AdventHealth Bariatric Surgery & Metabolic Medicine at Celebration Hospital
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I absolutely love Dr. Smith and everyone in his office. I must have called them 2-3 times a day until they had received all of my paperwork and my approval. No one acted the least bit annoyed with all my calls. They were always helpful and very nice. Dr Smith is very nice. He's soft spoken, but you can tell he really cares about his patients. He sees and treats MO people as people with health issues that he can help, not as most of the medical community does. I would highly reccomend this practice to anyone.
Dr.Smith is very professional,answers all ? from yourself & family.Our relationship warmed up as we went thur presurgy.Great office staff very helpful.I can think of nothing I wasnt happy with.Our relationship continues in aftercare.This Dr. is everything you could want.He sees that his patients recieve the best of care.He is very concerned with your comfort during your journey.He takes every precaution before surgery to make sure you have a sucessful outcome. I can best describe an incident between us to let you know about him:I told him about being able to skip,run and play with my grandchildren,I told him it was one of the best days of my life. Tears came to his eyes, we hugged,he said these kinds of stories from his patients made everything worthwhile.What eles can you ask for in a dr? The only thing negative I can say is one of his nurses is not very nice, she guards Dr,Smith like a bull dog!But she has also had WLS, so pet her on her ego,that works wonders.
I saw Dr. Dennis Smith in April of 2003. He impressed me as being down-to-earth; not some arrogant, overwheening, pompous know it all. My initial impression was only strengthened in my follow-up visit for surgery. My father, who was scared to death for me, came with me to support me. Dr. Smith was so patient, helpful and great at conveying the surgery through layman's terms that he did much to alleviate my father's fears. My father, who is hard to impress, was so impressed that he expressed full confidence in his abilities and professionalism.
When I first came to his office, I initially found his staff very rushed and brusque. However, they were in the middle of transition, because Dr. Smith had left one bariatric associatoin to form his own. They were more helpful and courteous as things got more organized. What I really liked was that a few of them had been his patients themselves, so they were very helpful in letting me know what to expect.
The only thing I didn't like was that he has a rather soft, almost hypnotic voice. I was on allergy medication and very sleepy and during his orientation film, I kept nodding off, LOL.
Future patients, particularly future DS patients, will be gratified to know that Dr. Smith works strictly in the parameters of your insurance. There are no hidden follow up fees that need to be paid up front. I had researched various DS surgeons before him and they charged any type of fee ranging from $500 to $2000. I paid his office ONLY my $1500 copay plus the $20.00 office visit fee. And I did not face any charges when I entered the hospital, though I'm being billed by various specialists after the fact. That was very helpful to me in planning my surgery.
Dr. Smith is very strong about emphasizing aftercare. Since I am from San Antonio, TX, I am expected to follow up with my internist every month and take a blood test every three months. My internist follows up with Dr. Smith I also have to take four large tablets of Citracal, two ADEKS vitamins and two Flintstones' vitamins every day. He did emphasize the importance of getting all my protein and stressed how I was bypassed for fat and proteins, but not carbs.
Dr. Smith was very meticulous about emphasizing the risks of surgery. He did not gloss over or sugarcoat anything. However, his thoroughness and professionalism did much to allievate any concern I felt.
I would rate Dr. Smith as a stellar surgeon. He seems to embody the best of both worlds; surgical competence AND a great bedside manner. I can't recommend him strongly enough. Thanks, Dr. Smith!
Dr. Smith is the best. I have heard great reports and believe him to be a very competent surgeon. Dr. Smith takes the necessary time to explain all options and gives a factual basis for consideration. I have been impressed.
The wait time is terrible. I didn't realize how long it would take just being on the waiting list. From October of 2003 until August of 2004 seems to me to be a long time. Once seen however, the timing is much improved.
If you want the best, then accept the the long wait tim as a price you have to pay to get a good surgeon.
He is WONDERFUL as well as his staff. I could call crying, mad or happy and they would help fix the problem. People just have to remember that they are not the only patient Dr Smith has. I am a nurse and i have never met a doctor with such good bedside skills.
I had a BPD/DS with Dr. Smith on 3/9/04. I can not say enough nice things about my surgeon! He is very focused and knowledgeable. He has a quiet, but authoritive and compassionate bedside manner. I was on his waiting list for 11 months to the day, and I am so happy I waited! He did insist that I lose 36 lbs before surgery (I had a BMI of 72 when I started this journey, but was able to reduce it to 65.2 by the day of surgery), and that I have a vena cava filter inserted due to previous episodes of pulmonary emboli. His office set up all the appointments and details for the insertion of the vena cava filter which was done by another surgeon just minutes before Dr. Smith's part of the surgery began. His reputation is sterling and he is very upfront about his statistics. His office staff has been frustrating at times to deal with during the long waiting period, but they do truly mean well. Since the surgery, they have been nothing short of wonderful. I think they just get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people wanting to schedule surgery with this talented surgeon! I would recommend Dr. Smith highly. Don't be scared off by the waiting list...he's worth it! The best is always worth waiting for. I must add his local support group is second to none. I came in to Atlanta for surgery and not one, but THREE of his patients visited me in the hospital! I could have had another surgeon and had my surgery a lot sooner, but Dr. Smith was the only one I truly felt at peace about when considering surgeons.
Dr. Smith is a lifesaver. He is a very caring and knowledgeable surgeon who has your best interests in mind. His office staff and PA are all very attentive and helpful. He is very concerned about you as a total person - not just a paycheck. He feels very strongly about aftercare and has a wonderful support group that meets once a month. I can not think of anything negative about Dr. Smith or his staff. I highly recommend him to anyone considering WLS. He tries to do the surgery Laparoscopically, if at all possible. I would rate him as a 10+ on a scale of 1 to 10. People from all over the U.S. have come to him for their WLS because he is so competent and caring.
He came recommended by someone who attended a Duodenal Switch Support Group meeting in Dallas. He was on my list of DS surgeons that were BC/BS PPOs.
My wife, Bev, and I first met Dr. Smith in November of 2003. We found him to be very impressive - empathic and knowledgeable. Our impression of him has not changed over time except that we understand that he is not a very good judge of character. See next question.
Office Staff: Borderline Incompetency. Numerous times they would call me to say that something needed to be done only to discover that there it was right there in my file. DUH!
Future patients should know that he has had at least one patient die from the surgery. It is my understanding that it was someone that had had a procedure before and talked him into doing the revision - as he usually does not do revisions as a rule. The person died from complications and now Dr. Smith is more adament than ever that he will not take on revisions.
He discussed aftercare with us at the initial meeting, but was okay with the fact that my Internist [who treats my diabetes] was the person who recommended I get the procedure PLUS he was impressed that I was already a regular member at a DS Support Group. He has conceded to some of the Follow-Up visits being performed back here in Texas instead of there in Georgia; however I am going to attempt to as many in Georgia as possible. I really like this guy.
We both viewed a short video at the initial consultation that discussed the risks and the mortality rate, plus we discussed them in the initial consultation.
Overall --- so far --- I would rate him highly....if you can get past his office staff. HINT: Deal only with Nell if you can. she is extremely pleasant and doesn't seem to talk down to you as some of the others do.
I prefer surgical competence over bedside manner because I am a grouchy patient and can give it as good as I get it.
Mike Womack
