"To me, I have 2 words to describe Dr. Hanna, "LIFE SAVER!!" Words cannot express the deep gratitude and care that I have for him. He is the most amazing doctor that I have ever met and you can feel from him his heart felt sincerity for his patients. I was never nervous about my WLS surgery because I knew first hand how amazing his talents are as a surgeon. Just a brief explanation about this, my husband and I moved to Las Vegas a little over 6 years ago. When we first moved here, my husband had a bad gallbladder attack, we went to the ER and they basically waited for his stones to pass. As soon as he did, they basically told us that we would have to find a doctor that would do be able to remove it. Now mind you, my husband is a large man, over 6 feet and about 420 lbs at this time. I knew it would be hard to find a surgeon that would take this task on, but I never thought we would be turned down by so many. Seriously, we were turned down by 12 doctors in the Las Vegas area(and yes I even have great insurance coverage by my employer).
I don't know if anyone has been through this type of despair, but my spirit and faith was broken and my heart just could not bear seeing my husband go through so much pain everyday of his life. We prayed everyday for someone to help us and even contemplated on moving to another state, if they were able to approve his surgery. Then on October 2006, our prayers were answered. After leaving one of our friend's get-togethers, my husband had another bad gallbladder attack. This was the worst I have ever seen because he just collapsed in front of me onto his knees and cried out my name for help. We called 911 and they took us to the UMC emergency room. We have never been to this hospital before, but I had heard not-so-good stories about it and I wanted to be transferred to another hospital. The admitting nurse looked at me like I was crazy, but I was so adamant about leaving because all I could think about was all those doctors who turned us down and I didn't think this hospital would be able to help us at all. After much convincing from the admitting nurse that my husband would be taken care of, I reluctantly said ok. Now all I could do was wait. After the ER doctor spoke with us and I explained everything to him from the beginning of our journey with finding a doctor and that noone would touch him because of his weight. I was so emotionnaly distraught and at this point, I pleaded with the ER doctor to please help us, if there was anything that he could do. He comforted me and said, "I think I may be able to contact someone who can help." After hearing these words, my eyes shot wide with hope, but I didn't want to beieve anything yet until I actually got confirmation that someone would be able to do something.
An hour or so later, Dr. Bernadine Hanna opens our curtain and walks in with a wide smile on his face. I was not so sure why he was smiling at us, but right when he spoke and said to me and held my hand at the same time, "Don't worry Mrs.-----, your husband will be ok and I promise I will take good care of him." My heart just soared at this exact moment and I just could not contain myself, however I did ask him one question before I let him go. I looked him straight in the eyes and asked, "Have you operated on obese people before because this was the main reason why no other doctor in Las Vegas would touch him?" He looked straight at me and said with the same smile, "I have Mrs.-----, many times, believe me when I say that I will take care of your husband. Do you trust me?" Right at that moment, a warm feeling of comfort came over me and I knew in my heart that I believed him and said "Yes."
My husband's surgery was one of the scariest moments of my life. As soon as the surgery was over, Dr Hanna came out and sat right beside me and held my hand again and said,"Mrs.------, your husband is doing great and the surgery was a success." I was so overwhelmed with joy that I just cried. I cried like a little baby and I wanted to hug him so bad, but my body just could not move. But I kept saying over and over to him, "Thank you so much Dr. Hanna, thank you thank you."
I know this type of surgery is not as life-threatening as other types of surgery, but to me, seeing a love one in pain and in need of help, all you think about is the worst possible scenario. I can honestly say with conviction that Dr. Hanna saved my husband's life.
---Now, about 3-4 years later, I found Dr.Hanna again when I was contemplating WLS and I remember him saying back then as well, that he was opening his own practice for WLS. There was no doubt in my mind and soul that Dr. Hanna would be the one I would choose for my life changing decision. He was amazing back in 2006 and even MORE amazing now that I have completed my RNY WLS on 2/16/2010. I cannot thank him enough nor praise him and his staff enough for all their help and kindness throughout my journey. If anyone out there reads this post, I am just like you, searching for answers and looking for the best doctor out there that can help. Honestly for me, this is the best decision I have ever made and I would have never made it if Dr. Hanna was not by my side. He is truly a GREAT surgeon, one of the best in the Valley and he is also a great person with a caring soul:) Again, he is not only my husband's life saver, but mine as well. I can't thank you enough Dr. Hanna.
QweenBee(Serine M.)"
