"I do think the nurses are very understaffed -- but that's a fact everywhere it seems. Since it is a teaching hospital you see a lot of different residents, etc., so you kind of have to stay on top of things and make sure everyone is on the same page. All the nurses were fantastic, but one either didn't know how to help me sit up or was afraid of hurting herself and consquently I hurt myself right after surgery. I've been in a lot of pain since."
"Dr. Madura was very professional and extremely punctual -- a huge bonus! He didn't seem rushed or preoccupied, and took time to fully answer all my questions. Dr. Madura seemed very honest when discussing the surgery and possible complications. I liked that he was able to challenge some of my beliefs without being confrontational. He was not overly friendly, but was not condescending or rude -- things I have experienced in the past with other physicians. He seems to genuinely care about his patients and their battle with obesity. It's ideal to have a surgeon with both excellent surgical skill and a great bedside manner -- but if I could choose only one it would definitely be surgical competence. I anticipate Dr. Madura will have both at the time of surgery.
Sonia the nurse was terrific. Again I'd like to mention the punctuality of the staff. I never had to sit around anywhere for any length of time. The medical student who did my initial assessment was great as well -- I think her name was Jen? The office girls were fine, but kind of disorganized and flighty. One answers the phone way too quickly and it's difficult to understand the name of the practice when you call. Sam is extremely helpful and is the "go to" person regarding insurance, surgery dates, etc., and is always polite and knows her job.
One thing you should know about Dr. Madura --he's down to earth but professional. He's not a "coddler" so if that's what you want, better look elsewhere. If you want honesty and competence, he's your guy.
Dr. Madura does stress the importance of aftercare and the follow up visits to his office. He leaves a lot of the actual minutiae to the dietician -- diet, exercise, behavior modification, supplementation, etc. and deals primarily with the surgical aspects. The dietician definitely stresses the importance of staying connected to a support group of some kind, but there was nothing structured offered through them that I recall.
The only thing I'd change is that I wished I had been told more about how the whole process works, starting from the initial consultation through post-op. I've had to bug Sam with a bunch of calls because I didn't know what, if anything, I needed to be doing for insurance for example. It would be more clear to lay it out step by step so patients know what to expect when. "
"I did not see Dr. Corsica as scheduled, but was asked to see Molly instead. Molly was absolutely wonderful! She was professional, supportive and knowledgeable about obesity and bariatric surgery. I felt the recommendations she made were right on target. A great psychologist!"
"Susan Mikolaitis knows her field and took a lot of time to make sure I understood the long-term commitments I need to make in order to remain healthy after surgery. She focused a lot on nutritional supplements -- which I appreciated as I didn't know what was needed/required -- and stressed the importance of adequate protein intake."
