"Yeah, I know it's gonna sound like all I'm doing is singing this man's praises... but it's how I feel!
Dr. Joseph Vitello is gentle and very kind. I was impressed from the moment he shook my hand. He was thorough and honest.
His office staff are nice, though I feel not as polite as he is. At times I feel rushed around them. I have a hard time getting a hold of him or his staff on the phone, which can be annoying. And even if I DO get them, I generally can't talk as long as I'd like to before they tell me they have to go. However, Dr. V does have e-mail and he's really pretty good about replying in a day or so if you send him a message.
Those who plan on seeing him, know that he'll answer ANY question you have. And he listens. When he's with you, you're the only thing he focuses on. I really like that. He doesn't care if the meeting lasts 10 minutes or 1/2 an hour.
He doesn't seem to emphasize after care that much, at least, not supervised. He seems to let you go on your own unless you have complications. He's the first one to tell you that too. He believes that the best healing for a patient comes from the patient themselves. I don't like this, as there were several things I still didn't understand (despite all my researching on WLS) and felt that Dr. V didn't have a lot of resources available to help answer my questions and such. I have passed this site on to him, however, and HIGHLY recommended he tell his patients about it.
When I went in for the consultation he immediately spent almost an hour telling me the complications. He didn't lie or "pad" the information. He gave it to me straight. And I admit I was scared to DEATH when I walked out of his office! I take that as a good sign though. As much as I admire Carnie Wilson for making public the whole wls issue... the media I feel has also "glamorized" her surgery. It's just not like that for real and Dr. V will be the FIRST to tell you that!
If I were to rate Dr. Vitello on a scale from 1-10... I'd have to give him a 12 at least!"
