Robin Hamlin

"Dr. Hamlin is an excellent surgeon and a very personalble person. She is inovative and artistic when she is working on a reconstructive case post GBP. I had my belt lipectomy in Aug 2006 and am very satisfied with the results. I will be having a breast lift and reduction Feb. 2007."

Manatee Memorial

"In my opinion, MMH is about 20 years behind in some of their policies and procedures. They also need to re-educate, or eliminate, a few of their not-so-pleasant staff members. Especially one particular recovery room nurse who was especially rude and unkind. Also one floor nurse who was clueless as to the needs & limitations of a bariatric patient, and was adamant that my husband was not going to stay the night as my much needed support person. This probably caused me the greatest stress and discomfort, and still brings me to tears when I think that they would not let him stay with me in my private room. (they have since reviewed and changed their policy to allow the bariatric patients support person stay if desired - good for them!!!) For the most part the staff was wonderful! There were a few that really stood out as genuine caring and encouraging professionals - their attitude was most welcome and greatly appreciated. My hope is in the future that Blake Medical Center will start offering Bariatric surgery to give people here a choice of providers and create a need for the hospitals to really work harder to offer the best care to their bariatric patients. Nothing like a little positive competition to make the opponent pay attention and sharpen their skills and services!"

Dori Goldfarb

"Very professional experience, though her personal office not what I would expect of a psychologist. Didn't seem very conducive to "opening up" with personal issues. This wasn't a warm and relaxed expereince, but provided what I needed to satisfy my insurance requirement."

LuAnn Howard

"LuAnne has one of the sweetest dispositions of anyone I have met. She helped me set up my daily dietary needs and so far I have lost 13lbs pre-op."

Jose Estigarribia

"<br><b>2-27-2003</b> - I had my consult with Dr. Esti and I liked his easy manner. I did have a lot of questions (3 pages worth) and he wasn't bothered by that. He will only bypass up to 150cm (proximal) and I REALLY want to go as distal as possible.<br><br> He attempts to start every surgery laparoscopicly and only convert to open if absolutely neccesary. He said he has only had to convert 1 to open. So far no mortalities and minimal morbidities. He claims he has been doing WLS (open) since his residency. (not sure how long that is) He also stated that he learned lap GBP with Dr. Marema at US Bariatrics.<br><br> They gave me a <b>surgery date of April 9th, 2003</b> Whew...that is close! Robin (his patient coordinator) has been great with all the admin issues and keeping me on track with what I need pre-op.<br><br> <b>2-24-2003</b> - Plan 7772 now. I am back with Dr. Esti cause my insurance won't approve me for an out-of-network surgeon. I would have to pay the $500.00 deductible and 60% of the total bill! So here we go again.<br><br> I viewed his required video and took the test to make sure I knew what I was getting myself into. Then was flabbergasted when Robin told me the <b>surgery would be the second week in March!</b> I still have to have my consult with Dr. Esti, and am wondering how I will get all the tests and bloodwork done in 2 weeks. I WILL DO IT THOUGH!!!<br><br> <b>12-16-2002</b> - I haven't actually met Dr. Esti yet, but here is my experience so far...<br><br> I caught wind of a surgeon in Bradenton that had just started doing WLS at a local hospital. I started doing some digging to find out all I could about him and his surgical skills. So far I like what I have discovered. He is well respected in the med/surg community and his surgical expertise is general and vascular surgery. Seems fairly well rounded and suited to start adding bariatric surgery to his "disciplines" list. <br><br> I contacted Dr. Esti's office and his nurse, Lori Weber, was my point of contact. She was very warm and friendly and eager to help and provide me with information. She sent me a packet of info and questionnaire which I received within days. Even though his surgical history is excellent, I was still not quite sure I wanted to go with a Dr. that has done so few WLS's, so I sat on the packet for awhile. <br><br> In November I finally sent the questionnaire back to his office. I didn't hear from them for 3 weeks, then finally received a letter stating that Dr. Esti felt I was a "possible" candidate for WLS. I have a few things I need to do before I can schedule a consult, but the ball is rolling and I am now comfortable moving forward with Dr. Esti to do my surgery. <br><br> His office staff seems well connected with the medical community as well as various insurance providers. They provided me with the name and number of my insurance HBC Charmaine. After talking with Charmaine, I had the impression she has regular contact with Dr. Esti's office and they seem to have a good working relationship and understanding of what needs to happen on both ends for the surgery to be covered by the Manatee Health Care Network (gov. side). To be that connected with my HBC, they must have taken the time to establish dialog and understanding with various insurance providers while setting up to offer WLS. <br><br> Robin, his coordinator, is not a "medical person" (her words) so she wasn't able to answer with confidence some of my medical questions, but she was on the ball with the admin ones. I wanted to know if Dr. Esti does proximal or distal RNY, or both. She thought it was just proximal. He also prefers lap vs. open RNY. I also wanted to know if he would repair a significant umbilical hernia I have. She didn't think he would do WLS & hernia repair in the same surgery but she wasn't sure. Think I'll save the medical questions for Dr. Esti! <br><br> My HBC stated that Dr. Esti is insistent on patient compliance of at least 1 year after care and attendance of the monthly support groups. This is not burdensome to me and I appreciate his firm desire to care for his patients long after the surgery is over. It is my understanding that he regularly attends the support group meetings. <br><br> I have my required psych eval and meeting with a nutritionist scheduled for the end of December. I should then be able to get a consult date with Dr. Esti. Will post again after I have met with him to offer my impressions. Best Wishes! "

Detour

"These are touted as snickers on steroids - and hold on to your socks, they are AWESOME!!! They have 6 grams of sugar (sucralose). I do believe, however, there is an issue for the GBP person with protein absorbtion or breakdown from the chocolate coating. I don't think this would be a good source to count toward your daily protein intake even though it does have 32g/bar. (I think Michelle [vitalady.com] has the scoop on this) Still a delightful sweet treat!"

Pure Whey Protein Stack

"This product shakes very well without having to use a stick blender to get the lumps out; and it is great to use as a base for protein shake recipes. IMHO it is the best vanilla flavored protein - and I am not fond of vanilla!"

Pro Score 100 Chocolate

"I love Pro Score 100. The flavor reminds me of a chocolate cake mix. Yummy!"

Shahnaz Ahmed

"Dr. Ahmed is very supportive of the obese patient. She is also very supportive of WLS. Only negative comment is about a member of her staff, Tracy. She is not the easiest person to deal with!"
About Me
Bradenton, FL
Location
25.2
BMI
RNY
Surgery
04/09/2003
Surgery Date
Jun 20, 2001
Member Since

Before & After
rollover to see after photo
Miserable!<br>Does it show?</br><br>April 2001</br>
408lbslbs
Ahhh!<br>Much better!</br><br>May 2005</br>
156lbslbs

Friends 11

Latest Blog 3
My Precious Grandbabies!
New Before & After Photos
Finally Updating.

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