"Most of the nursing staff treated me very well. My doctor heald a meeting on caring for patients having this kind of surgery and so I felt that the nurses and CNA's were very knowledgable about what we were going through."
"I expected to be turned down for this part of the evaluations for the surgury. I have had Bi-Polar depression, technically I still have it, though it has been almost a year since I have needed much treatment. Also, I am a recoverying drug addict. I have been clean now for 5 years, and I had a recent evaluation to show the people who evaluation where I stood. He told me that I was the hardest case he ever had to make and that he had to consult with his partner about what should be done. Against the odds that would normally not get approved because of these issues. Right before he send his approval he told me that he had never had a case like mine. I was totally honest about every thing and I gave him access to everything to make his decesions. It seems that it is common for others who have the same problems I do, try to totally hide it from him. Usually, it would come out and he would deny them do to the fact that if they could not tell the truth about their information there would be a greater chance of them killing them selves after surgury or something more significant problems. He said right before we hung up "I will approve you because you have been honest, you have lost significant weight (70lbs) that shows you are looking for a miracle solution. I believe that you will be the exception to the rule. He requested that I Start counseling on a one on one basis to support me through before, during and after surgery. I attend/continue to attend support groups. He wished me luck and wanted me to let him know how things went and he offered to help me in what was in his ability to do (counseling) at a later time. He said" that he was not trying to drum up business, he genuinely cared." What are the chance of finding a psycologist like that? Slim. He was great."
"My first impression was that he was more than willing to help and he wanted to make sure that I knew that it was my actions that caused me to be overweight and that the surgury was not a miracle solution to loose the weight. I had to do my part. I actually thought he had a bad bedside manor. I still think so but I believe in the end, that a doctor who talks to you in a direct way is the once who will help you. The ones that do it for the money will do it and not care whether you are a good canidate for this type of surgury.
I still stick to my first impression. I don't regret staying with him, cause I beleive he care about his patients. Which I believe is important also.
His nurse has been wonderful to me. She is very polite and understanding. She was able to get me scheduled quickly and even though I had to change it do to the Dr's personal reasons. I still only had to wait to more weeks. She is very informative and does not seem to mind me calling and asking alot of questions.
The thing I liked least is his bedside manor. I understand that is is important to get things across to patients but rudness is not necessarily the way you go about it.
He makes aftercare program the most important thing we need to do. I he questions you to see if you really have made a honest effort to know all that you need to know and what to expect.
The aftercare program is very stuctured and he seems to be genuinely cares that you understand what is the process and he walks you through it.
On a scale of one to 10 I would rate him as a 9.
If I had to make a choice between the two it would defienately be surgical competence. Since you gave to three choices I believe that both of them are very important.
I want to state that it is of my opinion and not of this website. I also need to say that I really like Dr Friedman and I would happily refer him to anyone that was looking for a doctor. Even though the way he communicates things seem pretty harsh, it maybe something that he has found that his patience are more responsive. You would have to ask him. To all who may choose him for there surgury, I would say what a year if you have to. He is worth it."
"Although, I am in recovery from a drug addiction and I have bi-polar depression disorder. He really listened to me and gave me a ok for a surgery. So, even if you have had one of theses problems it does not mean that you will not get a favorable decesion. I did."
