down to the nurses station & waited. Then if it was for ice or something they would point me in the direction of where i could go get it.I was given the wrong IV fluids then the nurse tried to push a med she had forgotten in the bag & blew my vein & then asked me what i thought she should do. Soooooooooooooooooo SCARY !!!!!!!!!! I also had to argue over recievcing a pain med because the nurse didn
't think I should need one yet.
I have since obtained the CEO's name & address so I can write a formal letter of complaint. I myself am a medical professional & was mortified by the quality of care i recieved.
Post -op my visit was quick. Their after care is much less than the pre-op.
I didn't even get all my questions answered at the post -op visit.
I am going to e-mail them for the answers.
Well my main focus was on finding a competent surgeon to actually do the surgery & that I am most delighted with.

I just met Dr. de la Torre yesterday July 12. He was very personable and went over the risks of the surgery in great detail, but also was very reassuring of his own professional experience and knowledge.

He is very confident about this procedure regardless of the risks, and we all want a surgeon with self-confidence and experience!

The staff is great and included a meeting with a dietition, a nurse who described the surgical procedures and what to expect post-op, and a physical therapist. I thought this was excellent patient care. The staff were wonderful, answering all questions.

They offer ongoing support group counseling weekly that is open to all patients but I haven't been able to attend.

Overall, they do an excellent and complete job of patient information.From Doctor de la Torre to the entire staff, they are friendly, caring, honest and professional.

Seemed very confident and professional. Spent much of first meeting discussing ALL the possible complications. He wanted to make sure I was FULLY informed and still not deterred from wanting the surgery.

Getting to actually see him the first time was frustrating because his schedule kept changing and the initial appointment was rescheduled twice, but things progressed well after the first appointment. The office staff took care of all the insurance issues.

The program is well integrated with the hospital's dietary and PT people. Very structured pre-post surgical program.

Haven't even been to the office yet. This office takes your paperwork and makes sure you are approved before setting any appointments or doing any pre-op work. It took almost two months for Janet to write up the letter for the insurance co. Most times when I call, I get an answering machine. With the office only open on Tues, Wed, and Thurs, it's difficult to get through to Janet. She did not always call me back right away, sometimes I had to leave a message for several days. I had to ask her four times to fax a copy of my pre-determination letter to me so I could follow up with the insurance company. Once I finally received the fax, it only took me a week to get approved.

Update **June 21st**
Met with Dr. de la Torre today. He had an emergency appendectomy to attend to and a room full of patients when he came back. I think I was the last on the list and finally he came to talk with me at 5:15PM. He smiled, shook my hand, looked me straight in the eyes. I had heard so much about him, he wasn’t anything like I expected. He tape recorded the part where he goes through all of the possible complications. We joked about how I wanted to bring my own tape recorder to put on the web and he said that would steal his thunder. He mentioned all the statistics and complications I’ve heard before, again nothing I didn’t already know. It’s really nice to be so prepared! At the end he asked if he had been able to talk me out of this, I said no way! I feel like I know exactly what to expect and have heard the worst and am still ready to go through with it. He then turned the tape recorder off and asked me some questions I had already answered about previous surgeries, co-morbidities, and family history. I asked him a few questions about getting a binder and how much he would bypass. He said I’d get a binder in the hospital and it depended on my height and weight on how much to bypass. According to my height and weight, he said he would bypass 100cm to 150cm. I told him the more the better, and he said ‘well up to a point’ and I agreed. I don’t want too much bypassed because of vitamin deficiencies, etc. but that I wanted to be on the high end if possible. He wouldn’t guarantee a laparoscopic procedure, but said that he only had to convert to an open a couple of times when the intention was laparoscopic. I feel really comfortable with him and his abilities. I thought he was very honest and direct, but was still very personable. Even though it was after 5:00, he didn’t rush through and gave me time to ask all the questions I wanted.

AT FIRST I THOUGHT HIM TO BE SOMEWHAT SELECTIVE AS TO WHO HE WOULD ALLOW IN HIS PROGRAM. AFTER SPEAKING TO HIM SEVERAL TIMES, HE ALLOWED ME INTO HIS PROGRAM. THEY HAVE THE BEST PROGRAM CORDINATOR THAT THERE IS. JANET IS A HARD WORKING ANGEL-- BELIEVE ME I KNOW--- I CHECKED OUT 3 OTHER PROGRAMS BEFORE I SETTLED ON THEIRS.I DIDNT LIKE THE FACT THAT HE TOLD ME HE WOULD ONLY TAKE THE LOWER-RISK PATIENTS. IF AT FIRST YOU DONT SUCEED GETTING IN TO HIS PROGRAM--- TELL HIM YOUR WILLING TO WORK TO MEET HIS REQUIREMENTS.---THE COMPLETE PROGRAM IS WORTH IT. THEY HAVE SUPPORT GROUPS AND VERY NECESSARY AFTERCARE.ANY PROGRAM IS NOT COMPLETE OR WORTH CONSIDERING UNLESS IT HAS STRONG FOLLOW-UP.THEY FULLY EXPLAIN THE POTENTIAL RISKS INVOLVED. I WOULD RATE THEM AS THE ULTIMATE BARIATRIC SURGEONS AND THEIR PROGRAM IS TOPS.

I met with Dr. de la Torre for the first time about 10 days prior to my surgery. He was very easy to talk to and answered all of my questions thoughtfully. I really feel comfortable with him as my surgeon because he and his partner, Dr. Scott, teach this procedure to other surgeons. His office staff is great! Janet, his coordinator, handled all the paperwork for my insurance approval and I didn't have to interact with the insurance company at all.

Dr. de la Torre emphasizes aftercare very much. There is a structured support group that meets at the hospital once weekly.

He addressed the risks of surgery in a straightforward manner.

I would highly recommend Dr. de la Torre for anyone considering WLS.