Jeremy Gallego Eckstein Bariatric Surgeon

My comments below are based on my personal experience and are not necessarily indicative of what you may experience. These are my opinions and impressions only about my own personal experience.

My first impression of Dr. Eckstein was that he had a bright, mischievous grin. I could tell immediately that he took his specialty very seriously and he expects his patients to as well.

I really grilled Dr. Eckstein with a lot of questions, and nothing phased him. He laughed when I got a little over-the-top but answered all of my questions.

The office staff is very kind but very busy. It can be frustrating because you may not get a call back when you expect it. Overall, my questions have been answered but I think they need to hire more people.

There is nothing that I dislike about Dr. Eckstein. He told me exactly what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it. He was very thorough in explaining the surgery.

Future patients should be aware that Dr. Eckstein is young and an older patient may be surprised by that. He is very capable; don't let his age play a role in your decision to go with him. He is a VSG pro. I only bring up his age because I can imagine some older individuals might be surprised by his baby face.

Aftercare is emphasized through support groups, a variety of which are offered. Patients are encouraged to take advantage of the aftercare support groups. Self-pay patients receive 3 consults with a nutritionist and all support groups are free and included. These support groups include cooking classes, trips to the grocery store, and other nutritional help.

Dr. Eckstein addressed the risks of surgery very matter-of-factly but stressed that the surgery would change my life. He said the reason he went into this field of medicine is because he saw the power it had to change people's lives. I believe that is true.

I would rate him a 10 out of 10. He is also fluent in Spanish and was able to communicate to my husband in Spanish as this is my husband's first language.

His surgical competence must be quite good as I am alive! Haha...his bedside manner is good. He doesn't spend a lot of time hanging around your bedside but he did make sure I was ready for surgery and was awake and ok after surgery. I can't imagine anyone not liking him.

One thing I would add. After surgery, Dr. Eckstein was pretty pissed because he thought I cheated on my pre-op diet. My liver was fat and he felt that I ate carbs on purpose. My husband and I were shocked and I apologized and told him that I definitely didn't eat carbs on purpose. He seemed to feel like maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to judge and he told me, "I shouldn't have said you cheated. I believe you that you didn't know the soups from the restaurants were high in carbs." The fatty liver made the surgery more difficult for him. I know because I wound up with an incision in a different place than I expected. (But no more incisions than I thought I would have.) The surgery was fine, but my liver got in the way and I'm sorry for that. I think he just wanted to be sure that I was as serious about the surgery and he was since I put him through the ringer with questions. I know he knows that I didn't eat carbs on purpose and there are no hard feelings either way. In fact, I'm glad he cared enough to call me out because if I had cheated, I think it would have been important as a physician for him to comment on that.