Brenda Cacucci Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

I have my consult with Dr. Cacucci on April 26, 04. I LOVED her! She seemed SOOOO young (everyone said that, I read about her before I went) but she was very knowledgable, very nice and very understanding without being oozy or fake. I really feel very comfortable with her as my surgeon.

Dr. Caccucci is a very professional lady who really seems to know what she's doing. I was very comfortable with her from the very first meeting with her. Her staff and the staff of dieticians have been so very helpful to me both before and since my surgery, answering any question that has come up quickly and efficiently. I don't think I could have asked for somewhere better to have went through this than the St. Vincent's of Carmel Bariatric Center. The staff at the hospital treated each patient wonderfully and tried to see that you had every comfort you could need.

My surgeon has just been awesome! She looked pretty young to me but I was very impressed with her right from the first time we met. She has called me on a couple of occassions when I was having problems after surgery because she wanted to talk to me herself and I was stunned. I can tell that she truly cares about her patients. I would highly recommend her to anyone. I feel blessed to have had her as my surgeon. Her nurse Sue is outstanding as well and has helped me over several humps!

Dr. Cacucci, is a very caring & knowledgable person and Dr. She mainly does the RNY surgery laporscopic or open. She is always asking you if you have any questions or concerns. I feel very confident in her abilities.her office staff are very professional & nice.

I expected her to appear young, but found her very competent and comfortable in front of a group. The information provided about RNY was very thorough and concise. I like that she told why she did NOT do some types of surgery. Patients should know she will not operate until you've quit smoking; no exceptions. She is big on appropriate aftercare and support groups and prefers that you participate in one run by St. Vincents. She was very nice in the one-on-one consult, but I chose her because of her surgical competence, experience and good recommendations.

Post-op: She was great from beginning to end. Very attentive in the hospital; very personable and pleasant in follow ups.

I was first amazed at how young she is! I thought it was great! My first impression of her was that she seemed to be very compassionate and that hasn't changed! As a matter of fact, my first impression was right on! Her office is very professional. I enjoy all of the nurses. I especially enjoyed finding out that one of her nurses has been through the surgery and has lost over 100 lbs! I would have never guessed it without her sharing that with me. If you are interested in finding a surgeon who really knows her stuff and has a great bed side manner, then she is the one. My husband and I both really like her. Her aftercare program is good. She sees you at 1 wk, 6 wks, 3 mos., 6 mos., and 1 year. Then its once a year after that. I would give her an overall "thumbs up"! If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing!

Dr. Cacucci is a very fine surgeon. She is rather young yet very settled and professional. First impression is all business but became more personal as we moved along. She made sure I knew what was at stake but yet caused me to have great faith in her and St Vincent Hospital. The operation was done laposcopically and very well done with minimum pain and incisions. She was very attitive at hospital and has been very encouraging in subsiquint visit. She is a great person and a fine surgeon. You could not do better than her and St. Vincent's. There are 7 doctors there doing 180 surguries per month and they know what they are doing. Bill Asbury


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It is a little hard to get scheduled but worth the wait

I met with Dr. Cacucci on 01-12-04, I thought she was very nice, and very informative on the surgery she preforms. Dr. Cacucci recommened that I have have surgery and then told me that Cigna will not even consider if my psych evaluation was not complete. The same day I had my consult I scheduled my psych evaluation, which was great because the hospital is approx. 1 1/2 hr. away. I also got to met some of her office staff which I found to be a very busy place, but everyone was nice. Dr. Cacucci office is awesome, doesn't look like anyother doctors office i've been into...lol Dr. Cacucci went over all of the risk and benefits of surgery, and was very detailed. I would rate the consult a 10 on a 1-10 scale.

Very calm, and knowledgeable. She was always ready with answers to questions, and presented them in a clear and direct manner.
Lots of her office staff have had the surgery, or have a loved one who has, so they are very aware of the things we go thru.
After care is her main focus once you are off that table!
The whole program she gives you is set up to succeed in weight loss.
She has an excellent bedside manner, w/ great surgical know-how. She is a 10 all the way !! She might be too laid back for some, she doesn't tend to get over excited even with urgent issues, but for me that worked out fine.

(Updated 11-DEC-2003)Well, what most programs, including mine, seem to lack is attention to the long-term psychological/interpersonal effects of the surgery and subsequent weight loss. I have had to learn new ways of relating to people, new skills at dealing with the opposite gender, and tactics for handling people who are threatened by or try to undermine my success. THIS is the dirty little secret about WLS--knowing what and when to eat is just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, with my doc's practice, there's not much support for long-term posties and once the novelty wears off, you are on your own with your emotional and interpersonal issues...couldn't they have prepped us a little?
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(Updated 06-27-2003)Post op: Dr. C is great as is the rest of her practice (Dr. Gupta, and her nurse, Leigh). However, I am profoundly disappointed with the Bariatric Center's post op followup--I get the strong sense from the nutritionists that now that they have my money I don't matter anymore. My surgical experience was very good, as was my hospital stay and immediate post op care. No complaints about that or about Dr. Cacucci's bedside manner and technical expertise, which are excellent.
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(Pre-op consult):She seemed a bit ill-at-ease in front of a group but is excellent one-to-one. I feel very confident in both her skills and her personality and believe that she will do a great job with my surgery. I did not feel the least bit uncomfortable or self-conscious, and she took ample time to answer all of my questions.

Her scheduler, Nikki, is a great, compassionate and very conscientious person--be nice to her. She can be a great ally.

The program is very structured, with monthly support groups, nutritional counseling and a ton of comprehensive preop preparation that includes nutritional semimars, testing and counseling. They emphasize the fact that the surgery is part of an overall permanent lifestyle change, and that it's a big step.

Since I have not yet had my surgery, I can't comment on Dr. Cacucci's bedside manner.