"When I first met with Dr. Koning, he said something that will stay with me forever. He said, "While I enjoy being able to provide this surgery, the thing that I love most is being able to give morbidly obese people an opportunity to live a life unencumbered by weight." I CRIED!! He is a wonderful man - very thorough (you have to jump through all his hoops before he'll even consider scheduling a surgery for you!), very knowledgeable, and very enthusiastic about the procedure (he attends the support group that meets once a month in Bend and speaks to the group as a whole). He's there to answer questions and give information and you don't feel that he's judging you because of your size. His office staff is very friendly and you don't feel that they are judging you because of your size, either. His physcian's assistant, Garnie Jo, is very pleasant and a lot of fun. I guess the one word that would describe Dr. Koning, his office, and all the associates I've come in contact with during this process is KIND. I'll update this information as I get further in the process."
