Info needed for a friend.... good/bad/ugly on VA surgeon

Hi VA peeps.... I have a favor,,, The husband of a friend of mine is contemplating surgery with Dr. Anez.. I see lots of good reviews (however, i also know enough that sometimes the bad experiences people have never make it to the surgeons page.) I knew if i posted here i might get better direct info.... Feel free to contact me directly if you don't want post shown as part of this thread.  They've already seen one small red flag (ie unexpected bill for surgical costs at last minute) and i'd feel better if i knew if there were any others to look out for.  Thanks so much.... Kristina  

I had Dr. A & for the most part loved my experience.  He is a great Dr., a bit quick & to the point, Tiffany the PA is fabulous.  The office staff sometimes not the most friendly but always have been efficient for me.  No billing issues here.  There were some staff changes going on when I first started seeing Dr. A & that caused some confusion & long wait times but that cleared up in a few weeks and I never had any other issues.

Hi there! I also had Dr. A for my surgery. He did a great job, but as Courtney said he's direct and to the point. After the inital consult and surgery, they pretty much have you deal with Tiffany, the PA...and she's wonderful! :-) The staff is good, but you also need to be in charge of your own health (if you know what I mean). As for the unexpected billing, I'd say that the only thing I found odd was that he used his own anethesologist (sp?)...which was not covered by insurance....I had been told about that though, so it wasn't so unexpected for me.  I'd recommend him....if for no other reason than I have had zero complications from my surgery and the follow up by Tiffany has been stellar.  If you have any other (more specific) questions, let me know!

Dr. Anez performed my surgery almost 5 years ago and he's wonderful.  Yes, surgeons aren't known for their wonderful personalities, because if you think about it, we don't usually have ongoing relationships with surgeons, but our primary physicians.  But when I chose my bariatric surgeon, I wanted one who was technically the best.  I was nervous enough about moving forward with it, I wanted the best I could find.  He was it.  I told myself I could live with the personality quirks.  I haven't been sorry.   Best of luck to your friend!

GAIL !!  Where have you been . Gosh I miss you ... !! How are things ..  I would really  like to catch up .  I am moving to Sterling Va .  Good to see your beautiful face here .  Natalie

Are you really moving to Sterling?!  That's super.  I work in Chantilly - that's just a stone's throw away.   I've been around, but my life and work have been so overwhelmingly busy that I don't have the time I used to troll on the boards or even attend too many events like I used to.  I miss it, but you know how life is sometimes.  :)   We seem to get overtaken by events. When are you moving?  We need to get together....Email me [email protected] and let me know when you're around. --Gail--

Thanks everyone for the comments.... I passed along the info and know that she thinks about it.... It probably is the anest. that is costing them the out of network $1K.  Which they might be able to fight since most anesth's are out of netwrok anyway.  She's feeling better about it.