Cabell Huntington Hospital (COE) Hospital

My story is a long one but a great one. My surgeon was Dr. Nease of Garden Grove California.

I had looked into WLS on the internet and then ventured out to a few seminars to get more information. I received plenty of information however, also felt the cattle call feeling. The seminars were standing room only...heard them in and heard them out. I got the feeling that they were more concerned about quantity than quality. I went home and continued to read the boards and it was during this time I found out that WLS was an exclusion on my insurance policy. If I decided to have the surgery I would be paying cash. I was devastated at first but once I got over the initial shock it made me feel good to know that I could choose whoever I wanted to do the surgery and not have to "HOPE FOR THE BEST" with whoever my insurance company selected.

It was when I attended Dr. Nease’s seminar I knew I had found my surgeon. He was a real person speaking to real people. He was a man of integrity and nothing but honesty poured out of him. He was honest to the bone about the possibilities of complications and death. He pulled no punches...This is not a cure all THIS IS A TOOL! He shared a part of his life...his Father was morbidly obese and died at a young age of obesity related complications. I believe Dr. Nease is so companionate and understanding of this surgery because he watched obesity stop his father from living, (EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY.)


As for my story...I attended the seminar on Feb 29th, and was sure that day. I scheduled my "one on one"for the following Tuesday. I proceeded with all of my pre-op and things were running smoothly. I received a call the morning of my pre-op nutrition class of what to expect...they wanted me to go and have a scan of my thyroid in the morning before the class. It was the Thursday before my surgery which was to take place on the following Tuesday and I was so excited! Dr. Nease had the unfortunate responsibility of pulling me from the class to let me know that they had found a large mass in my neck and it was quite possible it was cancer. The tumor had deviated my trachea all the way to the right side. He was so compassionate, he assured me that he and the operating table would be there when the time was right.

He contacted my Head & Neck surgeon and explained what he had found. During this time Dr. Nease’s office staff treated me with kit gloves, concern & compassion.. Anything my Head & Neck Surgeon needed they provided in an extremely quick fashion, via phone, fax or mail whatever it took! Even though my WLS had been put on hold once again I knew I had found the right WLS Surgeon.


After two biopsy’s it was 99% sure that the tumor was malignant. I went in for surgery and had the mass removed. It was quite large, the bottom being the size of a tennis ball and the top being the size of a golf ball. I am happy to say once the surgery was done the pathology report came back benign. After six weeks recovery time I was given the ok to follow through with my WLS.


May 11th Dr. Nease performed my surgery. Cynthia was waiting for me the day I arrived at the hospital and Marla popped in and out several times to make sure I was comfortable before going into surgery. I had a lot of anxiety and a phobia of the blood pressure machine...No one thought I was crazy...they just made sure I was comfortable. Dr. Nease checked on me everyday while I was in the hospital. His staff - (Kim, Cynthia & Marla) each came to see me throughout the day each day.

Once released I had questions over the weekend, Dr. Nease’s answering service paged him, he called me back quickly, I could hear that he was with his children however he never made me feel as if I were disturbing him during his weekend. He solved my problem and I truly believe he was happy to do it.

I am now 4 weeks postop and know I made the right choice. I would recommend anyone that is considering this surgery to seriously consider Dr. Nease, attend a seminar or contact his office...He cares about YOU as a person and his office staff treats you like you are a family member rather than just a patient.

Really, think about it...if you work in a Dr’s office and your mother is having surgery it would be normal for you to walk over to the hospital and hold her hand before during and after however this person is not a family member and you and your co-workers at different times, walk over to the hospital to check on patients? Yes, I made the right choice!

Thanks Dr. Nease, Kim, Betty, Marla & Cynthia! You are all fabulous!
Warm Regards,
Margaret Pancakes

I first met Dr. Nease at one of his seminars. I really liked it that he shared his home life with us talking about his kids and the reason that he chose this profession. When I met him for my consult he was very easy going, ready to answer any questions that I might have had and put my mind at ease that this IS what I wanted to do. My stay in the hospital was short and he came everyday to make sure that I was comfortable and doing well. The office staff is just as great, they all work as a team along side of Dr. Nease and I could not have found a more caring bunch of people. I think that if this surgery is something you are thinking of doing and you have done the research about the procedure and need a great surgeon, Dr. Nease and his staff are GREAT!

Dr. Nease is very friendly and competent throughout the entire process. Attentive, confident and very knowledgeable. Office staff is excellent, friendly - each person is very good. To others - Concern is to be aware of which Dr. you choose - make sure person has a good track record and alot of experience doing it. Dr. Nease is all of the above - he described the risks in detail, there were no unknowns going into this. I absolutley recommend him - very empathetic, confident and has a good friendly bedside manner. My life has changed as food is less important than it was two weeks ago which is when I had my surgery. I am totally happy!

I chose Dr. Nease because he is such a nice guy and I got a sense that God had brought him to me. I am a Christian and this was very important to me.

Dr. Nease answered all of my questions and the pre-op, post-op and numerous visits were very helpful. Dr. was always accessible whenever I had any questions.

My life has changed alot since surgery. I've had NO complications and I've had no problems. I've lost 114lbs. in 6 months and my energy is very high. I now work out 3 to 4 days a week and that's where I get my energy and it speeds up the weight loss process. When I don't work out I feel my body wiggles more. I do resistance and cardio.

The first time we met Dr. Nease we knew immediately he was the surgeon for us. My husband and I had researched doctors in our area, and had seen two other doctors (before finding Dr. Nease), but we felt as though we were part of a "cattle call". Dr. Nease's office is like family. From our first visit, the entire staff knew us by name and greeted us with a smile and a genuine concern for our overall health. During each of our stays in the hospital Dr. Nease came to see us every day, sometimes twice each day. He is genuine, compassionate, straightforward and highly skilled.

I was impressed because of Dr. Nease's personal first hand experience with his father having been obese - I sensed he was in this field because of his wanting to help overweight people. We just clicked - he made me laugh, I made him laugh - it just worked - when I met him I knew I'd found my surgeon. I have now had surgery and still like him and feel confident about my choice.All his staff are very helpful. The health risks were my biggest motivator to have surgery - not so much the physical. I was starting to feel everything and I knew I had lost control over my eating habits.I researched surgery for a year, checking out different Drs., and I finally found Dr. Nease. He was the only one whose seminar I decided to attend. After attending, I knew I was ready.My insurance had already been approved. He also stressed the risks and the health problems I could experience if I hadn't had surgery. Aftercare has been good, attended post-op nutrition class and will follow-up on my scheduled appts. I would definitely talk with anyone who is interested about Dr. Nease. I live far (Temecula) and make the drive, but knowing what I know now - it's worth it.

Dr. Nease explained all the risks, gave
excellent care. He answered all my pre-op
questions, and will be available to answer
post-op questions I might have.

I didn't have the opportunity to meet him
before I came out for the surgery, but
he changed from an unknown to a very
supportive friend.

The office staff is most helpful, works
with your insurance company, and helps you
to understand the surgery, risks, and what
to expect afterward.

For any other potential patients, Dr. Nease
is very direct, explains everything well, and puts you at ease about the surgery as well as making sure you know the risks.

The risks of surgery were explained and taken very serioustly after the surgery.
The office staff as well as the doctor
made visits to the hospital to make sure
your hospital stay was as pleasant as possible.

I would rate Dr. Nease very high.

Surgical competence is highly valued as you are their hands for the surgery. I also
had a hatial hernia, with was fixed. I would have never know I had it. Beside manor
is great too, I have heard of some bariatric
surgeons who don't have this quality.

Only one week post op, I am still adjusting
to the surgery, but know it will take time.
Dr. Nease and his staff prepare you for all this. It helps so much to be able to have
that counseling.

I first met Dr. Nease at a seminar in Garden Grove May 2003 and my first impression of him was that he was not only extremly intellegent and informative, but very kind and compassionate. I knew from that first encounter that if I was having this surgery that I wanted no one else but him. To appease my family and friends I researched for another year to make sure that this was what I was going to do for my health and future. I attended two other seminars with other doctors and came back to Dr. Nease and attended a 2nd seminar with him. Any questions that were not answered the first time were addressed at this seminar (plus I had my questions down at this point).

My first impression was correct! This man is WONDERFUL!!!

The staff in his office are GREAT. I call all the time and they always greet me pleasantly and answer all of my questions. If they are not able to answer immediatly Dr. Nease calls me. They did everything they could to help me with the insurance and when I was approved, Marla took me step by step as to what would happen pre op. Cynthia and Kim are also great sources of information.

There is nothing negative I can say about Dr. Nease or his staff. They all know what they are talking about and if not they make sure that they get the information and get back to me within a day or two.

Again, what can I say but I have the greatest respect for Dr. Nease and found him to have not only a great mind, but a wonderful bedside manner (and you don't usually get both) so my experience with him was the best.

Aftercare: I have a 2-3 hr appt on Monday to find out what needs to happen next. (if it is anything like pre-op) I know that it will be very detailed (step by step). He also has a support group that meets every other Tuesday. I started attending these 2 months prior to my surgery and found that they were very supportive of me and my journey and the information I received by attending has been a tremendous help. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone getting ready for surgry to attend these meetings PRIOR to surgery! They are all about what you need to do...not just today or tomorrow but the rest of your life. I have found out about vitamins and nutrietion, exercise and even a cooking demonstration from one of the patients.

Surgery Risks...He covers everything in his seminars, then again after you are approved by surgery, he also sits down and addresses your personal risks one on one...(ie diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.) and what can/could happen due to surgery during in your pre op meeting. You also received a 2" binder...(that's right)with step by step instructions of your surgery, with information starting from the time you walk in the door of the hospital (with any complications that can arise as a result of any part of your surgery)and info about post-op as well.

I know that I am repeating myself, but I truly found that Dr. Nease is one of the BEST surgeons out there. I need to know everything and he is very through on every bit of information he hands you or talks to you about. There is no question about what it is that you are about to do.

I would rate him EXCELLANT in both catagories...surgical competence and bedside manner this is Dr. Nease's passion...once you meet with him you will not want to go anywhere else for your surgery!

When I was looking for a surgeon the following critera was important to me -
Wanted someone who wasn't "top of the mountain", running a factory because I wanted the personal touch and concern. Definitely found that with Dr. Nease and his staff. I wanted someone who was laparoscopically competent as I DID NOT want an open surgery. I knew he was young as is the assistant surgeon, but that didn't affect me negatively. I was impressed with the organization of the office. Well trained, get the job done, but do so with compassion, very speedy, didn't take alot of time to process insurance or any of the pre-op procedures. Scheduling of everything was very efficient and professional. Impressed with hospital staff. He was the right blend for me of competence and bedside - escpecially that he can do all bariatric procedures laparoscically and his individual concern. NOT A NUMBER.

I found Dr. Nease on the internet and after researching several Doctors, I decided to attend Dr. Nease's seminar and was impressed on how he presented himself and what really cinched my decision to choose him as my surgeon was that he had obesity in his family. To me that gave him a more personal touch and he really knew what people are going through since he also witnessed the process of this disease. I believe he knew what he was talking about and he was very detailed explaining everything to me and I was confident in his knowledge. He didn't hold anything back on the risks and told us exactly how it was which I greatly appreciated. The support system in place from regular support group meetings to the staff support really gave me the courage to do it!