Steven Simon Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

Just begining this process.... will attend the seminar on the 15 of November and hope to get all my insurance paperwork completed as quickly as possible. From all I have read, my carrier is extremely quick and easy to work with, lets hope that carries over for me!! Nov 16th. Met with Dr Simon for the group counsultation yesterday... very impressed. He is not only knowlegable, but down to earth and direct! I am very happy with the results of the visit, and would like to continue the process with him as my surgeon, seeing as I would like to have the proceedure done Laproscopicly. UPDATE: I am just over 2 weeks out and I feel wonderful! Dr Simon was FANTASTIC. Not only was the surgery a success, but he is a great man. Very easy to talk to, very nice in general, which if you have ever dealt with surgerons, that is a rarity. I am 100% satisfied with the outcome so far and 100% satisfied with my Dr.

Well as of date I have had to change surgeons to Dr. Simon to get approval from my Benefits Administrator. I have attended the informational seminar and I was immensley impressed with his knowledge and confidence. I am optimistic at this juncture and will be happy to have Dr. Simon working with me on this life changing journey.

I HAD THE SEMINAR WITH DR. NEWHOFF AND THOUGHT HE WAS WONDERFUL. I AM ELECTING TO HAVE THE SURGERY WITH DR. SIMON WHO IS IN THE SAME OFFICE BECAUSE HE DOES THE LAPRO. HE POKED HIS HEAD IN AT THE SEMINAR AND INTRODUCED HIMSELF. HE ALSO SOUNDS VERY KNOWLEDGABLE. THE OFFICE WAS VERY BUSY BUT AT THE SAME TIME NOT TOO BUSY FOR THE PATIENTS

1st Impression: Quick, in a hurry, looked over all my info, said I qualified and he would do the surgey. He recommended to schedule an orientation to explain the pros and cons and the procedures he does..I did!
2nd Impression: I went to orientation, took some notes, was able to get more info on procedure and what to expect after surgery. Dr Simon was more impressive at this point because I felt he was probably a better surgeon then babysitter!
Staff: Very busy! Plan on calling from a phone w/ automatic redial! However, I would rather them be busy vs. no one wanting to use their services.
I honestly can't say that there is anything I do not like about Dr Simon. I was able to meet w/ him recently and he was able to see my scared, vulnerable side, at which I saw that he was human as well!
Future patients need to know: to expect a professional, busy office enviroment and to be honest w/ the surgeon at all times! Oh, and no smoking!

His seminar was well done. He seems to be an able addition to Dr. Newhoff's practice. The staff seems alright. Dr. Simon gives good emphasis to aftercare by projecting the surgery as giving us a tool and the aftercare as learning to use the tool properly. The office was well suited to those of us that are oversized. UPDATE - Dr. Simon is phenomenal. I came through the surgery great and I feel great. I can whole heartedly reccomend him.

Here is my current update. My husband and I
attended a group seminar with Dr. Simon on
Jan 8,03.We were both very impressed with his
demeanor as well as his knowledge,he gave us all the information that we needed including the pros and cons of wls.So I have decided that he will be my surgeon.There are a few hurdles ahead of me such as my particular insurance Blue Cross Blue Shield of Az,with
Administrative Enterprises told me that my husbands policy excludes this type of procedure (wls).They told me this over the phone.When we asked for the hand book policy they told us that they couldn't afford to write new policy books every year and to refer to a previous one from 3 years ago. My first response was WOW!!I then told them that I plan on winning the needed approval for wls. So,here is what I hae done so far my
pcp gathered all of my medical records from the last 7 years,these records include my diet history both physician supervised and none physician supervised.My history of high blood pressure,acid reflux,and severe sleep apnea,arthitis family history of heart disease.Then my pcp wrote a letter stating that he felt it was medically necessary,I then added my own letter of request.Plus I have had the psych eval done.All of this info was submitted on Feb 11,03.Now comes the fun part of waiting for a response,not to mention what more they could possibly ask for. SO PLEASE THINK POSITIVE FOR ME I NEED SOME MORE SUPPORT! THANKS, JULIE

My first impression was he is very nice & easy going.
He has a great bedside mannor.
His office staff is nice.
I strongly recommend Dr. Simon.

My doctors will be Dr Newhoff and Dr Simon. Our meeting was with Dr Simon. I thought he was very knowledgable regarding both the surgery and the needs of the morbidly obese. After the meeting my respect for the work he does and the compassionate manner he spoke to us regarding the risks and benefits grew tenfold. He did not sugar coat anything but rather let you know what will be expected of you from the moment you make the decision to do surgery. After and before care is a must, so much so that they do not charge for any follow-up visits. They like to keep in touch with their patients. On a scale of 1 -10, I would rate him a 10 in bedside manner. I only know of the community reputation they have. I was very impressed that two of the people that were in my seminar are nurses on the floor their patient go to and they do take care of WLS patients. It tells you alot without speaking words. They trust them enough to go to them, why shouldn't I. The only negative thing I could say is that the meeting started a little late because the doctor was still seeing patients at the hospital. So far the staff at their office was very nice.

At first appointment I liked Dr. Simon, liked him right up until two weeks after surgery when I didn't get the kind of aftercare I feel I needed, with me ending up back in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer and blood clot and in intensive care. With Dr. Simon never even coming to the hospital to check on me. A nurse practioner came and also another doctor saying that Dr. Simons was out of town. Come to find out he had moved to ARizona to do his practice there. Now I need more surgery to clean up the mess he left.

I have done a lot of research and have decided to see Dr. Simon. I will be seeing him for the first time on Monday, November 5th. I will update again after I see him.


I saw Dr. Simon on Monday, 11/5. Actually, I met with his associate, Elaine, first, and she asked me questions and filled out some paperwork. Then Dr. Simon came in. He was very personable and straightforward. He looked you right in the eye and gained your immediate trust. He let me bring my mother and my friend in to take notes. My mom was a pioneer to the surgery about 25 years ago. We talked for about 3 hours. I had brought a long list of questions, and he answered them all. I liked it because he drew diagrams and spoke to me in English, so I understood what he was talking about. He made it clear that the surgery was not the cure, just a tool to help. He also made it very clear that what they are giving is a new eating tool, and he feels it is very important that you learn properly how to use that tool, so that when you have the surgery you'll be prepared. He urged me to get a therapist in place now, because most people who are clinically obese have food issues. We use food for stress, comfort, etc. At least, I know that I do. It is just another way to be sure you are psychologically prepared. He emphasized that they would move along as fast as they can, but the insurance company might cause a hold up. He will be out of town until next town, but will contact my physician when he gets back. I meet all the criteria for the surgery. I'm nervous, but excited too.


11/26/01 - I had a message on my answering machine to call Dr. Simon's office, when I got home from work today. I will call first thing in the morning. I have been waiting to hear from them to see if they have heard anything from my insurance company. I have an appointment with my gp tomorrow morning, so the timing will be perfect, if Dr. Simon needs something from her.

I have an appointment Friday, to meet with Faith, the nutritionist. The drive is long and I am praying that the roads will be clear. I can't deal with driving 2-1/2 hours there and back on bad roads. I am not a very brave person. More details when I get some.


12/3/01 - I went Friday to have an abdominal ultrasound (I guess to check for gall stones). Dr. Simon doesn't remove your gall bladder unless there is a need to. Then I met with Faith McMann, for a psychiatric evaluation. I think the whole thing went rather well. She said that Dr. Simon will have her report on his desk by Wednesday, and I should be hearing from them. This is all happening so fast. I have been reading Carnie Wilson's book "Gut Feelings". She goes into a lot of detail about all the psychological issues she went through before and after the surgery. Deep down, she did not feel worthy of love and good things and eating is one way of protecting yourself. I know that I can pretty much relate to that.

This is a very scary thing for me. I want to be thin, but deep inside, I have a hard time believing it will ever happen for me. I am also afraid of what will happen if I do lose all my weight. Will I still be the same person? Will I still crave all the foods that I did before? My whole life will change, and I am trying to get ready to cope with it. I also feel the stirrings of Menopause coming at me. That is another big thing to deal with right now. I see my regular doctor tomorrow. I have called a food therapist several times and left messages, but she hasn't called me back. I know that is a step in this transition that I will need.

I will keep you all posted on my progress.

1/22/02 - It's been awhile since I last posted here. My surgeon is just waiting for me to get a psyche eval before scheduling surgery. I finally got a date of 2/15 for the eval. I have started seeing a food therapist, but I am not sure if I agree with her methods. She wants me to fix my breakfast and lunch everyday and not snack inbetween meals. If I could do that, I wouldn't need the surgery. Everyone that I have spoken too, tells me that they eat about 6 small meals a day, and snacks too. What I am really grateful for is the support group I found. I would encourage anyone in the Syracuse area to join us every other Tuesday at Soule Road Library in Dewitt. I would be happy to give details to anyone who emails me. That's it for now.


2/23/02 - I am still playing the (weighting) game (ha ha). I went and had my psych eval on the 15th. The psychiatrist was very nice. She does these kind of evaluations all the time. I got her name from a few of the women in the support group who had gone to her. As of Friday, Dr. Simon's office had still not received her report. They also called me and said that they need a letter of support from my primary physician and all my doctor supervised diets in the passt 3 years. I have been on some doctor supervised diets over the years, but most have been through weight watchers, Jenny Craig, LA Weight Loss, Gold's Gym, different weight loss centers, hypnosis, acupuncture, TOPS, Overeaters Anonymous, you name it, I've done it, but it's been over many, many years, and through many different doctors. I hope this doesn't cause me any problems. I hate this waiting game. I asked Dr. Simons office if they could give me a ballpark date, so I could get things caught up at work and prepare myself mentally. They said that Dr. Simon is totally booked for March, so we're looking at probably April or May. This is just getting so frustrating. They also told me that now the insurance company has set up a review board that each case must be processed through before they can schedule. I am getting anxious to get this over with and get on the road to recovery. The support group is a God send. I highly recommend it to anyone out there who is going through this alone. More later.