David Coster Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

Just had my initial consult w/ Dr. Coster. I have to say, both my husband and I were very impressed with both Dr. Coster and the whole staff at Grinnell Surgical Associates. He is very serious about his job and the surgery. But at the same time, he has a wonderful sense of humor. He had all my questions answered before I got a chance to ask them. He told us what to expect during surgery and afterwards as well. We discussed aftercare, diet, exercise and also the mental aspect of the whole journey. I have to admit, I am very comfortable knowing he will be my surgeon. Overall, I'd rate him well above a 10!

My first impression of Dr. Coster was great he had a nice smile on his face. He shok my hand and asked who where the people with me. He is a very kind DR. I no sooner sat down in his office and the nurse cam right out and took me in she weighed me an dtook my vitals she was very nice and helpful. The office was small and very quiet. I dont have anything that I did not like about him because he explained everything to me before I could even ask he allready answered what I needed to know. He explained to me how many deaths he has had he said 2 but he explained why they were from blood clots and the people where really obese and they did not walk like they were suppose to after surgery. He told me becaus eof problems that I have with my lungs that he was going to keep me a few days longer then others and in ICU for a couple of days plus he was going to have the university of Iowa place a filter in me before surgery since I had a blood clot before and I am on blood thinner also. he explained that I should do ok as long as I wiggle my legs alot while I'm in bed and he told me that he would have me up walking right after surgery and that his staff and him were not going to spoil me that they were going to be very stern on me as for walking so I dont get blood clots and heal quicker and if I listen I should do well he said I had a 14% chance of dyeing a little higher then some due to my health at the moment. I have heard he is a great DR. I think surgical competence is more importantthen bedside manner but I heard he has both so I'm not worried about that. I will update after my surgery. The one thing I do not like is that the lady that takes care of his paperwork to send our info to insurance company is not good at returning phone calls it takes her around 2 weeks to get back that is very frustrating and then she takes along time before she sends the info to insurance company. If it wasn't for him being such a great surgeon I would of went somewhere else just because of that. We are allready stressed and wonder what our insurance companies will say to have to deal with our paper work not getting sent right away.

Very compassionate.
No
Very professional
Nothing
Very knowable and heplfuland concerned
Much emphaize on aftercare..
Part of monthly support group that hospital sponsors.
Addresses all risks w/ patient examples
10!!!!!!!!!!!
Both, wonderful man that saved my life!!!!

Dr. Coster is a great doctor. He is very personable and pretty much tell you like it is. My opinion of him hasn't really changed since our first meeting and in fact my mom liked him so much that she chose him to do her WLS. He has very nice office with a wonderful staff of people to support him. There are a total of 4 doctors in office and all of then perform WLS. They specialize in WLS and have set up the hospital to accomodate overweight individuals. The staff never makes you feel ashamed of yourself and you will never catch any of them looking at you like you are a freak. Grinnell has a monthly support group meeting that is supported by the hospital as well as the doctors and one of the doctors is always at the meeting and there is also a hospital staff member at every meeting. I would give Grinnell/Sugical Associates an overall rating of 9.

Dr. Coster was very friendly and treated me in a very professial way he newwhat he was talking about and gave me alot of information. I felt that he realy respected and understood what I have been though all my life
I didn`t have alot to do with the staff as of yet but they have been very freindly and answered my questions and returned phone calls when needed
I haven`t found anything that I don`t like
He is on a tight scedule so to have their questions written down
I think he will be very insist good aftercare
Yes he has support groups and physical therepy department
We talked about the risk and the chance that if he feels there is a problem he will go back in and I will have know choise
I`ve been told by my local Dr. that Dr.Coster is a brillant Dr. I found him a very nice persn
I`m not able to know anything bad at this time because I`ve only seen him once and talked to his staff twice

Finally- a surgeon with more perspnality than ego! What a delightful guy! Very straight forward, funny, and accurate. He is very easy to talk to, but he moves fast- so if you have questions, write them down! I would highly recommend him to anyone!

Found Dr. Coster through this website. Everything I read about him is right on target! He is very professional, sincere, impressive, and just plain knows what he is doing. This is my third consultation with a surgeon, including the Mayo Clinic and he is heads above the rest. He is direct, to the point and provides all the information before you have to ask for it. His staff do their part, not quickly, but they do it.I found the doctor a bit rushed and had to slow him down to answer some of my questions, but he did answer them. I was handed a video tape to watch saying it would be helpful and it was. He explained what he does after surgery and his role as a "coach" but did not go into what kind of aftercare program he promotes. He explained exactly what he will do during the surgery and drew a diagram of how he will do it. He did not explain the risks but he also knew I've spoken with other surgeons. At this point I rate him a 10 on a scale of 10.

11/12/01
Gave up on the UIHC...too long of a wait. I am going to see Dr. Coster in Grinnell. Will post after I meet with him...

1/9/02 Met with Dr. Coster. Definitely as good as everyone says on here. He gave me an hour of his time and explained everything to me. Said there was no reason I couldn't get down to 140 pounds. Right now that seems way to foreign to me....

My personal experience with Dr. David Coster was incredible. From the first time I met him until now he has been nothing if not informative, patient, kind,up front, truthful, and just an all around nice guy. Did he tell me some tough things...yup. Was it anything I wasn't prepared for....no. There isn't anything I don't like about him. I know the tag says "not everyone is the best in all aspects", but my experience has been that he is/was/and continues to be the best. Iowa's best kept secret, he is. Patient education is paramount. Educate yourself so you can go in (to him or any doctor) with at least a working knowledge of what it is you wish the doctor to do. Ask questions....ask questions....and then ask questions. Any doctor worth his weight (or for that matter doing surgery on you) should be willing to answer any and ALL questions you have. If the doctor won't answer...find another. Dr. Coster was very up front about what I could expect, what the risks were, what he would expect of me, and what I could expect from him and the staff. There were no surprises. Overall, on a 1-10 scale, i would rate him a 20.

My first impression of Dr. Coster was that he was all business. He was very nice. through with his explanation of the surgery, why he felt I was a good candidate. Today I see him again as someone who wants you to so as he says for your own good but is very supportive. His staff have been very supportive also. If I have a question I have gotten it answered quickly especially with insurance questions.

As with many Dr.s he is busy, no chit chatting, moderate waiting the reception area. Due to this I would say know the questions you are going to ask him before hand so you can get them in during the visit.

I think that the sftercare is good. He refers you for exercise evluation. So far no other nutrition therapy has been suggested.

The risks of surgery were well discussed not only by him but the pre-surgical team I saw at the hospital.

Dr. Costner has an excellent reputation as a surgeon. I agree with this assessment. He is very nice at the bedside but once again strict with his expectations after surgery. This is not bad. He sets goals for you that he expects you to achieve such as how much and how far to walk the day after surgery.