Presbyterian Bariatric Center (COE) Hospital

He was a very informative.

my impression has not changed since I met him.

Very plesant

Make sure they have all thier records with them, it makes thing go faster.

7/11/02

I met with Dr. Melkonian today for my initial consultation. My husband and my parents went with me. At first I met alone with the doctor briefly to discuss my past medical history and then we all went into a conference room together. He described the procedure and all the pros and cons. I knew quite a bit of the info already since this was my 2nd consultation with a WLS physician and because I have been researching this for over 2 months. I had met with a doctor in Hickory last month, but for some reason felt I needed seek more than one doctor out before I made a final decision. The first doctor was more personable and "warm and fuzzy" than Dr. Melkonian, but after our meeting today I feel it is compentence and feeling secure with my decision that is the most important thing to me. Dr. Melkonian's experience and qualifications are excellent and I feel that being in Charlotte at Presby will make me feel more secure because I am more familiar and it is closer to my home.

He does require that you meet with a pyschiatrist/psycologist, which I have done. I called the office ahead of time to find out who he recommends and had that done so I could procede with this as quickly as possible. I am scheduled to meet with a dietician Dr. Melkonian works with in August. I asked him after I meet all the requirements how soon were we looking at. He said that he only does about 2 of these procedures a week so we were looking at the end of September or into October before we could get to the actual surgery. That gives me plenty of time to mentally prepare. I have already started "practicing" with Carnation Instant Breakfast to see how I will do on the 2 week fast he requires prior to surgery. The good news is that it tastes really good....the bad news is that I do get hungry, but I have only been drinking 4 and I found out today you can actually drink 6 per day.

I feel very confident with Dr. Melkonian and am looking forward to having my surgery before the end of the year.

My first impression of Dr. Melkonian was that he is not warm and fuzzy, but I believe he knows his stuff. He has experience doing lap surgery and encouraged me to talk to others who have had good and bad experiences.

Dr. Melkonian's office staff has been very nice to work with so far. Although, I have only had one appointment. I spoke with Liz on a couple of occassions and she was very helpful in answering my insurance questions and explaining the process from first visit to surgery.

Dr. Melkonian emphasized the importance of aftercare. His office does not yet have any programs set up, but they are fairly new at this procedure and have not yet gotten support groups or after care programs in place. Dr. Melkonian did suggest other groups for me to consider.

Dr. M was very blunt about the risks, he went over all of them and didn't hold back. I think it is very important for surgeon to be completely honest with his patients.

I will tell you more as my interaction with Dr. M and his office increases.

I would have to say my 1st impression of Dr. melkonian was extremely good. I was a little worried at first because he is so young, but after meeting with him, he put my mind at ease there. He was very straight forward about the surgery (trying for LAP) and didn't suger coat anything ! He will tell you all the risks and possible complications and tells you "it can happen". I am hoping, after surgery (if insurance goes thru) that I can help get an aftercare/support program going through his office. I am anxiously awaiting my next visit with Dr. Melkonian.
(Actually, he is the one who referred me to this website!!)
6/8/02 --- I had LAP RNY on 5/20/02 with Dr. M and he did a wonderful job. He is very caring, and listens to every question (and even has an answer) Had my 2 week follow up on 6/5 and he did not seem rushed - but actually sat and talked about this life altering event! He is still a 10 on my scale !

My first impression of Dr. Melkonian was, "Wow, this guy sure is blunt!!" but I am glad that he was because that means he is honest. I didn't want a surgeon that tries to "sell" the surgery, I want one that is truthful and patient with your questions and he was! On my second visit I had a looong list of questions for him and I was worried that he would be annoyed at me for taking up so much time....I was wrong, he sat with my boyfriend and I for as long as I needed and listened to my concerns and answered every question I could possibly think of. After leaving I was very confident in him and felt very excited about the surgery. I think future patient's should know that he is very blunt with you, he will not sugar coat anything and at first you may take it personally but don't....he wants to be honest with you and wants you to know what your getting into. He was very blunt about the risks of the surgery but he needs to be. This is a major decision and shouldn't be taken lightly. So far, since I haven't actually had surgery yet I would give him a 10!! :)

6/6/02
I had the surgery and wanted to update on my surgeon. I think he is wonderful and very competent! He did an awesome job on my surgery and I had my follow up today and he answered all of my questions and is very supportive. I highly recommend him.

My insurer made me switch to a surgeon in the state where I work so I picked Dr. Melkonian. My first visit with him went great. He explained the pros and cons of having the surgery and not having it. He and his staff were professional and made me feel comfortable.

My first impression of Dr. Melkonian was "how old is he"? He was very nice went over pretty much everything and didnt sugar coat anything far as the risks of surgery. He is an experienced doctor which is great!
My first impression of the office staff wasnt to good. I had to call the office 3 x's because of receiving different information and finally the 3rd getting someone to explain to me what I had to do. That scared me. But when I went into the office for my visit everyone was really nice. I got a call back from a nurse who has my paper work and she told me everything was great (just waiting on the appts you have to have to get approved) Over all they have been really nice and I cant wait to just be able to say I have a date for surgery.

I had my very first appointment today with Dr.Melkonian. My first impression of him was he is so nice, he came in the room shook my hand and told me his name and said it is nice to meet you. I thought he was very nice from beginning to the end of the meeting. His office staff is great and answered any questions I had and didn't mind answering any question I had. I would like for other patients to know that he is very skilled with lap rny and does this type of surgery alot, he was doing lap surgery before he even started doing the rny, weight loss surgery. He emphasizes that you need to get your PCP involved in your weight loss surgery. He was very helpful to tell me all the risk about the surgery and didn't push me to have it done. I would rate him an eleven from 1 to 10 on a scale.

Dr. Melkonian has always been straight foward with me from the very first meeting we had. He has never made me feel as though my appointment needed to be rushed through. He was kind enough to stay after the ofc closed with my husband and I (and hour after closing) to answer any and all questions we had related to the surgery. He does not make his living by doing full time WLS but is a General and Laparoscopic surgeon who does this to help people. He does want his patients to take the time to have all of the tests and necessary evaluations done before making a final decision. My surgery is scheduled for March 26,2002. Dr Melkonian has obliged my request to talk to patients up in Pennsylvania where he did his internship to allowing me to talk to a patient he performed the WLS on. WLS is new to the Carolina Surgical Clinic since Dr Melkonian joined with this clinic so they are still learning but the staff is doing very well in answering calls and or questions. So far I have been very pleased with Dr Melkonian and the staff at Carolina Surgical Clinic of Charlotte.

MY FIRST IMPRESSION WAS VERY GOOD, AFTER SURGERY I FOUND HIM LESS INVOLVED. SOME OF HIS OFFICE STAFF IS GREAT. HIS NURSE TRUDY IS WONDERFUL AND THE POST SURGERY INSURANCE NURSE LIZ IS GREAT, HOWEVER THE PRE SURGERY INSURANCE NURSE NANCY IS INEFFICIENT, RUDE AND UNCOOPERATIVE. I HAVE SPOKEN TO THE OFFICE MANAGER ABOUT HER. ANOTHER PATIENT OF HIS HAS TOLD ME THE SAME THING.

DR. MELKONIAN IS NEW TO CHARLOTTE AND TO SURGERY. I WAS HIS THIRD SURGERY IN CHARLOTTE ON 1/31/02. HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY AFTERCARE PROGRAM OR SUPPORT GROUP IN PLACE.

HIS SURGICAL COMPETENCE IS BETTER THAN HIS BEDSIDE MANNER.