Frederick Tiesenga Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

On first impression Dr. T is, well, skinny!! Who wouldn't be staring at obese people all day! He has a quirky sense of humor, and is genuinely sincere. He does expect full compliance of his patients, and really desires you to become a healty person. He doesn't sugar coat anything...so sensitivity should be left at the door. His concern and care is outstanding! He encourages the aftercare support group meetings. He is an excellent surgeon, his staff is extremely friendly and make you feel very comfortable. Dr. Fred get's a 10 out of 10 in my book!

I really liked Dr. Fred. He answered all my questions and has great tips on losing weight. However, Dr. Marvin Tiesenga also saw me in the hospital and I was NOT impressed with him at all. He was downright rude. So, my suggestions would be to deal with Dr. Fred only! Over all it was a positive experience- with Dr. Marvin Tiesenga being the exception.

First impression - very good. He seemed to nice, kind, caring (at the seminar). In the office appt. he was polite, but quite brief.As far as office staff, my experience was that problems there almost led to cancellation last minute of sheduled surgery! The staff member dealing became very angry at me for not allowing her to treat me in a what I considered a demeaning manner. Thereafter, she went to the head surgeon of the office and said I was being \"non-compliant\" about pre-op testing (?)and should therefore have my surgery cancelled, and I got a call to that effect only 2 weeks before surgery by an office manager (who I didn't even know of before that)! It was a difficult charge for the complainant to make stick, since I'm a nurse and well-versed in the importance of \"compliance\" (she didn't know that!) I had to staunchly defend myself to the caller and after, to the head surgeon, to be \"un-cancelled.\" I went ahead simply to not waste time. As far as aftercare, they tell you to see your primary for that. The risks of surgery were addressed in literature briefly as in all literature I read, but in a most amusing manner ultimately - minutes before surgery I had to sign a disclaimer that had approx. 8 statements stating that I \"had been told that I could DIE from the surgery,\", that complications can lead to DEATH, (bold face) or I wouldn't get taken to surgery! The nurse herself was appalled and washed her hands of the form. I laughed and signed it anyway. Despite this, Dr. Teisinga did a good job - I'm here to tell the story! Of course, these are my PERSONAL experiences, your experience may be different of course.

My first impression of him was attentive and approachable, and it still remain that way. After our first discussion, I especially liked his willingness to do my surgery while respecting my wish of no blood transfusion, although he had never performed surgery without its use on any patients that needed one. I, too, latched into his confidence, which was very important to my decision making. He was very upfront concerning the risk, and I was very confident in his expertise. He's rated on a scale of 1 to 10, a definite 10+! I feel and look terrific; it's hard to tell that I've had surgery. Both surgical competence and bedside manners played a major part in my choice of doctor, but if I had to answer which is greater I'd have to say competence. These are my personal feelings regarding my doctor and the best way to find out if he's right for you is for you to evaluate him personally. However, I must say I doubt that you'd feel otherwise. Good, respectable, and loyal surgeons in my opinion are hard to come by!

He was very outgoing and very knowledgeable. The office staff was very informative and helpful with everything I needed to know. I would recommend him to anyone.

as of today Feb/11/2005 I have not met Dr.Tiesenga. I have heard nothing but nice and kind things about him. His staff is very nice.