Alexis Abril Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

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Dr. Gagne is absolutely TERRIFIC!! He is such a kind and caring person. I was denied surgery by my insurance company twice and he gave me as much help and support as he possibly could. He is and was always there to answer any and all questions that I had. His P.A, Julie, is also a wonderful and helpful addition to his staff. She has always been prompt with her return phone calls and emails. They are both beautiful people. Dr. Gagne is a very gifted surgeon, his bedside manner is above and beyond any other surgeon I've come in contact with and I've been in contact with atleast 6 others for other surgeries. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give him a 20!! He told me all of the risks to this surgery and made sure I was fully prepared to have the surgery. I researched the surgery and went to support group meetings at another hospital because at the time West Penn didn't have a support group. I didn't go into the surgery blind and he made sure I knew what I was getting into. I had a wonderful experience with the surgery and Dr. Gagne and his staff.

Dr.Abril, is very friendly and is secure of what he is doing. He is very known for his surgical procedures and I do not regret ever having surgery with him. His staff his wonderful specially Maria Rangel whom is always there to give a helping hand as well as his team. There is support groups you can attend after and you can always pass by the nurses office if you need anything. SHe is always opent o help.

Dr. Alexis Abril Miami, FL, He did same surgery on my daughter 18 Months ago.
He Is Very Kind and Competent.
I am now 90 pounds and one year past my surgery!
Dr. Abril and his staff are the best! They are supportive, very interested and very kind.
My results and experience fantastic. I highly recommend Dr. Abril. Feel Free to contact me!

He is wonderful. Dr.Abril cares a lot about his patients and tells you everything upfront. He's great!I was very scared at first but I know I had to go through with it. There is nothing i dislike about him. I am going to be seeing him next week for a check up.

I first met Dr. Abril at a group consult in April.He was very nice and friendly. We were shown a slide show and he answered any questions we had. Not having very much information on bariatric surgery as well as almost everyone else in the room, no one know the correct questions to ask. After the group consult, they proceed with the paperwork to have me approved for the recommended open Vertical Ring Gastroplasty. A few months and a sleep study later, I was approved and scheduled for surgery. Maria handled all the paper work and did a fantastic job. In the waiting process, I did a little research and realized that there were less evasive and less painful ways to go about this I hadn't been informed about. I was feeling very fortunate that I had the opportunity to have the operation and decided to go ahead while I had the chance despite my uneasy feeling. There were a battery of pre-op tests I went through the week leading up to surgery, and everything went very smoothly. My last appointment the day before surgery was with the dietitian. She informed me that I would be on a liquid diet for 13 weeks. I was shocked to say the least, and asked why I wasn't told this long ago. "You should have been" was the response I got. In my research, I found that many people can be back on a soft diet within days of surgery and that is what I was expecting.
I also inquired why I had to be admitted into the hospital the day before surgery. I was told it was medically necessary for preparation for surgery. I have a $200 a day CO-pay for this hospital, and had no intention of laying around in a cramped $200 a night room with another sick patient for no reason. I was told the preparation was a shower with Betasept, which can be brought a your local drug store. They agreed to allow me to come in the morning of surgery as long as I was there by 6 am and showered with the betasept, which I did. We were then left to sit for 3 hours with no information what so ever. The nurse at Coral Gables hospital who was to be taking care of me post op did not speak one word of English. She had to call another nurse in the room to tell me to take another shower. I informed them that the toilet was filthy with feces and urine and there was no shower curtain on the shower. I was told to take a shower anyway and let the floor get soaked. Morbidly obese people have no business on a soaking wet tile floor. When you add all the problems so far up, I was getting very very nervous. My father, who is a retired doctor was also very concerned at this point. The nurse came back into the room and spoke to me in Spanish for a few minutes and all I could say was, "I'm sorry I don't understand Spanish" which just made her try harder to make me understand. She finally went and got another nurse to explain to me 10 minutes before I was scheduled to go into surgery that the surgeon wasn't even there yet. I was his third case of the day, so it would be late afternoon before he got to me if they did that day at all. They said they would go ahead and admit me anyway and keep my release date the same and I would see him in surgery. Keep in mind the only time I ever saw him was at the group consult months before. The nurse said I wouldn't be able to speak to him until I was in the operating room. All this added up to YIKES!!!! I called my insurance company from the hospital room in my gown and explained how things were unfolding with the hospital. I was told "do not gamble with your life, pack your bags and leave now". They gave me a new approval number and told me it would be no problem to change it to a lap gb, which is what I feel will be best. All in all it was a nightmare, and now I have to start all over again. Dr. Abril and his staff were professional and pleasant to deal with, I wish we had chosen a different facility. Needless to say, I was told to find a new surgeon as well, which I am in the process of doing. I do not want to wait another 3 months!!