Brigham and Women's Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Hospital
The entire staff at Brighams was wonderful. They took all the time that was necessary to answer every question I had. 2 days after being released I was still able to call the nurses station and ask questions. From the moment I walked in the hospital until days after I left I feel like I had red carpet treatment.
The first time I met with Dr. Robinson was in January. I spoke with Jennifer his secertary and his PA for most of time. His PA breif me on the surgery and then he came in towards the end of the appointment and looked over everything asked if I had any questions and told me that I qualify for the surgery and that Jen will be contacting me on my up comming appointments. When I met with him today for my final appointment(8-11-03) it was a total of 2-3 minutes. He again asked if I have any questions and told me he will see me next week. He is a very professional person very start forward and serious. He is the type of person I would want to do my surgery. He is knowledgable of the prosedure, like one of his prior patient if you are looking for him to hold his hand call your mother.
I was given an epidural for pain following the surgery which was not working. I had some kind of blockage. The nurses/anastestologist in the recovery room would not listen. I was telling them i wanted the epidural out and to give me morphine because i was in SOO much pain--finally, after 20 hours, they took out the epidural and gave me morphine!! Then, i was fine and mostly pain free.
Unfortunatly, i was in recovery for over 30 hours.
Other than that, my nurses were great, doctors were great, PA's were great! The kitchen was "ok"! :-)
Dr. Shikora and his staff are to be complimented for their kindness and compassion. They never made me feel like a failure for my size. I was always treated with dignity and respect.
The aftercare program is excellent. I was seen by Dr. Shikora, his physician assistant and a dietician on each post op visit.
A large list of potential complications, including possibly life threatening ones were explained in detail.
10+ for Dr. Shikora's surgical competence.
9+ for his bedside manner.
I met with Dr. Shikora on april 22nd. He was extremley easy to talk to. He was very matter of fact and explained the whole process in great detail, risks, benefits and other options. He did it all With pictures, diagrams, and even a pop quiz afterwards!
The office staff is incredible... very efficient, and thoughtful all at the same time!
Dr. Shikora stated that aftercare is one of the most important elements to sucess ~
<font face="Technical"><font size=4><b>10.08.2002</b><p>My appointment began with Dr. Robinson's PA, Gina Grudinskas. She put me so much at ease. She answered all of my questions and made me feel very comfortable in asking as many questions as I needed to ask. About mid-way through the appointment, Dr. Robinson came in, introduced himself, sat down and quickly reviewed my records. He was very business like and somewhat aloof. He asked me if I had any questions specifically for him, but I was so tongue tied that I couldn't think of a thing. He said I was an appropriate candidate for the surgery. Then, since I didn't have any specific questions for him, he went ahead and left me with Gina to finish up with all of my questions. I liked him, but found myself feeling somewhat intimidated by his presence. But, I don't want to give the wrong impression here -- I find it difficult to be relaxed and at ease with male doctors in general and so I think I would have been very self-conscious with any male doctor. Dr. Robinson was more than willing to answer my questions, but I just was not able to allow myself to ask them of him. I could with Gina but not with him. I think I would have felt more comfortable with him had he been in the room from the start. There was no rapport between us like there was with Gina. If this important to you, you may wish to find a different doctor. I am more concerned about his surgical skill (he has done several hundred surgeries) than his bedside manner, although he struck me as being compassionate and caring. Anway, all total, the time spent with Gina was about 40 minutes or so and at no time did I feel rushed. I was encouraged to call with questions as well. The after care program is more informal at the Brigham, but there are support group meetings every 2nd and 4th Tuesday. I will next meet with the nutritionist, have a sleep study, and a few other tests, and then surgery sometime in February or March, 2003. I'm grateful for the time to prepare.</font></font></p>