"I cannot be more pleased with Dr. Kole. He is the most caring, lovable doctor I have ever met. My story is a bit unique. I was all the way through the University of Michigan's bariatric program (with a surgery date and all), when my insurance decided to pitch a fit telling me I needed a Center of Excellence. At the time I was so upset, but by pure coincidence, I found the St John system on the sheet of paper the insurance company provided (with a list of approved doctors) and called.
While it did take about 2 weeks to get an appointment with them, 2 weeks is an almost impossible feat. I was just so anxious since my surgery had just been canceled. But 2 weeks is amazing. I go in and in walks this very tall, quiet man. He was ever-so-confident in the way he talked and he did not talk 'down' to me. He explained the procedure, and he even offered to tell me about the other procedures available, so by no means did he force this decision on me.
The girls in the office are lovely too, extremely helpful. My first impression of Dr. Kole that day was... 'boy... he is so calm, so quiet (not overbearing) and I'm surprised I actually got to meet him on my first appointment. Most surgeons are met way farther out, and they are almost 'too godly' to reach out to. I never felt that with Dr Kole. Oddly enough, that was the first and last time I met Dr. Kole before the day of surgery. I walked away thinking... ok, this won't be that bad.
I can't say anything I do NOT like about him. I know this review is supposed to include both likes and dislikes, but seriously, I would be making something up right now if I told you I had any problems with him.
I can't speak to his surgical competence since I wasn't looking over his shoulder when he did the surgery. However, as a patient of his, I CAN say that I have had 100% NO COMPLICATIONS thus far from his work. Which to me, means he is 'clean' with his surgeries, (not sloppy-go-fast like other surgeons I've had for other body parts), he must be extremely concentrated when he's doing surgeries and his attitude shines out so brightly.
After surgery I was acting like a child, gas pains (which are 100% normal with this procedure) were making me cry and I wanted relief. Dr. Kole must have seen me a couple times the first day, a couple the second day and once on the morning I went home. Even though the only thing I had to say was that I was hating the gas pains, Dr. Kole was MORE than patient with me. His presence made me feel calm, comfortable, like everything was going to be fine. His demeanor is what I like most about him.
One thing I NEVER expected was for Dr. Kole to give me his personal cell phone number upon discharge. Anytime, day or night, he said.. call me with any problems. Wow. Never have I seen anyone with more commitment to his/her patients. The next time I saw Dr. Kole was on the 1-week post-op appointment. He was smiling, relaxed and extremely supportive. Your insides looked good, your scabs look fantastic, just keep doing what you are doing. That made me feel great.
One thing that's perhaps not the best (but has 0% to do with Dr. Kole) is the fact that the St. John Weight Loss Center has monthly support groups and they only offer one time. I really liked U of M because they had 3 support groups a month, all at different times so if you can't make one, you can make a Saturday one, etc. But this is something negative about St John, NOT Dr. Kole as he has no control over these things.
Overall, I would say that insurance denying me at U of M was the best thing that could have happened to me. I met Dr. Kole and I felt so well-cared for... like a member of the family. I felt like he CARED, something lacking in this age of assembly line health care. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Kole for changing my life and being such a loving figure."
