Ian Sanderson Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

Dr. Sanderson is wonderful. I cannot speak more highly of him, he was empathetic, compassionate and very skilled. I am very grateful that he gave me this opportunity to begin this journey and recover my life. His nurse is also wonderful. The only thing that you must know is that he is brutally honest... and while I considered this to be a virtue, others may not be ready for the truth. The dietician, Denise Poirer who is part of his team is outstanding and helped me along the road toward being able to meet my food challenges. I would rate Dr. Sanderson and all of his team as A+++ and they have contributed significantly to my success. Though I cannot really be negative in any respect, I must advise that waiting lists were a reality... and also that he confronted directly my overly-optimistic goal of escaping the disease of "morbid obesity". He was entirely correct when he cautioned that the emotional aspect of my disease is not changed by the surgery. Though I have learned to cope with it better.

A little gruff at first but I think he was trying to scare me to see if I really wanted to do this. Have only met him once so far.

His secretary is wonderful. Very helpful.





Leaves this to his hospital "team"

Haven't reached this stage in detail yet.

Really tried to scare me at first and kept me waiting a year for an initial appointment.


Obviously surgical competence but both would be great!

My origianl surgeon was Dr. Deitel. Well, if anyone knows about Dr. Deitel you know that he is no longer practicing. I am not one to point fingers but I wish someone would tell me why!!! I am not sure what he did, or did not do. But, I feel without the guidance and follow up I needed, I got lost in the shuffle!!

I have my first appointment with Dr. S on July 18th, getting nerveous!! ha ha

JULY 18TH, 2001 Met with Dr. Sanderson...he was great!! Wow, made me realize that I did not screw up, and that I am not alone....very warm, and to the point!! Boy is he ever to the point!! ha ha

I thought he was very upfront about everything and that he tells you everything that will be done before and after the surgery and what could happen and the % rate of things happening he showed me the type of surgery he will be doing on me and he answered all my questions that I had so over all I think it went great.I look forword to seeing him again and having him as my surgeon

April 19th, 2001 - Dr. Sanderson was very straightforward and answered all the questions, I had prepared for him, very clearly. This was my first meeting with him. The secretary is very tiny <sigh>, very kind and soft spoken. He was open about the risks of the sugery and to my knowledge did not try to hide any information. So far, my husband and I felt good about him.

I was told at first that Dr. Sanderson was an
unfriendly, abrupt person. Boy was I missinformed.
Yes he was straightforward on obesity and the
health risks of being over weight. But then he
brought out the magazine on Carnie Wilson, who
was the one that when I watched her on the tv,
I knew that I had to have the surgery. He asked
if I had seen the magazine, and I said yes. He
then brought out a picture of the procedure
that he does, and with a smile said "now what
I do is the Carnie Wilson Special", I knew
right then I found a great doctor. He has been
honest, and funny, and caring. He told me that
I would go through a nervous time before the
surgery, and all that, and I did just that.
After all was said and done. He smiled at me and said
"well, are you ready for this?" and I said yes.
he then got up from his desk, placed his hand
on my shoulder and said "well, let's do it."
When you first look at him, you would think that
he never smiles, but he does. All he stresses,
is that you do what you are told, and follow
all that is asked of you, to ensure that you
have complete success. And that is what I intend
to do. I give him a perfect 10. Yes he was a little
mean when he said that I was sick to be obese
but that was the truth. I am sick to not have
willpower to know when not to eat, and just like
an alcoholic I need help, and so I turn to him
and the surgery for the tools to a new way of
life. He can't sugar coat it, he must tell you
the facts, good and bad, whether you want to
hear them or not. I was glad for his honesty.
I have even moved myself close to where he is for the next 2 months of
recovery so I am close to him and his team. Give
your all and you will have great success. On the rest
I will keep you posted.

He was very friendly and made me comfortable, his secrectary seems very nice and over worked. he is a firm believer in aftercare.

I found Dr. Sanderson very direct and to the point. He has a very dry sense of humour. I found that no matter how many questions that I had, he took the time to answer all my questions. His office staff is great! Very supportive and friendly. He is very experienced in doing this procedure. He does about 100 per year and he has been doing this for 20 yrs. In all that time only 4 of his patients have died from complications from the surgery. They were also the patients who were 500+ lbs and this was a last ditch attempt to save their lives. He has a very structured pre-op and post-op care. His "team" approach includes regular monitoring with a dietician as well as regular visits to his office. Good pamphlets and post-op diet sheets.

My doctor is Dr. Ian Sanderson and he has
been doing the obesity-surgery for 30 years.
His mortality rate is 1% and complications
after surgery is 5% after performing over 15,000
surgeries. I felt very confident when I went
for my consult and he was very thorough in
his explanation about the surgery. From there
I was booked in to see the dietician, social
worker/phsycologist, and internist. They all
work as a team and let you know how important
it is to keep in contact with the team. I
like the idea of a team of the same people
doing the work on me. I felt very comfortable
with each and every one of them. The only thing
I didn't like at first with Dr. Sanderson was
he made me admit that I was a compulsive eater.
But, alas it is true. But I have tried every
diet under the sun. They do have a very thorough
after care program. His secretary loses no time
in contacting you with appointments and they
are flexible. I found Dr. Sanderson very blunt
and truthful about the risks of this surgery.
Overall I would rate him as being very capable
and honest in the initial consult. He also will
help you with any meds you are on because you
can't swallow pills for a while. Anyway both
anxious for my surgery and the more I look
into the discussion groups the better I feel.
I live near Peterborough and noticed a name
from there who had Dr. Sanderson. Please anyone
who has had surgery by him do not hesitate to
write to me at my e-mail or on this site. I
will be truly greatful as I haven't heard from
anyone else who had surgery by Dr. Sanderson.
Thankyou to all. Signing off. Wendy

Dr. I Sanderson
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
He is a wonderful person. So caring and understanding. But best of all, hes to the point. He was straight up with me about my sickness and didn't waste any time trying to gloss over the facts ... I am sick and need help before it is too late. I guess I really needed to hear that in order to realize its now or never.
His staff and all the pre-screening doctors I had to see prior to surgery were fantastic too. Very professional people, who really know there stuff. I couldn't possibly have a bad word to say about any of them.
I also liked the fact that aftercare is very important to all of them, it is essencial in my success as a WLS post-op.