J.K. Champion Bariatric Surgeon

DrChampion is very direct and very supportive. His office staff is extremely helpful. DrChampion has his patients sign an aftercare contract stating that we will take care of ourselves with vitamins, calcium, exercise, follow up appointments and attendance at support group meetings.
He is a highly competent surgeon. I had some pain only the first couple of days after that I was merely sore. I would encourage anyone to have this procedure laproscopically. DrChampion's Support Group is also amazing. It is very welcoming and open. After my first meeting, I felt as if these people had been my friends for years.
The only problem I ran into was the short staffing at Northside Hospital Cherokee. The nurses were good but I felt that they were somewhat unattentive due to short staffing. It took me 2 hours to be discharged due to staffing problems and then they seemed irritated.

Very professional and informed. I wasnt rushed in and out. He explained all my options and went over any complications that could occur. He also allowed me to have a Q&A session with him.

Office staff seemed very efficient.

He makes you sign a binding aftercare contract so that you will not cheat yourself. He also strongly recommends a support group for aftercare.

Informative, pushed the RNY. His website is great.

The first time I met Dr. Champion, I thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. He took a lot of time with me, explained things in a down to earth manner and didnt talk with a lot of medical jargon. He not only verbally gave me a lot of information but he sent me home with written info and told me if I had any questions to call anytime His office staff are wonderful. Very caring and take a lot of time answering questions. Since I live 4 hours away from his office, I was on the phone many times with his nurse Judy. She was so fantastic and patient..even on the days when I called at 4:55pm.
His after care program is really good, you sign a contract saying that you will exercise 5 days a week, and comply with all the other post op instructions and attend at least 4 support group meetings. He has a chat room where you can talk with other patients and him about issues you may have.
He is an accomplished surgeon...his credentials are very impressive, his bedside manner is wonderful. HE sits right beside you in the hospital and talks to you, not your family...although he answers any questions that they have. You know how some doctors just come in, tell your family how you did, what to do next, then looks at you for a minute and leaves? Well, he is not like that at all. You are his patient and he treats you with the upmost respect. On a scale from 1-10, I give him a 15!

I was kind of scared to meet Dr. Champion. Since he was a highly skilled surgeon and all I thought he might have been very intimidating or rude. He was none of the above! He happens to be one of the most sweetest and carrying surgeons I have ever seen. He made sure that I was well taken care of and from my research I know that I was in the best hands to have the RNY done by the LAP. I must say Canton, GA is quite different from Chicago but not in a negative sense. The staff is very nice and friendly. Judy in his office is just great! I left my head scarf in his offices in Atlanta and she came and brought it to me days later while I was in the hosptial in Canton, GA. They are all great people in his office and I am so glad I had it done in Atlanta instead of San Diego. I was treated like a human and with care by Dr. Champion and I wouldn't trade him for the world.

He was very kind and reassuring.
He explained everything in detail.
His staff was very helpful and friendly.
He has you sign a contract so that you
do what is best for you in the future.
Also he has a support group, although I
haven't attended yet. I did start having
upper back pain in the hospital and at 5
weeks post op I am still having problems
with that. I will speak to him next week
about that. I've only threw up once since
being home. I am still very weak. But
other than the back pain not alot of pain.

I chose him after researching Lap RNY on the net. Everyone that went to him gave a great recommendation. I have not heard one bad thing about him or his staff. I spoke with him on the phone and he took a lot of time with me and addressed all my concerns one on one. I really appreciated him for that. His staff has been very helpful too.

Dr. Champion is THE BEST!! He is very professional, caring, and will give you a new lease on life! I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Champion! His office staff was most helpful to me as well, in my decision to have my surgery done in Atlanta. Alice (in Dr. Champions office) is terrific.

Heard alot of great things about Dr. Champion. I've seen his work (good friend had the surgery). Great staff too! (Thanks Judy!!! Love ya!)

I was very lucky to have found Dr. Champion. I had checked around and found that most surgeons who do the RNY by LAP don't perform it on patients who are over 350-400 pounds. I weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 pounds, and had almost given up on having the surgery done by LAP. I decided to call Dr. Champion's office anyway and ask, and I was told that he had performed the surgery by LAP on patients larger than me. I didn't really believe it until I actually went in and saw him. Sure enough he said that he thought he could do it by LAP, but if he couldn't finish it fully LAP, he would add one more incision just big enough to get his hand in to finish it up.

He and his office staff were great. The only thing that I didn't particularly like was that since I was a self-pay, they scheduled my visit with Dr. Champion for the day before the surgery. I felt that I needed to see and talk to him before that so I could put to rest the nagging fear that he wouldn't be able to operate on me or that there might be some extra tests he would want run on me (because of my co-morbidities) that would prevent me having surgery on the day I planned. I corrected this myself by calling back and asking to see him earlier. Sure enough there were some items he needed, including a surgery clearance from my cardiologist. This could have potentially pushed my surgery out a few days, if not weeks.

The surgery went very well, he was able to complete it fully LAP. He didn't use the dreaded NG tube nor the drainage tube. My catheter was pulled while in recovery, and I was up walking to the bathroom unassisted 5 minutes after getting back into my room. I went home on Thursday, two days after the operation. That night was the last time I needed pain meds.

Dr. Champion only does laproscopic VBG and RNY-proximal surgeries, although I believe he said that he has converted some proximals to distals in very rare cases. He is concerned about the side effects and life long risks associated with some of the other surgeries.

Overall, my experience with Dr. Champion and the surgery was great, but as in all things in life, YMMV (your mileage may vary).