"My first impression of him that he was channeling Elvis - He was polite, thorough and encouraging about my chances for a successful DS at my first visit with him. His office staff at the time (in Nashville) was amazing. His nurse, Jamie, was incredible - so knowledgeable, straightforward and encouraging. Ellen Bell did (and still does) a great job handling insurance issues. I spoke with his last office manager, Lori, repeatedly. She was very helpful and supportive, even when he relocated to Kentucky. I haven't had any contact with his current office staff.rnI am a nurse, and I spoke with nurses who had worked with Dr. Husted in the OR (before he started doing bariatric surgery) and was told he was one of the best surgeons they had ever worked with. For me, surgical competence is way more important than bedside manner. I didn't want to be anybody's \"guinea pig\" - I wanted a doctor who had proven to be more than competant and a hospital with an established bariatric surgery record. I can't say that my experience with him while I was in the hospital was \"warm and fuzzy\", but he was always available and worked hard to get my blood pressure and other health issues under control. My contacts and conversations with him during my aftercare have been more cordial. I'm a quiet person, and I think he is too, so I credit the lack of a warm bedside manner during my surgical experience more to our personalities than to any shortcoming of his. I've had some great phone conversations with him over the last couple of years. He \"knows his stuff\" and takes aftercare very seriously, even though it's been long distance for the last couple of years. I do regret that there is no support group in this area any more. rnAs for the risks of surgery, patients are (were) required to attend the informational presentation before seeing him for the initial consultation. We had to pass a written test to prove that we had been listening - which I thought was a very good idea on his part.rnOn the whole, I would definitely recommend Dr. Husted as a highly qualified bariatric surgeon with extensive experience with the DS, the fobi rny, and with all types of revisions."
