Douglas S. Hess Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

Dr. Hess and his wife are wonderful. I am so greatful and lucky to find such a wonderful, patient and careing Dr. You are a person to him not a number.My husband went with me to my first visit. Before we went my husband had lots of doubts and conserns. Sence I had two stomach stapelings 18 years ago that failed before I ever left the hospital. Dr. Hess never rushed us, answered all our questions. And really made us feel really convertible. Really caredfor you as a patient.He really emphasizes after care and keeping in touch at all times.He explained all the complications that could happen. From 1-10 with 10 being the best My husband and I rate Dr. Hess and his son a number
10.I was and am very nervous about my surgery sencethis is a revision from past two stomach stapelings. But I feel I have the very best Dr. for this surgery. If the great Dr. Hess can't do this KNOW ONE CAN.Dr. Hess and the great guy up above are gona change my life forever. March 22nd 2001 I will have the life I was only able to dream about and wish for in the past. I am so glad Dr. Hess lives driving distance from us. Because if he haden't been I would of flown around the world to have him do my surgery. Will up date you later of my post op. Thank God for Dr's like Dr Hess in Bowling Green OHIO

DR. HESS was great he took his time to explain to me about the surgery. I was concerned about a few things but when I left I felt at ease. DID NOT SAY I AM NOT SCARED.>> but his wife works in the office and she is so helpful. the day I saw DR.HESS he gave me a surgery date of 09-20-01 and when I called them to let know I was approved through my insurance company they moved my surgery date to 05-03-01 ;;WOW;;

Actually, my surgeon will be Dr. Hess's new partner, Dr. Richard Oakley.

I watched a video by Dr. Hess and found him to be a very considerate and caring person. Dr. Oakley is the same.

I learned to trust him and I gained more confidence in him as we talked.

The office staff there is wonderful. They're very nice, helpful and friendly.

I can't say that I disliked anything about Dr. Oakley or Dr. Hess.

Dr. Oakley has been a gastric surgeon in Maryland for 30 years. When I consulted with him, he had not performed bariatric surgery yet, but seemed extremely knowledgable about the operation. He was very thorough in explaining what would be done.

Aftercare is strongly emphasized. The surgery they do is the Bileopancreatic Diversion with a Duodenal Switch - a surgery that is performed by only 30-some surgeons world-wide. They want you to come back at least yearly for a checkup. Dr. Hess gives his patients his home phone number in case they need help with anything. If the patient moves away, they want that patient to stay in contact with them.

The risks of surgery were addressed and I learned I really didn't have much to fear. My mind was put at ease when I found out that there's no greater risk with this surgery than with any other type of surgery. There's a very small risk of developing a leak, but I was told it is highly treatable. There's also a small chance of becoming dehydrated/malnourished, but if that happens, they'll put you in the hospital for a day or two with an iv to replenish you.

I would rate both Dr. Oakley and Dr. Hess very highly, judging from my personal experience with them.

Their surgical competence is very, very high (especially since Dr. Hess is the one who came up with this procedure). I was told by a nurse that Dr. Hess's bedside manner is caring, but he doesn't have time to stand and talk for a long time with post-ops in the hospital. He's very busy and if you have any questions, you should have them written down ahead of time. Also, he arrives very early in the morning to check on patients. Of course, I don't know about Dr. Oakley's bedside manner, but judging from his character, I'd say it's probably very good.

Dr. Hess was wonderful and very caring...definitely knows what he is doing. Office staff is nice. I would definitely recommend Dr. Hess and of course would use him again. He encourages post op patients to follow up with him every six months/year, occasionally the staff calls asking how you're doing, what's your weight, having any problems, etc. He is especially interested on continued follow ups andfollowing women who become pregnant after the surgery. As for which is better (surgical competence or bedside manner) Definitely BOTH..not many Doctors know how to master this but Dr. Hess does!!

Dr.Hess and his associate Dr.Oakley are very nice.My first impression of them both is that they really care and want to help people like us that have no one else to turn to.

Dr. Hess was the first to do the BPD/DS proceedure in Bowling Green, Ohio. Many of my family have been to Dr. Hess for various reasons, one for WLS. However I didn't go to him for that reason alone, it's because he's come up with a proceedure that works and affords what I consider a much more normal way of eating and drinking for life. Everyone needs to come to their own conclusions, but be sure to get informed and consider the varous choices. Info on DS @ 'www.duodenalswitch.com'.
About risks. Dr. Hess does address them, but here's something I found ... some surgeons limit thier risky patients to make numbers look better, find out, ask, consider that as you compare. Dr. Hess has done quite a number of very large high risk patients, most have done well, a couple haven't ... but consider this, he's thinks of the patients, even if it's a last hope effort, and not just protecting his track record by turning away high risk patients. Something to consider.
They seem to have a decent after care group. The office staff was generally helpful. In looking at WLS however, I've found many offices are not helpful, and many Drs. who aren't very available. For me, I've appreciated Dr. Hess being accessable and answering my questions. After all, if you can't get to Dr. before surgery, I'd worry about what happens after surgery.
In general, the WLS community could be a lot more patient friendly, afterall, they want us to put our very lives in their hands. Dr. Hess and several others I talked to were pleasant and helpful, but a lot were not.

Dr. Hess spent over two hours with me during my first visit. He went over every detail of the surgery, drew pictures, answered all questions. He was very thorough!! He addressed all the risks and was kind and thoughtful. He truly seems to care about his patients. He is very specific about follow up care and what one can and cannot do post operatively.

I had to postpone my surgery twice through no fault of my own and his office staff seemed a bit put out by this but all turned out OK.

I didn't meet Dr. Hess until the morning of surgery because I had my consultation with his Partner Dr. Oakley. I would have liked to have had another meeting between the initial consultation and the surgery.

Both the video with Dr. Hess (shown at the consultation) and Dr. Oakley explained the procedure thouroughly and went through the various risks. They stressed aftercare and the importance of taking your vitamins for life.

Dr. Hess seems to be a very skilled surgeon and has a lot of experience with this procedure. When I had upset stomach and diahrea in the hospital, he knew just thing to give me to stop the symptoms. He also gives his patients his home phone number which I think goes above what many will do.

The thing that I don't like about Dr. Hess is that he always seems like he is in a huge hurry. When he came to check on me each morning in the hospital, he usually stayed less than one minute. I never felt "really" listened to because it seemed like he was always on his way out the door. At both of my follow up visits, I had to say "Stop, I still have questions" to keep him from leaving during the first two minutes of the appointment. It is frustrating to spend six hours in the car to go for a check up and then have only a minute or two with the Dr. This of course is just my opinion and I know many of Dr. Hess's patients have not expressed this to be a problem.

Please be aware that the following answers reflect my opinions and experiences and I make no claims as to what anyone else's experiences might be:
-We met long distance and he seemed very friendly but a little absent minded.
-He isn't absent minded just seems that way.
-His office staff is very helpful and very nice.
-Nothing.
-He's very serious about what he does and knows with certainly that he is saving / changing lives.
-Aftercare is very important, Luckily he and my PCP hit it off and I'm able to have my aftercare by my regular doctor.
-If you can stay in Ohio, his aftercare program is quite extensive.
-Before you speak to him, you are shown a video which explains things from A-Z. Then you meet with him and he goes over everything again so you can have your questions answered.
-Over the top.
-Surgical competence. His bedside manner leaves a little to be desired but he very nice and the staff at the hospital more than makes up for it.

I think Dr. Hess is a true 'hero' in the medical field. I spoke with a couple of other bariatric surgeons prior to speaking with Dr. Hess, and about 5 minutes into my initial conversation with him, I knew I had met the right surgeon for me. Dr. Hess is most genuinely concerned with
his patients and their ultimate success with the surgery he performs. Dr. Hess does all of his surgeries 'open' rather than 'lap', which I am quite comfortable with. He takes very precise measurements when performing the BPD/DS, which is crucial to the positive outcome of the surgery;
sustained weight loss. Dr. Hess is the surgeon who developed the procedure of combining the duodenal switch with the existing biliopancreatic diversion to offer superior quality of life to his patients. He has perfected a technique of suturing that has drastically reduced the incidence
of 'leaks'. Dr. Hess is very conservative and takes no chances with his patient's lives. He is the only surgeon whom I spoke with that left me feeling very confident in going forward with my decision to have the BPD/DS; I trust him above all others, and as I value my life immensely,
that says a lot :o)

His office staff is great to work with. They are very busy, but extremely efficient, helpful, and always available. I feel very confident that once I return home, should I need ANYTHING, I will be tended to promptly.

Aftercare is very strongly emphasized by Dr. Hess. If you are not going to be compliant, he won't risk your life by performing the surgery, and this is how it should be. He goes into great detail as to what will be required of the patient post-op ... for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. There
is a structured 'after-care' program provided by Dr. Hess which I will not be able to be a part of as I live 13 hours away.

Dr. Hess is in a category all his own; he gets better perfect rating from me.

To me, surgical competence has to be number one, but a great bedside manner is surely the icing on the cake ... with Dr. Hess, you'll get the icing, too :o)

I find nothing negative about my experience so far. Some might prefer a more technologically advanced approach, such as a lap surgery versus open, and that might lower their rating of Dr. Hess, but having had 5 previous abdominal surgeries, I feel open is the best way for me to go. My
personal opinion is also that the surgeon can 'see' more with an open incision that with the lap scopes.