Robert Marema Bariatric Surgeon

My journey with this procedure started in March of 2001.I went to the open house and met Dr.Marema. I found him to be very informative and well spoken. He answered my questions without rushing through them.His staff at the meeting was very well informed and considerate.They scheduled the educational seminar for the middle of May. At the educational seminar, I found the class given by Debbie very informative and VERY DETAILED, NO PUNCHES HERE !!! She carefully explained the entire procedure including the days to follow in the hospital and what to typically expect.My questions were answered completley and paperwork was gone over very carefully.I had my psych, evaluation on June 14th with Drs. Moorehead, Parish and associates in Ft Lauderdale. The session lasted 2+ hours and was very thourough. AFTER WAITING FOR WHAT SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY, I FINALLY GOT THE PHONE CALL THAT THE INSURANCE WAS APPROVED. Now I just wait for a surgery date.In the mean time I go for weekly therapy appointments referred by Dr. Mooreheads office to find new coping skills for after the surgery, when food is no longer an option to turn to for comfort as had been the case in the past, for whatever reasons, (emotional, depressed, anger.......). so now that food is gone what do we do now...THE RESULT IS WONDERFUL I NOW HAVE AT LAST COUNT 10 DIFFERENT COPING SKILLS IN PLACE AND HAVE BEEN USING THEM EVERY TIME THE OCCASION ARISES.THE THERAPY IS ALSO FOR POST-OP TO FOLLOW UP AND KEEP EVERYTHING IN CHECK. i FOUND BOTH Dr. Moorheads office and My therapists wonderful in my preparation for this life-changing surgery.On August 30th, 2001, I FINALLY GOT THE SECOND CALL FROM SR. MAREMA'S OFFICE FROM DEBBIE THE SURGICAL COORDINATOR. WITH MY SURGERY DATE. FOR 10/31/2001. I HAVE MY PRE-OP APPOINTMENT WITH DR. MAREMA 0N 9/25 AND MY CARDIOLOGIST ON 10/16 AS WELL AS THE PULMONOLOGIST. I WILL UPDATE AFTER MY PRE-OP APPOINTMENT. THE WHOLE GOAL FOR THIS DR AND HIS ACCOCIATES IS TO MAKE SURE THE SURGERY IS SAFE FOR YOU AND AT THE RIGHT TIME FOR YOUR EMOTIONAL AND PSCYOLOGICAL(spelling?)HEALTH. STAY TUNED. GG***** UPDATE*** I HAD MY PRE-OP APPOINTMENT WITH THE SURGEON ON 9/25/01.I met most of the "voices" I had spoken to previously, all them them were very helpful and professional. What surprised me is that alot of the staff has had the surgery themselves. Went to a nutrition class, met with the nurse, went over all my current meds, she gave me a checklist of dos and dont's.Then met with Dr. Marema he took the time to answer the few questions I had for him, he said if I had any other questions to call and they would call back with the answer. Met with the finance people to make sure all was in order. Met with the chaplain, very nice man, talked for a bit, very comforting, reassuring man. It was a full day..10am-3:30p.m.I WANT TO SAY ALL THE WORK IS WOTH THE WAIT..THIS IS A GREAT GROUP OF PEOPLE WORKING IN A VERY, VERY BUSY OFFICE, SOMETIMES THE STAFF SEEMS SOMEWHAT SLOW IN CALLING BACK BUT ALLL-IN ALL I'M HAPPY & VERY EXCITED, 1 MONTH TO GO..THANKS FOR READING G.G.

I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH DR MAREMA BECAUSE HIM AND HIS WIFE HAVE HAD THE SURGERY SO HE REALLY UNDRERSTANDS.I WAS NOT SURE AT FIRST BUT AM COMPLETELT COMVINCED NOW.HIS OFFICE STAFF IS MADE UP OF ALOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD THE SURGERY.ALTHOUGH I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH SOMEONE AT THE OFFICE IT IS ALWAYS BUSY.HE HAS AN EXCELLENT REPUTATION AND THE BEST PART OF IT IS HIS SUPPORT GROUPS YOU WILL NEVER BE ALONE.YOU HAVE TO GO TO MEETINGS AFTER SURGERY ALSO AND NUTRITION CLASSES AND LAST NIGHT I WENT TO THE HYPNOTIST THAT EVERY PATIENT HAS TO SEE TO LEarn RELAXATION TECNIQUES.I KNOW ALL OF THE RISKS OF SURGERY AND AM COMPLETELY AT EASE

Dr. Marema's neice led him to discover this surgery. She begged him for help, and he found her a surgeon. Dr. Marema himself then had the surgery, as did his wife. I think by Dr. Fobi.
Dr. Marema has a large staff supporting all phases, from informational sessions, to the insurance maze, to psych and nutrition. There is a huge monthly support group held at the hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, plus satellite groups all over the state. I usually go the Orlando group, small enough so far for people's houses, but growing.
You must completely understand the process, pre-op, op & post-op. You learn about all the supplements, and WHY. I am glad I had Dr. Marema, even though I had some complications.

Dr. Marema seems to be very nice and very dedicated to helping people reach their goal! He is on the cutting edge of weight loss surgery. Dr. Marema's office has been very nice and extremely professional. Everything is streamlined to get a person get to their surgery date. I get a kick out of them due to the fact that a person really must want this surgery to get to even see the doctor! I started my process in March of 2001 and had my first office visit September of 2001. Dr. Marema requires visits to a psychologist (I did not like my pshychologist - actually it was an assistant) and he also requires everyone to go to a class. But, it has finally arrived!

I first met Dr. Marema more than two years ago. The first information session I attended at his office was attended by 8 people. At that time I was with an employer whose health plan wouldn't cover the surgery and I wasn't really ready yet. In the time since then, I managed to get coverage and Dr. Marema's office has grown significantly. His information session/support groups are now attended by 100's. I don't think anyone would question his surgical talent but it is obviously hard for anyone to keep up with that type of growth. I applaud him and his staff for the job they have done, however I did have some disagreement with their business practices. $2,000 extra for laproscopic and mandatory use of their sychologist ($300.00 extra), and nutritionist ($50.00) extra. You must use these providers even if you have participating providers on your plan that would be cheaper. For these reasons, I had decided to look for an alternative surgeon, but after considering the overall program, Dr. Marema is clearly the best choice. He is thorough, has a good balance of surgical competence and bedside manner. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him.

My first impression was that I liked him. He was very knowledgable and answered questions with intelligence and that the people he was talking to had intelligence. He didn't talk down to people. He had the surgery which meant he knew to some extent, what we were going through.

Over time, I pretty much feel the same way. I have confidence in him as a surgeon and a person. I realize that I went into surgery with less confidence in him as a surgeon than I probably should have but my trust was not in vain and my trust grows every week.

His staff is good at the core but as they try to expand their staff, it gets a bit flaky. They try to find quality people but sometimes they mess up and the patient suffers.

I suppose I like least is the amount of time they seem to have for patients. On office days, they are very rushed and busy. Very busy office. I seem to feel rushed and unsure as how to make use of all of the resources.

Future patients should know that he is more sympathetic than most surgeons and understands both sides of the knife. He is a compassionate soul usually.

He strongly emphasizes aftercare and support groups and follow-up. The aftercare is structured as is the before-care classes and all.

He is straight forward with the risks of both surgery and obesity. He and the staff do not sugarcoat any of it. They want you to be safe and healthy after it.

I would rate him overall as very good in all areas. He addresses problems with the office staff well.

I think his surgical competence is a bit better than bedside manner but when you get back into the office, it gets better.

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Now, I am a year out. I have had a number of post-op problems and issues and this has affected my opinion of this surgeon and office tremendously. First, the center has expanded many times it's original size from when I was there. They have added several doctors and expanded their services. Some of this is good and some is not.

First, the aftercare services are good and getting better all of the time. More classes and groups to give more individualized attention if a patient wants and/or needs it. I still have many issues with the medical care I have received over the past year from this office. The standard refrain I hear is that "it has nothing to do with the surgery" when, often, it does. I still feel that the staff is very reluctant to notify the surgeon with many of my issues that I have brought up and I am given standard answers when I believe I need much more individualized attention and evaluation.

Today is my one year anniversary and my one year check up is in a week and a half. My sister had the surgery a couple of days ago and I went to the hospital to be with her before and immediately after. I got a few minutes with Dr. Marema after her surgery and while he asks the standard question of that don't I "feel" better since my surgery, I told him of my deficencies I have and that I told I am not eating enough and all of that. He was concerned enough to make sure that I changed my appointment from Thursday (where you generally just see the nurse) to Tuesday when I could see him and talk further with him. Yes, I have been trying to do that but the staff handles this stuff and are reluctant to set an appointment with Dr. Marema unless I have a really good reason. So, since I could tell them that HE wanted to see me specifically, I got the appointment. I will see what happens.

But, there have been many frustrations over this past year. I was hospitalized in November, 3 months after my surgery. The doctors called Dr. Marema and he talked to them a while about what I was hospitalized with but again, insistance that it was not related to the surgery. I finally found out that it was gall stones even though he took it out 3 months before. So, I say it was related. When I saw him in the office at my 3 month checkup, he said there was no reason for Prevacid to help my pain in my unattached stomach. I went off of it later and the pain came back even worse. When taking the prevacid got completely rid of the pain, I was diagnosed with an ulcer in my unattached stomach. Again, something related to the surgery but denied by the staff as being really related. I am still getting flack from the staff because of taking the prevacid for the last 6 months but don't see I have much of a choice. It has been suggested that "I didn't heal right" after surgery in the area of my unattached stomach but still, no real help.

I also came up with "slight" anemia several blood tests in a row over several months. I had to press them for a solution and take 5-6 times the daily allowance of iron a day to keep it up. I now am showing that my blood protein is not high enough. The test when it was good, I was not eating the post-op diet of "protein only". Now that I am and have been for several months, it still is not in normal ranges. I had to increase the amount I eat from 1.5 to 2 ounces but still can't eat more than 3 or so at a meal. This is one of the issues I will bring up at my appointment besides having to drink lots of caffeine in order to just function because my energy is so low (I do exercise). I sleep much more, even now, than before surgery and have much less energy. I have been complaining about this for months and months and still, no real resolution. This HAS to be related to the surgery but am told it isn't and I need to push myself. When I do, I end up hurting my body to exercise even more or eating too much. I am reserving final judgement for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, the doctor will do something instead of giving me the same crap I have been getting from the staff which has yet to work.

RKH

I have only seen Dr. Marema once at his Monday night info session. My first impression of him was good. He was well spoken and thorough. The staff in his office that I have met with or spoke with have been great. They are helpful and kind. Dr. Marema really emphasizes aftercare. Attending support group meetings, post op diet and exercise, etc. He really seems to want people to know that this is not a quick fix. That this surgery will mean a huge lifestyle and diet change.

9/26/00 I felt I was being "jerked" around by Cigna and his insurance lady so I emailed Dr. Marema with my concerns and I did get a call from his patient representative. That made me feel a little better. I do believe Dr. Marema is a caring person and again the staff in his office have always been cordial and polite.

11/26/00 Dr. Marema is great. He is very caring and compassionate and I appreciate his dry sense of humor. I go tomorrow for my 2 week check up and I look forward to seeing him.

Dr. Marema gave a great first impression and none of this has changed. The staff is very helpful. The only thing I didn't like was waiting to be seen, but I understand this is a common problem. It is with all types of doctors, I think.

They have a very structured program tailored to your needs. All are very professional. It's quite an operation they have at Holy Cross Hospital and the adjoined Conference Center. They are all "true believers" in this whole concept.

DR. MAREMA IS ALSO A PATIENT.
HES GOT A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR. HE
ALSO HAS SUPPORT GROUPS. HIS OFFICE STAFF
IS VERY HELPFUL. HES GOT ALOT OF PATIENTS
TOO AND THERE ALL OVER THE INTERNET!
IM JUST THRILLED TO HAVE A DOCTOR LIKE
DR MAREMA.
UPDATE: HES ABSOLUTLY THE FINEST AND MOST
COMMITED DOCTOR I HAVE EVER MET. YOU CAN SENSE HIS PASSION FOR WHAT HE DOES. NOT TO MENTION ALL HIS PATIENTS LIKE ME JUST LOVE HIM FOR THE GIFT HES GIVING US EVERY DAY BY BECOMING HEALTHIER AND SVELT! THANKS AND LOVE TO YOU AND YOUR STAFF.

Excellent communicator...Office is very busy
Staff very good..associated doctors are very good. Dr Flores.Cardiology and Dr Scott Pulmonary are great..solved many problems before surgery.
Has a complete program..you must go through several information sessions before even a consult.
You must go to support groups post op.