Surgical Weight Loss at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital

I attended the doctor/patient orientation class with Dr. LePort and found him to be humorous and informative. He seemed to be a man with a dry sense of humor.
My husband and I had an appointment with Dr. LePort in November. He is very cut and dry. I appreciate this type of approach. I didn't need him to answer too many questions because of all of the research that I have done. His office staff has been informative and patient. They have the info! Michelle King at Smart Dimensions has guided me from day one. I really appreciate her!
Dr. LePort emphasizes attending support group meetings. I had to attend a nutrition class in order to have my surgery. He went over the possible risks of the surgery. His office, Michelle went over the risks of the surgery in detail.

This surgery has many risks and blood clots are one of them. So when you have this surgery feet pumps are to be placed on your feet to prevent clot from forming. I did not get my feet pumps put on till close to 10 hours after I was out of surgery. I would wake up while in my room, about every 2 hours and they weren't ever on. And of course I would yell for the nurse to put them on, but the excuse they had, was that they had not came from where ever they order them from. It was about 5pm when they were finally brought into my room by the place who they ordered them from, but the nursing staff didn't come in to
put them on until almost 7pm. That was after I called her again and told her that they were there and have been since 5pm. Mind you my surgery took place at 7:30am. Also the nursing staff in the Surgical area of the hospital, which for me that was Room 107 area, THEY WERE HORRIBLE. I wasn't till a friend called over to Lite Dimensions for me (my dr's office) and Lite Dimensions staff got the head nurse involved. The head nurse then came in and got me where I belonged in the hosp. (room 157) Bariatics area. It was much better over in that area, once the staff got over the rumors, I'm sure, of me calling on the other nursing staff members. I am sure they all thought I was just a complaint bug. But that was not the case at all. The staff at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital really need to be put into a course of bed side manners and patient refresher classes to remind them that they work for the public, not themselves. I too took care of patients for a living and I know first hand what and how hard of a job it is, but remember you chose this career and if you're not happy then look for a better or different one. Sincerely, Donna Chavez

The hospital was okay, but the nursing staff, while kind, was not helpful in the least. If I didn't get up and unplug my own IV I never would have gotten out of that bed, or probably even told to. You must page them for everything. You can't expect them to just come and fix a beeping IV machine. My friend was given regular jello at one point during her stay. Make sure it is marked with a D on the lid, because they didn't. The bariatric ward was full, so my first 2 days was in the regular department. Not much of a difference though.

Dr La Port did a great job and his staff is very caring. I can't say anything but good things.

I was pleased with my hospital stay and 90% of the staff, being a nurse there were only a few things I was unhappy about. But overall the stay was good-excellent and would advise anyone to go there!! They kept me comfortable as possible.

I believe the hospital is generally a great hospital but, I think it's very noisy, I had on 'several' incidents heard much to loud Spanish conversations and got up to look and found 2 and 3 hospital workers outside my door, chatting! It bothered me but usually when they saw me get up they took off. The cleaning crew were horrible with noise, they bump into the hallways and doors with the vacuums and cleaners non stop.
My nursing staff were all ANGELS !!!!
Debbie, your it, you could not be any kinder, such a sweet hand with that stomach shot, (boy I miss those !!!) !!!!! Jeremy, was a little hesitant with a male nurse, but not now, your the bomb ! LUPE !!!!!! you know your the real bomb here, you were always running to satisfy any desire or whims. Lisa, thanks or always trying to make it better. Tamm, you were also very nice and helpful.
My overall opinion is I am happy as all get to have had a Lap RNY surgery, they also kept my gall bladder for a remembrance of me !! I hated getting up to walk the first few hours, buy I understand why it must be, I did not care for the "D R Y" mouth the first 2 days, but I know why. The first 3 days after surgery I had wished it NEVER had it done, but Thank You DeDe (Lite Dimensions) it "does" get better everyday. Today is day 6, I weighed today for the first time, I am down 20 lbs.
I cried .....
I cried again when my wonderful husband came home and looked at the scale.
Life is good....
Life is grand !

I anticipated being in the bariatric wing, but it didn't open from Xmas holiday closure till I was post-op and already in a "regular" room. However, I was told that all the nursing staff in the surgery unit were trained in bariatric treatment. Staff overall was quite decent, tho of course I got along better with some than others. Nurses and aides were typically overworked but did their best. However, I think a lack of sufficient communication between a nurse and his aide added to my complications: I reported info faithfully to both of them, but was later told by the nurse that he hadn't heard about my diarrhea that the aide was clearly having to deal with! Reminder: "please" and "thank you" go a long way! I was conscientious about this and tried to do for myself as much as I could. As a result, in contrast to my high-maintenance roommate, I think I got better and quicker attention. Nonetheless, I really look forward to going to my hometown hospital to have my hernia repair next year: with all respect to foreign-borns, I really feel than communication is clearer (and thus of better care to me) with staff who have English as their primary language; and I think those staffers are in the minority at this hospital (like so many other hospitals in the US today, with our nursing shortage). Bottom line: based on what I've heard from others, I wish I'd been in Fresno Surgery Center instead!

While all of the RN's and CNA's were great, one RN in particular stands out - Debbie. She was on nights two of the nights I was there. She was extremely caring and sensitive. She took great care not to disturb the patients more than needed and was quick to respond to requests for help.

Dr. LePort is a very straight forward doctor and had answered all my questions completely. I had alot of anxiety about this surgery since I had undergone a stomach stapling about 18 years ago. I had a great deal of pain after the surgery. He put me at ease telling me there still would be pain but that medicine and procedures had improved greatly in the last 18 years. I also asked questions about the success of the surgery. He was very sincere and post-op I did great just as he said. I would give a very high rating to DR. LePort and recommend him to anyone who is especially having a revision done.

I will meet Dr. LePort on Sept 2. He will do my surgery on Sept 24th. Met Dr. LePort yesterday. Very busy office. Spoke and met a lot of people, must say not like a regular Dr. Office, Obese people are much more friendly LOL. The wait was long, but enjoyed the company. I really liked Dr. LePort, He seems very kind and I am confident he will do a great job. He went over the risks, importance of not overeating and aftercare. Gave me his attention for any questions and actually seemed concerned about my wait, wow that has never happened in a Dr. Office lol.