Wisconsin Bariatrics, SC Bariatric Center

1/07/03-well it has been a year since I started this long journey. One long one, I was approved and was scheduled to have the Surgery with Dr. Vaughn, on Jan. 6, but decided to speak to Dr. Chua. He was very, very nice. His office assistant was not the sweetest to deal with. I must say though, if you don't ask the right questions, he won't answer. I was approved with my new insurance very quickly, Dr. Chua's staff are going to resubmitt since it was with Dr. Vaughn that I was approved. I talked to the insurance company, and they said that if I wanted to speed things up, they would just send another letter to Dr. Chua, I have to call on 1/8 to have this done. So I will let you know what happens.

Dr. Chua was warm and friendly yet professional. He assured me that what he does he does very well.
I would not have surgery with anyone but this doctor and I told him this. I am confident of his skills and ability.
The meeting took about 1 hour. He asked me questions first and gave me information easily and then answered my questions in a patient manner.
The office staff seemed ok, but my surgery date got changed from Jan. 15th to maybe the 21st and then to finally the 22nd. They had me down for 8:30 in the morning and then officially wrote me a letter saying my surgery was at 10:30 am. I called to ask why the change and it was not clear as to why I got moved. They then asked me if I wanted another date! I said NO, just leave everything as scheduled!! This is very frustrating. Hopefully everything will be ok.

He is very patient and explains everything very well. I feel he keeps up to date on all the latest techniques. I would and have recommend him to anyone.

My first impression of Dr Chua was his soft spoken gentle manner. I knew that he is an expert
on laporoscopy since he did the first gall bladder surgery in the state of WI via Lap. He put me
at ease right away and assured me that I definately would be a candidate for
bariatric surgery.

Dr Chua is very kind, patient, and really takes his time.



All his staff is very nice.




Future patients should know his schedule is filling up very fast. He is the only surgeon in WI that does the Lap Band Procedure.








Both competence and bedside manner are very important.

My first Impression was absolutely perfect! Both Dr. Chua and Tammy his nurse were a great team and I feel very blessed. I also feel very understood and cared about. I will update as my journey moves forward. :O)

UPDATE!! Oct.28,2oo2
I would like to highly recommend Dr.Chua for your surgery. He has done a fantatic job on mine and I feel great! Dr.Chua has a new office staff and they are AWESOME! He has a new phycicians assistant named Deb and she is wonderful ! I am so happy I chose this team :o)







Well as of today June 15th, 2002 I am very depressed... The 3-4 weeks waiting for insurance approval turned into more than 2months due to the lack of office staff working on contacting the insurance comapny.I have been put off another month , and told to call back then.. the office is working on returned packets from APRIL, not May...

It's July and I called the office for any news, and the office staff has restructured and they are working on my case right now. I was asked if the makers of the Lap Band could present me to my insurance company. So I said yes and will update as I can.

August20, 2002 I got denied by my insurance comapny for the Lap Band, they say it is in the Investigational stage. My Doctors office submitted to the insurance company for a VGB or a gastric bypass. I will have what I can , I need my life to start again asap. Will up date next week, hope to hear more. I would like to encourage anyone who wants the Lap band that with in a year or so it should be approved more and more. It is a shame for me, I really did want it badly.

Dr Chua was very nice. Explained the AGB in detail, showed me one and how it works. His PA was very as well. It has taken a long time for his staff to submit my insurance, but they are friendly.

Doctor Chua definitely takes his time with his patients, which makes me feel more comfortable. His office is very busy and I had to wait a while (around 2 months) to get an appointment, but it was worth it. On the day of the appointment, I wound up waiting in the office for almost 2 hours (I had been warned - lol. They did call to let me know they were running late, but I had already left so I didn't get the message.), but once I got in to see the doctor I felt like there was no rush. He took his time and let me ask all my questions and that made me feel better - I'd rather have to wait for a surgeon that takes his time than to get one that rushes through everything. His office staff is great. Tammy Lynn is a miracle worker when it comes to insurance companies. I believe I have chosen the best surgeon to do this surgery for me.

Dr. Chua was fabulous from the very beginning, and bieng 2 weeks post op I still feel the same. He is kind, patient and REALLY GOOD at what he does. He radiates a calm and goodness that puts you immediatedly at ease. I would give him my highest recomendation to anyone.
I did have to call and check up on the office to make sure my things were submitted as they were supposed to be and they were not always, so do be aware of that. I would have had things done several weeks faster if it had been submitted the first time. But that is not the doctor, thats the office. This was my personal experience and I hope yours is just as good.
I had the VBG on 9/24/02

My first impression of Dr. Chua and his staff was quite favorable. At the orientation session I attended they were well organized, prepared & personable. Dr. Chua was warm yet direct and presented the information to all of us in a simple manner that was still detailed. I was also impressed with the years of experience & expertise he has developed in this field. Almost more importantly, I was really impressed because he didn't try to sell the surgery to us. He was upfront and open about the risks involved.

I must start by stating that this is my own personal experience and don't know if other patients of Dr. Chua had/have experienced the same. My impression did change over time, however it wasn't my impression of Dr. Chua and moreso his staff. That orientation was my first step (after making the phone call)and that took place in March 2001. During that time I was planning to change jobs within the next 2 months, & planning to move within the next 5 months. I explained to one of the staff people what my situation was, and my concern about healthcare coverage because of my upcoming changes at work. She assured me that they would do everything they could to get my approval as fast as possible.

To make a long story short, the staff person didn't tell me everything I needed to provide in order to get authorizaiton, and after calling to complain about why the process was taking so long, another staff person informed me that my paperwork was just sitting on her desk (approx. 4 weeks); I was told that my surgery could not be scheduled until AFTER I met with the doctor, but when I went in for my meeting with the doctor my surgery date was already scheduled.

This may seem like it's not really a big deal, but in starting my new job, I am responsbile for planning programming at six different locations and organizing budgets, schedules & logistiscs for all program staff while EVERYTHING depended on when I was having the surgery!!!

So in retrospect, my opinion of (some of) his staff is that they are not very customer friendly. However, the other staff person who took over my file did a wonderful job.

I only met personally with the doctor once, so I'm not sure how much he empasizes aftercare, or whether or not he has a structured aftercare program because by the time I met with him I was so frustrated about the scheduling and the challenges it has presented me at work that I didn't think to ask.

Him personally I would rate an 8.5 on a scale of one to ten. That's just because I'm basing it on the information that I received at the orientation session and my visit with him where he showed me the lap-band tool and explained how it would work and was patient enough to answer my questions even though he had other patients waiting and didn't make me feel rushed. However, I would rate the service by his office a 3.

His competence & bedside manner were/are both great.