Donald Waldrep Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

My first impression was that
Dr. Waldrep was compassionate and knowledgeable.

I became more impressed as I got to know him.

Very competent and friendly; Dr. Waldrep is personable and has a nice sense of humor.

He's extremely busy--it is hard to get in to see him right away.

He sees the need for a structured aftercare program. He addresses the risks of surgery at length and I had to sign a seven page (I think) information about surgery release.

I would give Dr. Waldrep a 10+.

I've heard that Dr. Waldrep's bedside manner and surgical competence are both great.

I met Dr. Suh in my first consultation and was impressed. He drew me a diagram of the evolution of bariatric surgery on the table cover. It was impressive. I also loved his sense of humor. Office staff are really nice, but I was a bit annoyed to hear from the insurance person Robin that they were having issues with my insurance and possibly will cancel with them. Afterall, I switched from HMO to PPO JUST to get DR. Waldrep to do this surgery. Well...now he will be doing it, but I will be paying for most of it as he now is not contracted. UGHHHHHHHH. Very frustrating.
I had my preop appt on 3-21-02 and met both Dr. Waldrep and Dr. Suh again. Impressed again. I wouldn't change surgeons for the world at this point. So off I go....in less than one week!!!! I will followup care with Dr. Hopkins I think. But I may switch over to Dr. Maeberry (I think). Dr. Hopkins is nice, but I feel I may need a change. We'll see.

My first impression of Dr. Patching was that he seemed very open and warm. Not much of a sense of humor at first, while he was explaining the operations themselves. But he loosened up and was quite chatty afterward during the more Q&A part of the visit. He was very careful to discuss the risks of both the LAP-Band and the RNY and pretty much said which procedure we go ahead with will be my choice. He says he has a team of professionals to help his patients deal with eating issues, emotional issues to get them ready for surgery. For me, he stressed getting myself in good cardiovascular shape prior to surgery by exercising at least 4x weekly and getting on some kind of diet plan (he doesn't care what kind) for the next two months. We'll meet again in mid-February to reevaluate and see if I'm ready to schedule surgery or if additional steps are necessary.

Overall, I couldn't have been more pleased with the visit. Both he and his staff were professional and warm. I've read a lot about him as a surgeon and would guess that his surgical competence is excellent, just like his bedside manner.

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Have met with and decided to have my surgery with Dr. Donald Waldrep in Roseville, CA. Met with Dr. Waldrep's partner, Dr. Suh and got lots of answers, pictures, explanations to get me on my way. I really liked Dr. Suh's laid back (and funny!) manner.. he seemed like he really was interested in having me understand the ins and outs of the surgery and making sure I knew what I was getting into. I got the impression that aftercare was pretty important to him, where it wasn't even mentioned with Dr. Patching. Overall, I feel confident that if anything were to go wrong, I'd get good care from Dr. Waldrep. Just waiting for a surgery date and approval now. I'll keep you posted.

Note: I switched surgeons in January, 2002. My new surgeon is Dr. Donald Waldrep in Roseville, CA.


062601-I had my consultation with Dr. Patching today. My first impression of Dr. Patching was very positive. He is friendly, open, down to earth, and very professional. His staff is the same way. We spoke for an hour and a half. That in itself was pretty impressive. He went over my medical history, my weight loss history, the surgery, the risks, and the next steps. His competence and bedside manner truly reaffirmed my first impression. His credentials are equally impressive. As first impressions go, it couldn't have been better.


021402, Although my first impression of Dr. Patching was very positive, future visits discouraged and frustrated me. I must note that I never doubted his surgical skills. However, I think our personalities were not compatible. These comments are just my personal impressions of my own personal experience and I am making no statements about what other people may experience. I expect to be very involved in my medical care and share in the decisions. I know other people are very happy under his care and your experience may be totally different from mine.

I decided to switch surgeons and I am now under the care of Dr. Donald Waldrep. I am very pleased with his approach, his willingness to discuss every question I have, and his respect for my desire to be informed and share in the decision making. Because some of my tests were done so long ago, I have to repeat a few lab tests and get a second clearance letter issued. I hope to have a date within a couple of weeks.

030802 - My surgery has been scheduled for March 18, 2002!

I met with Dr. Suh who is the team mate of Dr. Waldrep. I was impressed as he layed out the info. on the different types of this surgery; how it came about, who invented it, and how they all work. He was thorough and was fair in sharing all the information, benefits and the risks of the surgery. I was given the Obesityhelp.com website so that I can read up on the surgery and it risks, also, to read others comments about the surgery. I really was impressed about this and I appreciated it though I already had the website's address and had visited it many times. It was good to see them recommending this. I wasn't really concerned about their bedside manner more then their surgical competence, though their bedside manners have preceded them. I have read up so much on these two doctors, and talked to many, many of their post-ops patients. I choose them and now I will put them in God's hand to do the best for me. The office staff was wonderful, informative, and very understanding. These are my personal feelings, and opinions and I am making no statements about what other people may experience. I am sure everyone may not feel the same way.

<font color="black">The only thing I didn't like is the fact that I didn't even get to meet Dr. Waldrep until the DAY of my surgery. Both pre-op appointments were with his associate, Dr. Suh. However, Dr. Suh was VERY good in explaining the procedure and what to expect before, during, and after surgery. He also had a very good sense of humor and was easy to talk to. Once I met Dr. Waldrep, I found him to be very warm and caring and also easy to talk to. He is a very skilled surgeon and together they performed my procedure in just under an hour, with absolutely no complications. I was in the hospital only one night and while there Dr. Waldrep called and came and checked on me. As far as his office staff, I have to give KUDOS to Robin as she is the person that has been most helpful to me in their office. She and Karen handled all of my insurance paperwork and surgery scheduling and they were both wonderful. Robin was always so helpful and even phoned me after regular work hours when we were on a deadline!</font>

Dr. Waldrep is AWESOME! My first impression was wonderful. His office staff is wonderful and he is a very, very caring man. I feel like I have a wonderful team that I am working with. I would refer someone to him in a heartbeat! He addressed everthing. He took extra time with me to go through my list of questions (and boy did I have a list!) Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10 - I would have to give Dr. Waldrep and his staff an 11! I am scheduled for surgery on 1/18/02.

first impression was very good alot of confidence.His work has proven true im 4 days post op and feel great. Released from hospital 2 days, I fully reccommend him to everyone he is great all the way around aftercare is good as well

I didn't meet Dr. Waldrep but his associate Dr. Suh. He was very nice, has a good sense of humor and was very through. I felt that he did a very good job of explaining some of the surgeries and giving me information to find out about more surgeries besides on the web. His staff seem to be very nice. His patients have a chat room and he comes on and talks to them once in a while. There is also a group meeting on the second Sat. of every month. The after care will be done by the Internist, Dr. Thomkins. If anyone lives in the Sacrament area and watches channel 3 news then you know the doctor. He is Dr. Tom Hopkins and he does reports for them all the time.

I met with Dr. Suh, who is Dr. Waldrep associate since Dr. Waldrep has not yet returned from his honeymoon. Dr. Suh was great. He spent all the time in the world explaining the surgery, never seemed in a hurry and has a wonderful sense of humor. I had a long list of questions with me and he ansered every single one to my satisfaction. He emphasized the importance of aftercare and nutrition. Dr. Suh was pleased that I will be working closely with Dr. Easterly on nutritional needs. The office staff was very nice. Today was halloween so they were all decked out in costume and enjoying life.

Dr. Suh spent considerable time talking about the risks of surgery. He did not sugar coat anything. So far, so good.