David Fallang Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.
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HE is wonderful. Very caring, understanding, not afraid to tell the good along with the ever so there possibilities of the complications. Office staff is very compasonate and caring.
My first impression of him was that he wanted to take care of as many of our problems as he could. That this was his mission in life and he could have done an infomercial on it. He hourded us in to this 1oo woman/men meeting to tell us about the surgery,, he had one thing on his mind MONEY.
His office staff are the most friendly people. They are friendly as long as they get they're money. There are no excuses that the offices screwed up. It is all on the patient.Make sure you have all your ducks in a row. What did I least like about him. He made 2 comments to me that changed my mind. I asked him not to let me die because my birthday was coming up. He said "if is isn't you it will be someone else" I thought that was cold. I also asked him when I could go back to work He said "YOu can go back with an open wound for all I care".
He doesn't emphasis aftercare, He told me the risks of the surgery. overall I would rate him in skill I would rate him a 10 but in personality I would rate him at about a 4.His surgical competence is better. His bedside manner he is still working on.
Dr.Fallang was very informative, I called his office and was setup with a 3 hour siminar with him and his staff, there was a slide show and booklets. I filled out paper out about myself and my insurance. Then the office contacted me and I gave them all the paper work I needed to they called me within 2 weeks and said they got the approval from the insuance company, and said the surgery person would call me. That took longer than I thought it should have about 3 weeks. They set me up with a pre-op date and surgery time. I will meet with the doctor one more time after my pre-op from my phyical.There is a monthly aftercare program that he gives.
First Impression: I really liked Dr. Fallang, although my wife thought that he came off a little too condescending when she asked questions during the seminar. She asked if he believed that there was a danger in loosing weight too quickly, such as a risk of heart damage. He told her not to believe everything that she sees or hears on talk shows. As you might expect, this comment upset her. Because of this her first impression was a little rough. I do know that many doctors can come off a little arrogant and took this with a grain of salt. I believe that interpersonal skills do not affect a surgeon’s ability to operate. I was happy with the fact that he had done over 1,200 bypasses before me and he came highly recommended by another doctor I know. All of the risks were clearly explained to me.
Surgery Date: August 31st, 2001
My surgery went off without a hitch and after 6 weeks I have already lost 59 pounds.
Post-op Follow-up:
I was less impressed with the post op follow-up. I do understand that they do so many surgeries that it speeds up the process to take everyone in groups. However, I think that some of the staff has a tendency to lump everyone into the same category. I think that they sometimes forget that people are different and this assembly line approach doesn't work well for everyone. I found that many of the people who have the surgery will "cheat" while they are on restricted diets during the first 6 weeks. I think that the staff assumes that everyone does and this makes them skeptical when you call with a problem. For my weight, I am a fairly active person. Many people have told me that they are surprised at how well I got around at my top weight. The staff will tell you to “walk, walk, walk”, right after the surgery (again assuming that everyone is the same). Because I was already an active person, I believe that I over did it and that lead to some of the complications that I was having.
When I started having complications from that drainage on my wound, I found it difficult to get the problem resolved until I actually saw Dr. Fallang. The problem lingered for 3 or more weeks while I dealt with the nurses in the office. Once I saw Dr. Fallang, he clearly explained what was going on with me and showed me how to correct the problem. If I had not demanded to see Dr. Fallang, I fear that the problem would have persisted to this day. I feel that the problem is now under control.
Post-op Surprises:
One item I did not expect from my surgery was the amount and length of time I would continue to drain from my wound. Had I know this in the beginning, it would not have changed my mind about having the surgery, but I feel I would have been better prepared.
Overall Feelings:
Overall I am very happy with the surgery and Dr. Fallang’s competence. He is an outstanding, competent, and knowledgeable Doctor for Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass surgery. He really does know his stuff. I would like to see the staff at his office try to give a little more personalized care and not assume the worst from each patient. They also should not be so hesitant to have Dr. Fallang see a patient who is having post-op problems. Maybe the problems that I had were just me, if so, I apologize in advance for being too critical of the staff. The staff is very nice and knowledgeable but because of my experience, I believe there is a little room for improvement.
I went to an informational meeting that the doc had a few weeks ago. He knew all kinds of stuff. He knew everything there is to know about the surgery he does and a bunch of stuff about the surgeries that he doesnt do and why he does open rny. He was confident and knowledgable and i think im going to enjoy having him as my doc. He said he has done 1100 surgeries and 6 people died. I know theres a possibility of death with any surgery so those figures didnt scare me. Im glad he was so open.
Dr Fallang is very dedicated to what he does. His office staff is very friendly and will fight for you, because they believe in this surgery, many of them have had the same surgery. The 4 hour meeting that was held, was very informational. I know there are risks, but Dr Fallang has only had 3 fatalities, and in those cases the patient was severely obese, so I feel very confident going into this surgery. Where I am having the surgery, they work with you on pricing, and on billing, because the believe in what they do, and that is hard to find!.....
Dr. Fallang is wonderful, spends several hours in a group session explaining and answering lots of questions. Talks 1:1 as long as he is needed. Office staff is totally bombed with work now. I think we should all volunteer to help them while we're off recovering.He is a little unorthodox ie: no N/G tube, No catheter after surgery. That's great!! No Golightly(UGH!) either. But he has a great sucess rate. Must work. I'm a nurse, so I look for someone who is genuinely interested in me and listens to what I have to say. He is extremely considerate and kind. Treats people with respect, and gives of himself. I have several friends who had their surgery with Dr. Fallang, and no bad comments at all.They all say it is the best thing ever!!The staff in the office is swamped, so stay on top of insurance. One pre-op office visit, but I think that is all I'll need.
He truly enjoys what he does, keeps up on latest trends and issues.
So far he's a 10 in my book!!
To sum up the information below, at this point,I am extremely happy with my experience with Dr. Fallang and his staff. I am also very happy with my stay at Sycamore Hospital. They are really interested in your input to make this even better for the people to follow. I was well cared for and given all the information I felt was pertenant to have.
POST OP
I met with Dr. Fallang one more time before surgery (one week before surgery) where he answered any last questions and did his final check of me. He was very nice and easy to talk with. His staff spends a great deal of time with you preparing you for what's to come. The day of surgery I spoke with him briefly before we went into the big room. Surgery went perfect. One of the nurses in the OR was 17 months post op and had lost 104 pounds. Started at 8:30 and was in my room by 10:30. The hospital was great. The nurse's assistant assigned to my case was Sherrie. Sherrie had the same surgery 2 years before and lost 200 pounds. She was wonderful and able to give insight no other nurse was able to. She kept encouraging you - I will never forget Sherrie at Sycamore Hosptial. I was sent home on day 3 which was a day earlier than planned but health-wise I was ready to go. One week following surgery I received a call from the office checking on how everything was going. My first office visit is scheduled for August 16th. That's the first time I'll be on a scale to see how well I'm doing so far.
PRE OP
I've meet with Dr. Fallang of the Surgical Weight Loss Center (SWLC) only once so far. It was way back in February when I attended his seminars. He gave a very detailed talk and slide presentation on what to expect. In fact you must attend one of the seminars prior to your surgery - it's required by him. In it he discussed the history of how we got to where we are today in bariatrics, what happens during and after surgery, how long for recovery and what the diet will be like. He was very detailed about the types of problems you might experience and the likelihood of them occuring. Out of almost 1000 surgeries, he's lost 4 patients, none on the table. He explained most of those had serious health problems and were at great risk regardless of having the surgery. He also explained what is realistic to expect in terms of weight loss (10-22 lbs in first 2 weeks, 25-35 lbs in 6 weeks) and what you have to do to achieve the best results - eat correctly and exercise - I think I've heard that before. Roughly 90% of the people loose atleast 50% of their excess body weight. He also told us there are things they can't explain that are after-effects of the surgery. While the smaller stomach means you must eat less food, something happens in most patients that makes them feel satisfied faster. Therefore, you don't feel the need to keep eating - you are satisfied with less. (We'll see.) Some foods are going to cause problems - vomiting and very sick kind of problems. If you eat a lot of sugar, you will be very sick. I can tell you from watching my sister who had the surgery in March of 2001 - this is very true. I've seen her eat a small (very small) piece of birthday cake and get very, very ill for the rest of the evening. Doesn't hardly seem worth it. I'm not sure if this is what they call "dumping" or not. Dr. Fallang's staff was also at the meeting to deal with insurance matters. Mine was already approved so I'm okay there. It sounds like I was one of the lucky ones, it doesn't always go that way. A person who previously had the surgery was there to share her personal insight which was "Don't eat a lot of sugar, or else!" I keep hearing this - I hope I don't have to experience this wonderful sugar thing for myself to get the message. Dr. Fallang made himself available to anyone following his sermon, I mean lecture. He answered any lingering personal questions I had. So far, so good. At this point, I'm a happy camper.
The reason for the delay between my initial visit with Dr. Fallang and the actual surgery was due to the fact that my sister had the surgery in early March. We wanted to be sure she was okay prior to my surgery. Then work schedules had to be considered. Hense, suregery is in July.
Dr. Fallang is changing hospitals. He's going from Middletown Regional to Sycamore Hospital closer to Dayton. I've not been to either hospital so I have no opinion on whether this is a good or bad thing. This didn't effect my surgical date which at this point is what's most crucial to me. It's just a little further away than I had figured on. His office staff did mess up the Pre Opt Testing date. They told me it was June 24. That seemed odd as that would mean they were doing the testing more than a month before surgery. The hospital is atleast 60 minutes from my home and I was supposed to be there by 8:15 AM. On top of all that, June 24 was a Sunday. So I checked with the hospital to confirm whether or not I was scheduled - I wasn't. When I checked with his office on Monday, they apologized and told me I'm the second one they'd done that to. I don't think I needed to hear that!
