"I liked Dr. Merola on the spot. He was very personable and down to earth. Even signs his emails "Steve".
I found his presentation and his office visits to be very informative, he explained everything, even had a test to be sure you understood. He spent plenty of time answering questions.
His office staff is pretty great in the sense that I never even knew about the letter for the insurance. They took care of it all. They set me up with a surgery date (3 weeks later) and I just showed up. Never a fuss with my insurance.
Aftercare in the hospital was pretty good. He has many associates that come to check up on you during the day and he comes by at least once a day. They let me stay the extra night because I didnt feel ready to go home.
I had a hard time after surgery. I am 10 weeks post-op and still have a hard time with solids. Vomiting and pain are still daily worries. I had very extreme pain for 8 weeks and needed pain meds for the entire time. I found it hard to get in touch with Dr. Merola for more meds but when I did get through he did not have a problem writing me out a script even after 8 weeks.
I don't like that he seems pretty unaffected by my complaints of pain and not holding down food well. Like it doesn't mean much or shouldn't be worrisome. Maybe not to him but when you can't even eat 1 oz of solid food without having to lay down for an hour in pain - thats pretty worrisome and bothersome to ME!
I also found that he seems unconcerned with vitamins and supplements. He tells you what you need but doesnt give much credence to protein supplements or vista vitamins that is all the rave. I kinda feel he is too laid back on this one.
All in all I feel that Dr. Merola is a very good surgeon, very thurough, and has a nice personality but could use some aftercare improvements.
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