Brigham and Women's Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Hospital

Dr. Shikora is wonderful and I highly recommend the NEMC program. Very comprehensive with excellent pre and post op follow up.

I was very pleased that I had chose Dr. Vernon, she was great in our first meeting. She was through and was very interested in my history of my weight journey. She spent so much time with me I was late for my next appt. she called and begged the Dr. to hold my appt. and then told me to come back to her office so we could finish up afterwards.

Her secretary Melissa Reed is amazing! She is patient and caring and so sweet you just want to hug her. They have been terrific in setting up my appt. together so I take one trip to Boston since I am driving so far.

All of the office staff was great, my wait for my appt. was minimal.

As once I heard you don't have to worry about how good your surgeon is until something goes wrong. My surgery was great! My surgeon had to hand sew the portion on my intestines to my new stomach so I was very greatful she was experience and confident. She said this happens about one in twenty five to fifty people she sees! It took and extra hour and half but I was in good hands.

My one and only complaint is I would have liked to have seen her sooner then my discharge date. But I understand how busy they are and it was great to see her then! I did have a great resident Dr. who was present at my surgery so that was reassuring and eveyone was so pleased with my progress. I even overheard one nurse talking to the other say "she's doing great" she looks wonderful! WOO WEE! THANKS DOC!

I had a very good experience, my surgeon was excellent and the surgery was quick and I was out of the hospital in 2 days with no pain.

My first impression of her was, Is she old enough to be a doctor? She looked very young the first time I saw her. She is absolutely wonderful, I love her! She is very compassionate. She went over every detail of the surgery and answered all the questions I had regarding surgery in a very professional manner. She was very easy to talk to and she really cares about what she's doing. My surgery was like a piece of cake! Now I've read some of the stories and some are not all that great but I was truly blessed. I usually pray for angels to look after me but God did this one himself! I really and truly didn't have a bad experience. Oh but I have to admit the first night I threw up blood which was a little scary but that was just about it.

These were just my personal impressions of my own personal experience and I am not making no statements about what other people may experience.

I felt comfortable with him. He was very knowledgable and answered all my questions. My impression changed a bit in that I discovered that he is a straight line do it now kind of person. There were times when he was almost too enthusiatic about me as a patient and more about the surgery itself. However, he was pleasant, upbeat and very competent. The office staff was friendly and moved things along. They tried to schedule appointments conveniently for me. Most of the aftercare is covered in Behavior Groups that are required and talking to the PA, the anesthesiologist and the nutritionist. Yes, the program is structured. I was told straight out about the risks and was given a sheet that had all the possible risks and the percentages that they occur nationally and then for Tufts. I would rate overall very favorable. Both surgical competence and bedside manner are great, but if I had to pick it would be competence. In this case, surgical competence was higher than bedside manner.

I found Dr. Shikora to be very professional and informative. The staff is very friendly and helpful. He is team orientated. You will greet all clinical staff at your hospital bed checking your outcome. His office staff is top notch. Was voted top surgeon two days after my surgery, talk about a great feeling. I have done fabulous; ahead of the class on healing and doing well. Have post op meetings can be scheduled at your convenience with other patients. The overall program is excellent. I highly recommend this hospital over others I have heard about.

My impression of Dr.Robinson was that he was a very nice man and knew what he was doing. He also offered serveral times during our short consultation if I had any questions. All of the risks are reviewed again during your consulation and you are given information to take home as well. Honestley I had most of my answers after attending the surgery education seminar prior to the consult. Not to mention my own research I have done online over the past few years.

Dr.Robinsons' staff has been great! Even though they are a very busy office they give each patient their individual attention and care. Jennifer, who sets up all the appointments has been great. She is a sweetheart. His whole office empasizes that this surgery is a tool for losing weight, it will not do it all on its own. It involves a lot of effort on your part as well. A lifestyle change. But they have such a great aftercare program I know that I will do well with all of their help.

I dont really know how I would rate him just yet. I have onhly met him for a short amount of time. So far he is professional and straight to the point. He tells you what he would like you to do in preparation for this surgery. For instance, he has asked me to lose 30-35lbs and quit smoking. I have started my new healthy lifstyle of eating healthier and getting some exercise. I still have had a few bad days here and there but you just have to keep going and start a new day. As for quitting smoking. I have been a smoker for almost half of my life. I want to quit. Not only will it help my recovery but if I am looking to have a healthier lifestyle, then i would say quitting smoking would have to go along with it. Not to mention how much money I will save. This will be my first time ever trying to quit smoking. I have 4 packs left of my carton and then I am done.

Update:
Needless to say, I had a very difficult time trying to accomplish losing weight and quitting smoking at the same time. Once I saw Dr.Robinson again on 3/21/05 I had only cut my smoking in half ( 15 cigs a day to 7-8 cigs a day) and had only lost 6lbs. Dr.Robinson told me he would not do my surgery unless I quit smoking and lost more weight. He said that there was no way he could take chances with my breathing for this surgery. I left the office crying but knew where he was coming from and my origional surgery date of 4/21/05 was canceled. He said he would see me in 3 weeks to see if i had lost anymore weight and quit smoking and would not give me another date until then. He receommended that I try the patch to quit smoking. I Thank him so much now i am an Ex-smoker and do not plan on ever going back to it.

April 12, 2005 appt went great i had lost an addtional 11lbs to make a total of 17lbs and quit smoking the day after i last saw him, 3/22/05. Dr. Robinson was pleased with me and said the he will now do this surgery for me and i can be put back on the schedule.

April 14, 2005: I spoke w\ Dr.Robinsons scheduling coordinator, Jennifer for another date. I am now scheduled for Thursday April 28, 2005. Only one week away from my origional date, not too bad.

April 18, 2005: I went for my pre-op testing today and had my last appt pre-op with Dr.Robinson. I somehow gained almost 3 lbs in 6 days. I am sure that it is PMS. I have not messed up on my diet at all. But its just my luck!

Its a wonderful hospital. I just feel that they were short staffed on nurses and each nurse had too many patients to give their attention to.

They also stated that they had a designated floor to baritric patients and the whole nine yards but I was on floor w\ all types of post\op patients. I am not complaining though.

The only real major complaint I can think of was the roommates that I had. I have a difficult time sleeping in a hospital. Any hospital. But when I first came out of surgery and into my room, the first roommate I had, their visitors were loud and obnoxious. All I wanted to do was try to rest. I had the nurse talk to the family but they (the family) didn't listen. Thankfully that roommate left the following day. My second roommate was afraid of the dark so the room was lit up ALL NIGHT. I also asked the nurse to see if they could do something about the light being on. (That was how I found out she was afraid of the dark) So we compromised and left the bathroom light on (which was on her side of the room thankfully..my curtain blocked most of the light)with the door ajar only a bit. I need dark to sleep especially in the hospital. Other than that, I have no complaints. The complaints I have really doesn't have anything to do with the hospital or its staff. It was with the other patients. I will recommend Brigham & Women's Hospital to anyone. My surgeon and his staff as well as the staff that was on my floor. They were all excellent and made my stay as pleasant as it could be.

Dr. Vernon is probably one of the best drs. I have ever met. She took the time to sit and talk to me about everything and anything. Her secretary, Melissa, is the best person to deal with. Everything went so smooth, no problems, drama or headaches. I am very happy and would recommend her to anyone that needs a surgeon. I will have my surgery on April 27th of 2005. I will post my opinion of her aftercare when I return from the surgery.