John Sweeney Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

Actually, Dr Sweeney is now in the Atlanta area with Emory Bariatric Center. He is listed on your site as being in Houston, TX.rnrnI was very impressed with him, he was very thorough and listened to mine and my husbands concerns and made sure that he told us possible complications. He told us his complication rate and mortality rate. rnrnEmory has a great structured aftercare program and surgeon told me of importance of participating. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I would rate him a 10. rnrnSurgical competence is most important. Bedside manner is nice, but you cannot die because someone does not have a good bedside manner. I am lucky that my surgeon has both! I am basing my opinion on research I have done on Dr Sweeney. I have not had surgery yet.

Immediately Dr. Sweeney had my complete confidence and put me at ease. He is a wonderful and caring person. He certainly has your best intrest and health in mind. He has a wonderful bedside manner and is a lot of fun to speak with. There is nothing bad that I can say about him. He is extremely competent and knowledgeable of every aspect of this surgery. As others have stated he expects you to be compliant prior to the surgery in order for him to operate on you. You are on information overload by the time that you finally have the surgery but for me it was definately appreciated. His staff is wonderful. They are busy but always do what they can to assist you. He is an 11 of 10 stars as far as I am concerned. You will not be sorry if you choose him as your surgeon.

Dr Sweeney has a great bedside manner!! The surgery was oneof the best decisions I have ever made. It has changed my life dramatically. I can actually keep up with my kid again!! I lov the results. Lots of hard work though. Not a miracle cure! I highly recommend Dr. Sweeney. There are also suport group meetings should you choose to attend. I would give Dr. Sweeney a 10!

My first impressionrn Dr. Sweeney seems to be a very conscientious, careful surgeon. I feel confident that he can help me. For the first time (in a doctor's office), I didn't feel condemned... or judged... I felt like he truly wanted to help me get better. rnOffice staffrn The staff has been really great. Of course, they're busy but my needs get met.rnFor future patients...rn Dr. Sweeney doesn't mess around. If you aren't going to be compliant before the surgery, he will not operate on you. He and his staff are committed to making sure folks understand that this is a lifetime committment.rn They're all about aftercare. The program is frontloaded with tons of material to make sure you know what life will be like afterwards. rn The program is extremely comprehensive with dieticians and tons of helps along the way. It is a lifetime program. rn Dr. Sweeney details all of the risks of the surgery and these risks are reiterated several times throughout the course of the pre-surgical program. rnRating? Out of 5 stars, I'd give him 10!rnHis bedside manner is fantastic. Like i said, I have never felt so \"unjudged\". We'll see about surgical competence... 02.26.2007... but, I have faith in him. rnrn

First impression / very caring and nice, took time to explain everything about the procedure down to hospital and days preceding. I am very impressed by his attitude. His office staff has been very helpful. I have referred a friend to him and she had her surgery several months ago and is also very happy with him / procedure. He does have an aftercare program but due to my schedule working, I have only been to one counseling session. I was given all information needed on risks of surgery and his surgical competence, bedside manner were both wonderful.

Dr. Sweeney seems very capable and knowledgeable. More importantly than that, he is personable which is important because being able to actually talk with your surgeon and get the information you need from him and his office is important. His staff is equally as capable and is equally as helpful.

He is very big on aftercare and the potential risks and guidelines that should be followed. The aftercare at the same time, though, is somewhat lacking because it isn't detailed.

Overall, I would rate his care as a 8 on scale of 1-10. The aftercare needs to be a little beefed up because they need to provide more information on what should and shouldn't be done or eaten.

I think that Dr. Sweeney is a competent, caring man. As I get to know him, I only feel more confident with my decision to use him as my surgeon.

Dr. Sweeney has a terrific bedside manner, he's never too busy to answer any and all of your questions.....My impression over time of Dr Sweeney has proven that first impressions are the best.....His office staff is very attentive, knowledgeable and helpful.....With Dr. Sweeney before your even considered for the surgery you have to qualify medically through a questionaire, once you've been accepted through the information provided you must attend a bariactric seminar that he and his fellow associate conduct. All questions and concerns are hit on for surgery, nutrition as well as billing.....Individual concerns are handled at the time of your first consultation.....Aftercare in my case was and still is very important to him. Dr. Sweeney has both bedside manner as well as surgical competence very rare in a surgeon.

My first impression of Dr. Sweeney was that he really knew what he was talking about, but also that he wasn't one who scheduled as many surgeries as possible in order to make the most money. Drs. Sweeney and Fisher work together and only do RNYs 1-2 days per week. They were thorough in presenting the information at their seminar. Risks were clearly presented. They brought in a post-op who was able to answer our questions with the docs out of the room. I have full faith that I have the best surgeons for me on the job.

Dr. Sweeney's assistant, Phyllis, has gone far beyond what I would have expected. Every time I called, she handled my issue quickly and effectively. I couldn't ask for a better staff.

My first impression was - Oh my God - I don't think I can let anyone that gorgeous operate on me! When I actually got to talk to him, he was friendly and put me at ease immediately. I had done a lot of research and had narrowed down my choices according to credentials, but I was a little nervous, because his program at Methodist was pretty new. He and his partner, William Fisher, started the program in Jan 2003, so they had less than a year when I went to the education forum and consultation in Dec 2003. I was impressed with the presentation - it addressed most of the information I found in my research. I was even more impressed as Dr. Sweeney answered all of my many questions (pages actually) patiently and honestly. I spent over 45 minutes with him on my first visit. Prior to meeting with Dr Sweeney I had attended one information session with my other choice, but still was a little aprenhensive about committing to the surgery. After my first visit with Dr Sweeney, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be having the surgery and that Dr Sweeney would be my surgeon.

Their education presentation did address the risks of surgery, and I think Dr Sweeney would have gone through it again, if I hadn't already been so prepared with many questions about the risks.

He has continued to be up-front and encouraging to me. One of his mantras is "It's not a race" and this applies to every aspect of the journey. They are exceptionally careful about the accuracy of the surgery and everyone gets a swallow test the next morning. They only do surgeries on 2 days a week and leave plenty of time for patient care - this is very important to them. Also Dr Sweeney and Dr Fisher perform the surgeries as a team (one of the selling points for me). The hospital they use has a floor dedicated to bariatric patients. The nursing staff is knowlegable about bariatric care. I received appropriate meals only after I was cleared for fluids and they have bariatric beds - a lifesaver for getting up to do all my walking! The transport group for the hospital (they took me to x-ray for the swallow test) were not very helpful, and the experience of getting on and off the stretcher was painful.

The after surgery eating plan is conservative, with a total of 4 weeks on fluids, and 2 more on soft food. However I found this to be a selling point and not a restriction. I felt very comfortable going slow. We had made some major changes to my body and I was all in favor of giving plenty of time for healing. At 2.5 months out, I've had no complications and an event-free recovery. I attribute most of this to the skill of my surgeon.

The only negative thing I could say is that their aftercare program is still developing, but I have seen improvements already. Also, telephone communications with their group are difficult and sometimes frustrating, however once I am there in person, they are very nice and accomodating.