An interesting introduction to Dr. Hares

Apr 29, 2009

My husband and I travelled to Michigan this week so that I could meet with Dr. Hares. When we arrived, we were warned that he'd been called into emergency surgery, but that he should be available by the time I met with the nutritionist, insurance coordinator and nurse. Very nice group - friendly, professional and non-judgmental. I felt quite comfortable with them.

As the afternoon passed, I was occasionally updated on Dr. Hares' progress. At one point, he called and spoke to me on the telephone. At another point, I was told that another surgeon on his team would meet with me instead. My husband was getting more than a little anxious. It was a long afternoon for him and the fact that he had doubts about whether the surgery was necessary didn't help the situation.

About two hours after we arrived, the office manager came in and said that Dr. Hares would still prefer to be the surgeon to meet with me. She then offered to pay for dinner for my husband and myself, and assured us that when we returned, Dr. Hares would be there.

Sure enough, after a lovely meal, we returned to the office and did meet with Dr. Hares.

While he looked tired -- not surprising since he'd just spent at least 4 hours in surgery -- he didn't rush our appointment at all. He took time to reassure me about his experience (750 DS surgeries, never lost a patient, trained with Dr. Hess, who developed the DS procedure) and talked me through the entire surgery, drawing diagrams to clarify.

I must admit, I thought I understood the DS procedure before, but after Dr. Hares' explanation, I'm much clearer on it now.

My husband didn't say muchup until this point, but after about 20 or 30 minutes, he finally spoke up and said that, while he supports my decision, he doesn't understand why surgery is necessary and not just diet and exercise.

Dr. Hares was able to do what I couldn't... put it into terms that Dean understood. He explained that there's much more going on with my body than just the obvious problems, such as limited mobility due to joint/muscle pain.

Dr. Hares explained that he doesn't perform surgery to give people an easy way out, but to help prevent diseases such as diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, cancer, hypertension, etc. that would destroy my quality of life or take it altogether. That point hit home with Dean and over the past 24 hours, Dean has come a long way in terms of his acceptance of my decision.

Of course, this was just my first meeting with Dr. Hares. We still have a long way to go, but right now I feel confident that I've chosen the right surgeon for me.

D.

0 Comments