Donald Fry, M.D. Bariatrics Bariatric Center

I talked with Dr. Fry two or three times via email before I saw him. He very willingly answered all my questions. I finally got to meet him on March 1st. He lived up to my expectations! He was very kind, very professional, and very frank. I finally felt like I was with someone I didn't have to justify anything to. He actually believed me when I told him I have tried everything. He patiently explained the procedure, told me I was a good candidate, and very frankly explained the possible complications (along with the rate at which his over 300 patients have experienced those complications...which was lower than the national average).

His nurse, Neets, had the surgery last fall and is a wonderful, warm, and also very professional. She took all the time I needed to get my pre-op plans together. I was even able to do all the pre-anesthesia stuff on 3/1/02 and make an appointment with the dietician so that I won't have to return to the hospital until the day of surgery!

Dr. Fry suggests both online and in-person support groups and sees his RNY patients for followup for two years.

More after surgery!!

thorough, kind

Just got a pcp referral to see Dr. Fry. Called to schedule a consultation on 12/19 and their earliest date was May 7!!! Ouch!

Dr. Fry is a great surgeon and a wonderful person.
My impressions of Dr. Fry only increased in a positive way.
Chaotic and friendly.
Friendly and knowledgeable.
Dr. Fry does not have a lot of time to spend with each individual.
He can be trusted to do the right thing.
The emphasis is on the whole picture.
Yes.
Yes. The risks were discussed and signed off on.
Overall? On a scale from 1-10? An "11".
I'll take surgical competence over all, always. Altho' bedside manner certainly makes things easier!

DR. FRY IS GREAT . EXPERIENCE , BEDSIDE MANNERS AND COMPASSION ETC..

Dr. Fry's office is great (once you get to see him). The wait is TERRIBLE. My appointments take 3.5 to 4 hours! However, the pre-op appointments were very long and informative. My first appointment, the Dr. spent an hour with me explaining every single detail and answering all of my questions. His staff also made all the necessary appointments for me with psych, labs, x-ray. They also handled the insurance approval and I received approval with no problem.

I liked Dr. Fry's staff and the doc him self they were pleasant and helpful despite the fact that my doctors office didn't send my refferal to his office. But other than it was an awesome experience.

Dr. Fry was very warm and understanding when I first went to visit him. His Residents were both the same. I took all I needed for my first visit such as records like diets, EKG's, Diabetes Diagnosis and etc. he talked to me about it all but never asked to see any of my records and I walked out with all of them. His staff is supportive when you can get ahold of his nurse Anita Neets. They are so busy and extremely overwhelmed. The most important thing to me is the after nutritional care and to me that is very weak through this office. What surprised me was the fact that he stated he is not concerned with the carbohydrates after surgery and almost every other material I have read continues to be very concerned about this aspect of care. Only time will tell. However I have a very good feeling about going into surgery under Dr. Fry I feel he is very competent. My only negetive experience was with the anethesiologist at UNM. He started out by asking me if I knew why I was fat. What had I done before and did I understand it could happen again. I felt this was none of his business but I went along with him because his department is responsible for keeping me alive in surgery. I do want to thank Georgia in the Day Surgery Dept. at UNM for being so kind and considerate with all my calls and frustration with waiting for the approval. These were expressly my feelings and none of any one else's. This was also expressly what happened to me and no one else.

Dr. Fry was very thorough, and professional but with that undercurrent of acceptance and empathy.

He is the head of this surgical specialty at UNMC and I felt very comfortable with him.

After the surgery I had some problems, I had several bouts of illness, (high temps and sinus and brochial infections), and he was not as accessable as I would have liked.

I developed a hernia (my stomach is pushing through the muscle, at the suture site), and he wanted to wait to repair it until I lost enough weight to do a tuck. problem is I started regaining, (Cheetos) and got too embarassed to go in to see him....now my hernia is huge!!!
And I am getting some kind of problem with my legs and butt .... discolorations that look like bruises (hundreds) all over my upper thighs and bottom. I have to go in and I am a bit uneasy.

They have never called or written to find out what is going on with me.

No structured aftercare (very loose).

I work at a local hospital in ABQ--from the info I have gathered Dr. Fry is a great choice. I have my first appt with him on 4/10. My primary doctor knew little about the surgery-but is very open minded and wants to know how everything goes. He is agreeable to the surgery. My insurance is Presbyterian Health which is suppose to be an easy process for this kind of surgery--I hpoe that is true! More later after my appt