"The hospital is quaintly old and very clean, the staff is dedicated to this ward by their own choice, plus there is a plethora of very helpful nursing students to attend to your every need when the nurses are busy."
"Dr. Amson is a very tall man, which could be imposing except he so gentle and rather soft spoken. I see him every three months or so, and I am continually amazed at how he seems to remember everything I ever said to him, so I never need to repeat myself. He is very caring, and emphasizes the need for support and provides it in three ways. Not only is there a local monthly meeting, but he will give you the numbers of patients he feels have particularly things in common with you, AND his office is often the site of impromptu groups. After he sees a group of patients, he will collect them all in the same room and ask them to share with each others. New patients, fear not this last method. Dr. Amson is very sensitive and if you are shy, he is not going to push you. He is simply very conscientious, and here in BC where we have government health care, that is extremely refreshing! (If you want to imagine what government health care is like, imagine you are in a giant, badly managed HMO in the states. I know, because I used to live there and was a paramedic in Oregon before moving here.)
The staff at the office are frenetically busy, but they too are friendly and as helpful as they can be, but they do not hesitate to ask everyone not to call the office to ask questions. I guess this is understandable, because they each are doing the work of about three, with all these patients and only one WLS doctor in the whole area. We who live here must remember that political outcry to get more surgeons and be allowed more OR time in the hospital can never be let up."
