Helmuth T. Billy Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

This is the BEST decision I could've ever made! Dr.Billy is a amazing surgeon and runs a first class program. I just thank God that I was able to afford the hefty program fee ($4,000)that he charges because the person you talk to about your insurance and all the program fees(Heather)makes it very clear from the beginning No $$! No Surgery! But I could honestly say that it was money well spent because there isn't any amount that could make me feel any better than the way I feel right now! I walked in to Dr.Billy's office weighing 370 lbs and now 8 months later my weight is 228 lbs! So I recommend anyone who is suffering with obesity should definitely call Dr.Billy!

I went for my consult with Dr. helmuth Billy on Nov 30th, 2010 and I am having surgery on Sat Dec 11th 2010. He impressed me from the beginning with his knowledge and I liked that he was very to the point. He does not sugar coat it. So far I would highly recommend him and his stats are wonderful!!! He is really big on patient education and really cares about you. I was so very comfortable with him and his bedside manner... I would not have wanted another surgeon, he was amazing in my book!!!!!

His office staff is good as well. Sometimes they seem a bit overwhelmed and I am sure they are, but overall they are good! They are all helpful and informitive as well.

I had my surgery on Sat Dec 11, 2010 and Dr. Billy was wonderful!!!!!!!!! Once he got there all my fears were gone and he had a great smile and was ready to go....

The hospital I was at was Community Memorial in Ventura, CA. They were pretty good only one nurse had me yelling at her when she refused to change out my IV line. We worked it all out and I got a new line....

Dr Billy has been the best from the moment I first met him at a seminar 7 years ago. He explains the various surgeries in detail and covers what the patient has to put into it to make it all work. Not only that, his practice supports all of this with pre surgical testing available right there, nutritional and pyschological counseling available right there, and he even has trainers come in daily to do work outs with those who are interested. All of this at one, easy location. Besides that he, his PA and his nurses provide the most amazing after care by really coaching patients through the weight loss process- cheering their successes and helping them analyze their failures so they can and will improve.
The aftercare is incredible, he is a highly skilled surgeon andhis bedside manner can't be beat. This is definitely a 5 star paractice!
The only negative I can even come up with is sometimes getting appointments takes a little longer than you want. But that is ONLY because he sees everyone as frequently as they want so it is worth waiting an extra couple of days.
All of this is obviously my personal experience coupled with what I have heard from other people.Each of us is different and have different needs.

Dr. Billy did my RNY surgery on 7/18/07.

Dr. Billy and his staff have provided me with excellent care and support from the very beginning.

He is a tough love kind of doctor and doesn't sugar coat the facts. He explained all the risks and benefits very clearly to me and doesn't hesitate to confront me in areas I need to improve on. Dr. Billy and his staff always make me feel important and that they truly care about my health and well being.

After care is critical, follow up appointments, blood work, support groups, exercise classes and nutritional counseling are all emphasized on a regular basis. My rating of Dr. Billy and his staff is a 10 out of 10.

Dr. Billy's surgical competence and bedside manner are great! I truly can't say enough about Dr. Billy and his staff, they have transformed my life! I am happier and healthier than I have ever been and thank God every day for bringing Dr. Billy and his staff into my life!

Strong believe in after care and helping make this a life change. Not a do as I say not as I do, talks about difficulties with weight that everyone has including himself.

When I went to his informational seminar, Dr. Billy was the third bariatric surgeon in four years with whom I was trying to get the gastric-bypass procedure done, on the heels of protracted insurance battles each time. Now, he's the one who has gotten me through the process -- happily, healthfully and realistically.rnrnBig ups to Heather Jacobsen for her long-term help in dealing with insurance issues, and shout-outs to Rose, Becky, Sara, Nancy, Jessica, Sarah, the two Andrew's, Don and the rest of the nursing and office staff, for all of their help in making this journey a joy so far. I actually enjoy myself and find myself looking forward to seeing people when I go in for follow-up appointments or support group meetings.rnrnBut the best testimonials I can offer about Dr. Billy are probably included in a couple of posts I've made on ObesityHelp.com.rnrnI post them here without comment. Both, however, are full, accurate and heartfelt explanations of my experience with Dr. Billy, who was a key factor in one of the best, and worst, days of my life -- Aug. 6, 2008, my surgery date.rnrn---rnrnHi,rnrnDr. Billy was my surgeon, and I had total confidence in him.rnrnLike you, I saw and spoke to several doctors before choosing him. I made that decision because I knew someone who had undergone surgery with him before me, and he had had nothing but good things to say. Also factored in were my own impressions, and those of my mother, who had come along with me to meet Dr. Billy in a private consultation.rnrnThe thing that struck us most with Dr. Billy was the sense of confidence, reassurance and trust that we had in him, almost immediately.rnrnAsk him if he has had any deaths/complications under his watch. I did, and he was honest. I appreciated that beyond measure, and it gave me even more faith in him.rnrnLike it or not, he is very up-front with patients, and puts the burden and responsibility for this journey squarely on their shoulders. To give you an idea, at my first surgery follow-up with him, he walked into the exam room, looked at me, and immediately laid it on the line.rnrn\"Your metabolism is terrible, and you weren't doing that much wrong to begin with,\" he said.rnrn\"This surgery will help you, but you're going to have to work very hard, you're going to have to stick with the program, you're going to have to exercise, and you're going to have to be very disciplined. Or else, it's going to be very easy for you to become a fat woman again.\"rnrnUm, gee, thanks, Dr. Billy, I thought, laughing to myself a little. Oh well, so much for a little encouragement! And this was after a month in which I'd lost 23 pounds, and went in there feeling pretty pleased and proud of myself. I just had another meeting with him the other day, had lost 14 more pounds, and got another, similar warning/reminder.rnrnSo, he has stayed on me, and I'm glad of that. It has really brought home how much I really will have to work at this. Not that I didn't know that before, but my point is, he will confront you with it, and remind you constantly, that this process is largely on you.rnrnIn short, he's good for me, and good for all his patients -- maybe even more than he realizes.rnrnAnd that brings me to the one bad thing concerning him, if you could call it that. rnrnHe is extremely busy -- almost too much so, it sometimes seems. But, that could just be because I know that if every patient is like me, they'd like to have his ear and attention as much as possible. And it isn't, always. rnrnHe has a great staff, and he relies on those people a lot. And there are times when you may have to be OK with that if it is not an emergency situation.rnrnEveryone you see there, from Dr. Billy on down, pays attention to you when you’re with them, though. And I know some patients just take the busy-ness as an indication that a lot of people trust Dr. Billy with their care. Again, I think what will strike you most is his directness, and the sense of trust and reassurance that engenders. rnrnTo me, that was everything.rnrnEven when I had some last-minute nerves before my surgery, the deciding factor for me in going ahead was that, when it came right down to it, I trusted Dr. Billy to bring me through it, and he did.rnrnI had a smooth gastric bypass/gall bladder surgery, and have had an easy, successful recovery so far.rnrnMy only issue has been slow weight loss, thanks to a few factors, and, as I've tried to illustrate, we're working on that, confronting it head-on.rnrnI'd say that that's Dr. Billy’s way, and I like it.rnrn(Note: The above post was written by me on the ObesityHelp.com Web site on Nov. 3, 2008, in response to a request for information/opinions about Dr. Billy by another poster.rnrnThe post below was shared by me on the ObesityHelp.com Web site on Nov. 2, in response to another poster’s concern regarding the timing of her surgery during a time when her father was ill. Both posts have been edited, very slightly, here…for the better, I think, and the gist of each remains).rnrnTake a look at my surgery date – Aug. 6, 2008. I will never forget it, not only because it's the day I had my surgery, but because my father died in the early-morning hours on the day of my operation.rnrnHe died of his cancer/Parkinson's/heart problems a little after 1:30 a.m. With the support of, and at the insistence of, the rest of my family, I was in the operating room less than five hours later.rnrnBefore going under, I told Dr. Billy and his assistant, from the bottom of my heart, to please, please, take care of me. Not so much for myself, but because I really think my mother might have died, herself, had anything happened to me, too, within hours of my dad's death.rnrnThe rest of my family was actually more insistent and more certain that I should go through with my surgery than I was. I thought I should put it off, and nearly did, at the last minute. But then, my mom and siblings, all gathered around my dad's bed in the hospital, with him still lying there an hour after his passing, reminded me that, as much as I might have wanted to, there was nothing I could do for my father at that point.rnrnThey reminded me how long I'd been working toward this goal (three separate attempts in the past four years), and how it was something my dad had thought about and looked forward to, because he wanted to see me looking and feeling better, about both myself and my life.rnrnThat put me in tears, saying, \"But I wanted him to see me.\" rnrnThe other members of my family all smiled, and even laughed a little, at me and my unintended bit of vanity. Then, they all looked at me, and told me that I should go ahead with it, that I needed to go ahead with it, and that Dad would want me to do so.rnrnI decided they were right, and I have come to truly believe that. Delaying the surgery would have served no purpose. My mother did not accompany me to the hospital that morning. My sister-in-law, who actually had had an open gastric-bypass operation eight years earlier with another surgeon, pinch-hitted instead. But that was the only concession made to the events of the day.rnrnAnd, my sister-in-law, too, was impressed with Dr. Billy when he met to talk with her after my surgery had been completed. My mom, heart-broken at losing her husband of 55 years but still concerned about me, wound up visiting me in the hospital with other family members later that day. rnrnAfter 2 1/2 days in the hospital, I went home and stayed at my mom's house for the next seven days, at the end of which a memorial celebration for my dad had been scheduled. I had recovered from surgery relatively easily and well, and was glad to go with the rest of my family to share our memories of my father -- and to see all the 200 or so people in attendance in his honor.rnrnI believe my dad somehow knew what I'd decided about the surgery, and was fine and pleased that I'd gone ahead with it as we'd planned.rnrnThese days, I still think of him often -- every day, in fact -- and I like to think that he's been watching me, and watching over me, all during this journey. rnrnI can’t thank Dr. Billy and his staff enough for helping me through it.rnrn ---rnrnAs a postscript, let me note that, almost seven months later -- somewhat slow loser and relative lightweight though I am -- I've dropped 70 pounds so far.rnrnThat total, by the way, was EXACTLY what Dr. Billy had predicted in my first consultation that I would lose in the first six to seven months. His estimate was \"between 60 and 70 pounds.\"rnrnWell, apparently, it was no guess. The man knows his stuff.rnrnBut then, that was apparent to me almost from the start of this process.rn

Dr. Billy saved my life, plain and simple. I had surgery on March 31, 2008 and to date I have lost @ 120 lbs. I have gone from 273 on day of surgery to 154 with only a few pounds left to go. I was a size 26 and now I am an 8. I have had ZERO complications due to his expertise and extraordinary surgical skills. I cannot recommend him enough.rnrnFrom the first time I met him at his seminar, I knew this man was extremely intelligent and could help me. He had compassion for the morbidly obese, which many doctors, including my own PCP did not. It was the first time I had ever heard a doctor say that diet and exercise won't work long term for people like us, the morbidly obese. He understood what it was like to have 120 lbs to lose and only be able to lose 1 lb a week on Weight Watchers only to gain it all back! He got it! I thought I knew it all when it came to nutrition and dieting since I'd been doing it for over 20 years, but I learned from the seminar and knew he would be the surgeon for me. I cannot say enough about his staff, especially Nancy. She stayed with me as they wheeled me into the OR and I could never tell her how much that meant to me.rnThe office staff helped with every aspect of my pre-op testing and appointments. They were all awesome. The office is beautiful and CLEAN and always a joy to visit their smiling faces for all my post op appointments. They have always made me feel like a VIP when I walk in.rnIf you are considering bariatric surgery, Dr. Billy is worth the drive if you aren't in Ventura County. I live about 90 minutes North of his office and it was and is WELL worth the trip. I recommend him whole heartedly.

Dr. Billy is one of kind. He was highly recommended by my Endocrinologist and PCP. He is well known in Ventura county. When I first attended his seminar I left there not really having any questions about the surgery. He was extremely thorough. I was there for 3 hours and he answered everyone's questions. He emphasized continuously on the risks of surgery and possible failure if you do not follow instructions. His staff if very caring and helpful. Yes the office does get busy and they do run behind sometimes but let me tell you, you will get 100% when it is your turn. When I met him personally he was... Let's just say he doesn't sugar coat anything. Which is good. He tells it like it is. Strait out and very blunt which I loved that about him. But his staff like Sara and Nancy are angels. Very supportive. I've called Sarah many times a week and Nancy is so sweet. She actually talked to my boyfriend on a one on one basis while I was in surgery. Letting him know what I would be going through and what to expect. Becky the receptionist is always on top of things. Oh and Andrew Duncan the P.A. Funny guy, great personality. They all there are really awesome.

My first impression of Dr Billy was the compasion he showed to me and understanding that I needed an intervention to get my life back. Dr Billy has taught me alot and he truly shows that he is all about education for a life time change not just surgery. The staff here is great and very helpful and just a phone call away. He is so busy that your appointment with him is late alot of the time but when it is your turn with him it is all about you.He has an awesome aftercare program with several support groups, special speakers, clothing exchange program, exercising program and more. He explains in deatil the good bad and the ugly of surgery in his seminars, in 1st evals, 2nd evals, and alot of literure supplied to all on this same subject. It is hard to rate him even though I have met other surgeons. He is up there with the Big Man for me because if Dr. Billy hadn't helped me I am scared to think about where I would be or if I would be alive.Dr Billy is the whole package he is an awesome surgeon with a great bedside manner and I think you need both to be successful for this is about changing a not so healthy life in to a very productive healthy life. I know I am basis but after 50 years of obesity and now having a very productive and fun life I can't help but give props to Dr Billy and his staff.

Dr. Billy and his whole staff are the best. They walk you thru every step. He is excellent at what he does. They are compassionate and offer support at every leve, before during and after. I would highly reccommend you call their office to have a consultation if you are in CA. They are the best!