Steven Poplawski, MD, FACS Bariatric Surgeon Barix Clinics of Michigan

Saw Dr. Poplawski January 3, at the Forest Health Bariatric Treatment Center. He seemed genuinely interested in me and my quest for weight loss, even though he sees many patients like myself. he was careful in explaining every detail of the surgery and I felt I was well-informed when I left. My husband liked him also. Office staff was congenial, but not super efficient.Aftercare was definitely emphasized as a must with close attention to be paid to followup visits and lab work. Risks of surgery were stressed and recommendations of pre-op cardiac studies and ruling out of sleep apnea were stressed.

Please see my comments at my original profile page: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=Bishop957373871

Dr Poplawski was wonderful he did a great job

I thought he was a smart-alect.



After taking several of my calls, at all hours, taking me on my first walk after surgery & being there AFTER surgery, I realized how wrong I was!

His staff is wonderful. Kind, caring & they treat you with dignity & respect, not like a "fat person" with a major eating problem

He doesn't have a great first impression, but that sure changes.

He's very matter of fact, he tells you like it is, with nothing held back.

Big emphasize on aftercare, but by yourself & his staff.

Yes. I still hear from them at least once a month to find out how I'm doing & they are just a phone call away.

The dr. was very honest & we even talked about me dying either before, during or after surgery. He let me know all the risks. But I felt the risk of my 400 lbs was worse than what may lay ahead.

EXCELLANT!

They all work together, to get you healed faster.

He was able to explain everything in a way that was eazy to understand and was nice. I was disappointed when I left because I only spoke with him for about 15 min and his asst for about 15 to 20 min. I had a 7 hr. drive to see him and I was confused what the out come of the visit was. I wish they would have us

Dr. Poplawski is a kind and caring surgeon. He made me feel well informed and at ease the first time I met him and has continued to positively impress both me and my husband.

I felt very safe in his hands and thank God that he was my surgeon. He is patient and will explain any questions you may have about the process, before and after.

The office staff is kind and helpful, but very busy and often it takes several calls to get an answer to a question.

The new hospital is well staffed with knowledgable people and the building is new and well layed out for the convenience of the patients.

I would reccommend Dr. Poplawski to anyone. If you are fortunate to have him as a surgeon, then you are one lucky and blessed individual. If you have any questions about Dr. Poplawski, please feel free to E-mail me.

Dr. Poplawski is at the Bariatric Treatment Center in Michigan. I have only had one consultation with him, but he seems to be very nice. The office staff at the BTC are wonderful. They perform the surgery in their own hospital, where this is the only surgery that is performed. Therefore, the gowns are bigger, the tables are bigger, etc...And you do not have to worry about the staff being insensitive, or downright rude. They have a very good support system, including nutritionists to discuss dietary issues before and after the surgery, psychological counseling, outside support groups, follow-up appointments that eventually fall once a year for the rest of your life to ensure your good health.

Dr. Poplawski turned out to be a wonderful surgeon! He was much more personable after the actual procedure. My incision looks good- for an incision anyway :). My overall all opinion of the BTC, however, is not as positive. They have their own hospital and they claim that this makes the surgery better because everything is bigger. This is not true. I couldn't even fit in the restroom in the room, I had to go down the hall to the handicapped restroom. The nursing staff was pretty bad in general. There were a couple of nurses that were very competent and nice, but most of the nurses there were agency nurses. They were not helpful, one actually lied on my chart. My pnuemonia went untreated for several days because the nurses would not listen. Even once medication was prescribed, they neglected to give it to me. There were numerous other "incidences" with these nurses. The respiratory staff were excellent. The lab was horrible as well. They did not listen and damaged several veins to the point that my regular lab could not draw me a week after the surgery. I will not let the BTC labs draw me again! The BTC is very informative, but they did leave out important information before the surgery. It would have been nice to know that I can no longer take anti inflammatory meds since I have severe arthritis, but I wasn't informed of this until after the procedure. The dietary department is helpful and they provide clear instructions for eating after the surgery.

At my six week checkup Dr. Poplawski shared with me the difference between thin and fat people: thin people only eat 1 cookie and fat people eat the whole bag. He made a couple of other comments that were 'off.' I have decided to find a local surgeon for any necessary follow up. One that is more knowledgeable about the causes of obesity. My surgeon also did not remember whether or not he took out my gallbladder and didn't even seem to remember me at all. The surgeons at BTC perform 4 surgeries a day. You're in and out. He also made sure to remind me on several occassions that I was 'large' even by their standards. He has offered no positive feedback regarding my progress (I had lost 15% of my excess body weight as scheduled by my 6 week check up).

I felt my first meeting with Poplawski was a plesant one.
He is very to the point and matter of fact. He explained everything
in great detail and answered all of my questions. I felt the staff
at the BTC were very friendly and very helpful. On the risks situation
he told you exactly like it is and didn't sugar coat it. I liked that
because you have to understand with everything there is a risk.
I would rate him a 8 1/2. I feel Surgical Competence is far more
important to me then the bedside manner, if you can have both great.

I just had to update on my opinion of Dr. Poplawski. At my intitial consultation with him I thought that he was kind of distant and detatched. He was very informative so I was still happy with him as a surgeon. In fact my husband had another surgeon from the same clinic and he didn't give him near as much information that Dr. Pop gave me. It has been 9 weeks since my surgery and I have a much different opinion of Dr. Poplawski. He is neither distant or detatched. He is a very competent, carry, compassionate surgeon who I would (and have) highly recommend to anyone even considering having WLS. For some reason my body responds to pain and anesthesia differntly than most peoples do. My blood pressure drops WAY down. Dr. Poplawski and his staff were both aware and prepared for this so that when it happened, no one freaked and that made things much easier for me. All of the staff at the Ann Arbor BTC are top notch. If you are looking for a surgeon who will sugar coat everything and try to talk you into having the surgery, don't look here. However, if you are looking for a surgeon who is honest, and will give you EXCELLENT care both during and after surgery, than look no further. Dr. Poplawski is your man!

Dr. Poplawski was wonderful. He was very informative and understanding. I had some special considerations because I had previously had my spleen removed and that was a huge concern. He reassured me that he was familiar with my condition and that while the surgery would be more tricky, it would not be impossible. I would recommend him highly.



My impression of him didn't change over time because he was just as professional throughout the entire process.

The staff was professional.

I liked everything about him.

He is wonderful.

He doesn't emphasize aftercare as much as the rest of the staff does. The staff at the Bariatric Treatment Center is great about aftercare. Dr. Poplawski did call me himself to check on me a few days after surgery. That was very impressive to me.

Yes

Yes

Excellent

Both great!