Center for Laparoscopic Surgery Bariatric Center

My first impression of Dr. Rutledge was his incredible memory in relation to his patients.

Then I got to know him as a caring surgeon who really knew what he was doing. That was very reassuring for me!

The staff is friendly, they even checked on me after surgery. They are swamped and do the best that they can, but have always taken the time to answer questions and never made me feel rushed!

The only thing that I didnt like was having to pay the deposit & clinic, even though I had 100% insurance coverage and the approval to attend clinic and insurance. But I understand that it also keeps us paying attention to the insurance company and helping him to get paid in a timely fashion.

Be prepared to do the packet and its hard work, but its worth it. Also treat his staff as nicely as possible, because they are very nice themselves and have alot to deal with. Be 100% committed to this journey.

Aftercare seems to be emphasized but with your own PCP, because many patients come from out of state ( I am local ) and its not conceivable to come down here for follow up unless its an emergency. If you need him, he will respond in a very timely fashion.

We have to check in every month and do a follow-up and once a year have bloodwork done and share the results with Dr. Rutledge, plus we have the support group meetings every month and he has always been to every one of them that I attended and took the time to answer all of our questions.
Plus we have the yahoo groups to be able to ask questions and talk to each other.
I like that.

For surgery risks, we were all pretty well aware of those after doing our report that is required before surgery, plus information
was presented in clinic and before surgery we had to fill out papers saying we understood what could happen to us.

I give Dr. Rutledge an A. Very good.

Both the surgical competence and the bedside manner was really great. I was very happy with him.

I didn't speak with Dr. Rutledge much, but love him! His office is overwelmed with applications for surgery, so their isn't a lot of communication with his staff, but they have been pleasant when I've had to deal with them.

He strongly emphasizes aftercare and has a lengthy application process with 12 different processes you have to go through along with a 46 page Patient Manual. Dr. Rutledge has an extensive website www.clos.net that covers all the risk and tons along with tons of past patients you can contact. I would rate him above average. He has great surgical competence but doesn't get really personally close to you. For me this was OK because I would much rather have the surgical competence.

My first impression of Dr. R. was that he really cares about the morbidly obese, that we are more than just $$$$ to him. He also showed a great sense of humor.

The fact that he really cares about his patients was more reinforced over the period of time I have had contact with him. It also became obvious that he is a very busy man with a huge number of people wanting his services. I believe he became overwhelmed by the number of people that wanted him to do surgery. I don't believe he thought it would grow to the extent that it did in the short time that it has. I believe he has done a very good job at trying to accomodate all of the people who want the surgery and still keep everybody's safety his highest priority.

As far as Dr. R.'s office staff, I have found them to be very helpful. I have interacted with Barb most of the time. She is very polite. I know she is very busy and I do wonder how she manages to do everything she does. I have found it hard to get ahold of her, but I do understand how busy she is. I also believe that Dr. R. and the rest of his staff are continually looking for better ways of doing things to cut down on their load.

I honestly can not think of anything that I did not like about Dr. R. He is very diligent in making sure that the people that are looking to have the MGB knows all they can about the pros and cons of having the surgery. He is very competent as a surgeon, he is very caring as a surgeon and a human being. I do not know any other doctor that is as involved with his patients as what Dr. R. is. He has helped to get support groups going, he has intiated get togethers and parties for his MGB patients, he goes out to eat with MGB people, he goes to some of the support group meetings, he attends the get togethers and parties. I also must say that I did not have any serious complications. I did have bleeding at one of the port sites for two days. When my husband had Dr. R. paged about this he was called back within 15 minutes and was told that the amount of bleeding that I was having was normal. He talked with my husband for about 15 minutes.

Future patients should know that Dr. R. is in great demand and that the process of having surgery with him is not for the impatient person. He requires some very hard work on the patients part. Some of the things he has us do seem to have no real reason for them (to us anyway). Believe me, he has a reason for everything he has us do. If we can't follow his instructions for having the surgery why would he think that we will follow his post-op instructions? When starting this process be prepared for a long haul. Be prepared to think it will never end, but know that it will. (This too shall pass)

Aftercare is very important to Dr. Rutledge. He gives instructions for your aftercare treatment. He requires that you have a signed written letter from your PCP stating that they will be doing your aftercare for you. He has a follow up page on his website that he encourages post-ops to keep updated at certain monthly intervals. He uses these to help him in determining how people are doing at different intervals after surgery. He stresses how important it is to take the vitamins and supplements and any medication he has prescribed after surgery. He stresses how important it is to take the vitamins for the rest of our lives. He also stresses having blood work done on a routine basis to make sure all is well.

Dr. Rutledge requires that his prospective patients complete a patient packet to be approved for surgery. There are 12 different topics that the patient has to write about and be able to show that they understand. One of the topics is on the risk of surgery. He also request that you write about the dangers of consuming alcohol after having surgery. You also have to write about the possibility of depression after surgery.

On a scale of 1-10...I would rate him a 11. I am very grateful to have found him.

I think his surgical competence is more noticeable to most people. His bedside manner is great, but he also does not have much time to spend with any one person.

Dr. Rutledge is very knowledgable, I liked him from the beginning.I know now from talking how fortunate I am to have him.I cannot believe the physicians who are not up to date,the recommendations are crude.His staff are very sympathatic to all of your concerns.I havenot found anyhting to dislike about Dr. Rutledge. I do believe that it will be a relief to his staff for larger surroundings and more help.
Be patient, the Dr. and his staff are in high demand with limited help. They do the best they can. Please read everything on the website. Almost all your questions are answered there or here. That way your concerns are not repetitive. Dr. Rutledge puts you thru hoops to be sure you have made an informed decision FOR LIFE not a quick fix.You will not find a more informed doctor or staff, check out his site. Dr. R utledge lives up tp his reputation professionly and personaly he is no nonsense and up front.I entered this relm in my life fully informed , with absolutely no regrets...

Post op at this time. Dr. R. is an excellent surgeon. I have so much energy now. I wish there was more aftercare, not able to due to schedule.

Dr. Rutledge is, what my father would have called, "a card". He has a great sense of humor as well as a deep respect and concern for obese people. Upon meeting him my initial reaction was that he has an incredible 'presence' - he emits energy. And even though he is stick thin, you can read in his expression how much he is genuinely concerned for the plight of the fat person. His staff is incredibly overworked, and I'll bet underpaid for the amount of work they do, but they do it with a good sense of humor. Their office is completely overwhelmed with patient 'wannabe's' - especially given the quantity of work that goes into each patient's approval. Dr. R makes sure you are serious - his requirements are tough, and he enforces them. I believe this is a wonderful aspect - it is not a surgery to be taken lightly. From everything I have seen, heard and read about Dr. R, I believe him to be an extremely knowledgeable and compassionate man.

My first impression was that he was personable, genuine, and a wealth of knowlede. Over time my feelings grew stronger about his manners and capabilities.His office and staff are incredible. I am VERY picky when it come to doctors, and I am honest when I say there was nothing I liked least about him. Future patients should know that with Dr. R. you are not a number, your a person who needs compassion about why they want this life altering surgery.How much does he emphasize aftercare- So much it drives you crazy, but he does it for our benefit.Yes, he has a structured aftercare, and has us follow-up with our primary care doctor. He even make us get a letter from that doctor stating they will follow us closely. We saw a movie and had a group dicussion about all our questions (no limited timeframe either) and the risks. I would rate him on a scale of 1-10 a 10+. His surgical competence and bedside manner are both great. I know this because I have had surgeries and many doctors to compare to. He is truely the best out there.

Dr.Rutledge is a very caring, highly skilled physician,who leaves no question unanswered.He has an excellent and friendly office staff though they are worked to the max.due to the high interest in his mini-gastric bypass. I would highly recommend him to anyone.

In finding Dr. Rutledge on the internet, I really found him to be very considerate, and wants his patients to be informed of what is going to happen to them and how their life will change. He continues to monitor his patients after the surgery and it makes all feel like he really cares. His office staff is very patient and considerate with all the interest and their demands. I really can not think of anything I dislike about him, he is determined about education and follow ups, he also has a very kind mannerism that helps the fears of the operation to disappear. He has an extensive aftercare and follow up even with those out of state. He addresses the risks of surgery and ask the patients to write a 10 page letter to him as part of his package he receives from all patients showing that we understand all procedures. I consider him to be very efficient in all areas. Thats why I have chosen him to do the surgery.

My first impression is that I couldn't believe there was a surgon who actually was an advocate for fat patients. In my past experiences with surgeons (I am a registered nurse who has worked with physicians for years) every health detail was a result of my obesity. I wondered what they blamed things on for thin people with the same symptoms. Over time I have come to know that he is genuinely concerned about my outcomes and made sure I understood all the risks of the mini bypass before I had my surgery. His office staff is polite enough but they are extremely busy do to the amount of people wanting to have the surgery. It was a harrowing week waiting to hear from Dr. R if I had been approved by him or not.
Future patients should take comfort in the fact that he is extremely accessible and will take as much time as you require to make sure you are comfortable with the process. Aftercare is critical. He does not allow anyone to leave the Durham area for at least 5 days. He also requires you to address aftercare in the patient letter you must complete prior to being approved for the sugery. Being from Missouri my aftercare program is structured with my PCP here. My PCP had to write a letter stating how he would monitor my after care before I was approved by Dr. R. Every surgical risk was outlined in a patient education manual that came to be my second bible. Risks were again addressed in the preoperative educational clinic, held by Dr. R, that lasted almost 4 hours. I would rate him excellent overall, but, of course, I am biased, he has provided me with a tool to regain a healthy weight. Since I wasn't awake during the surgery (duh) I can only rate his competence by my outcome. In a little over 2 months I have already lost over 50 pounds. I am estatic. His bedside manner, however, is equally impressive. I never felt rushed. He sat at the bedside - made sure my husband and I both were comfortable with the entire surgical process.

My only negative experience is that my surgery was bumped from Thursday to Friday because the hospital was full and had no beds for surgical patients to go to after their surgery. That 24 hours was the longest wait in my life.