Ronald Gaskin Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

My first impression of Dr. Gaskin was that he was very open and down to Earth. He was patient and informative. He took the time to answer all questions and throughly explained what could be expected. He was up front in explaining the possible risks and complications. I feel he has a perfect make-up of "bedside manner" and surgical competence. The day I met him was his first day in his new office. This new office complex handles paitents for other doctors not dealing specifically with obese patients. My only critisism was the chairs in the waiting room were too small and I noticed the scale only went up to 300lbs. I suggested he may want to make some modifications to better suit the needs of the larger sized patients who would need to see him at this new office. He agreed. Overall, based on my first meeting with Dr. Gaskin, I would highly recommend him.

I had my appointment with Dr. Gaskin on May 24th. He seems to be a very nice man. He took his time answering any questions I had and giving me information about my surgery. He addressed the risks of surgery and aftercare. He is very approachable...I felt very comfortable with him. I cannot rate him yet...I will let you know that after I have the surgery :)

I have not met him yet. I found out just a few weeks ago he was considering my case since Dr. Mitchell was no longer taking new patients. The letter to insurance has JUST been sent. I didnt REALIZE it took so LONG!!!
So I am waiting on approval.

Aetna would not cover surgery with Dr. Ali. That's okay. It won't stop me. I am going with Newstart. I chose Dr. Gaskin because of the gallbladder thing. I also like that he is so human. It's almost scary, but he reminds me of my uncle. He is so frank, funny and smart. I really like his style.

I met him at a seminar. So far it's been a pleasure to deal with the folks at Newstart. In fact, I took my hubby with me as support to the seminar, and he's now interested in the surgery.

Will I went to the meeting in St Louis. He was there that night speaking and he impressed me as a very thoughtful and caring person. The meeting was very informative. I found out last week that my letter has been sent to the insurance company and I guess I will have to wait now. When I know more I will let you know. I also attend support meeting here in Jefferson City. They are so informative and helpful. This is the first time in my life I have ever went in to a room of strangers and felt like everyone really cared and were not judging me on my size alone. Well guess what I found out that Dr. Mitchell is not going to be doing surgery for sometime to come so I have switched to Dr Ronald Gaskin. I am hoping to get this done as soon as I can and get started with my new life. Well I met with Doctor Gaskin on Thusday April 4 and he was very nice he answered all my questions and I feel very confident in him.

11-13-01
My husband and I had our first visit with Dr. Kevin Mitchell in St. Louis, MO on November 12, 2001. Felt really stupid because I had only a couple of questions for him. Another senior moment I guess. After checking out WLS on the internet it didn’t leave much for Dr. Mitchell to explain. He still went over the procedure with us again.Asked several times if we had any questions. I liked him, he took his time with us. He ask several more questions about my medical history. Surgery is a go, just waiting for healthlink to give the ok.

3-14-02
Well, a lot has happened in the last 4 weeks and it has taken me a while to cool down. I have a new doctor and a new surgery date. Thanks to this website (not Dr. Mitchell) I discovered that Dr. Mitchell is not doing WLS. I was suprised at the way Dr. M handled the whole thing. If I hadn't been checking out some of his patients on this website, I would have still been in the dark until they cancelled my next surery on April 25. Even when I called Dr. M's office last Friday I was not told the truth. They said they didn't know what I was talking about and to leave my phone number and Donna would call me back and see if I could get an earlier surgery date. Instead they called New Start and had them call me. New Start said they had been given my file to set me up with another doctor as Dr. M was no longer doing WLS.
New Start has set me up with Dr. Ronald Gaskin of St. Louis, MO. My new (5th and hopefully last) surgery date is April 1, 2002 at SouthPointe Hospital. I will have my office visit with him on March 28, 2002. I will update after that.

3-28-02 John and I met with Dr. Gaskin for the first time today. We got right in to see him with very little waiting. He explained the surgery. the risks and what to expect after surgery. He took his time and didn't seemed rushed. Surgery is a go for Monday, April Fools Day. I will update and let you know about his surgical skills and bedside manner post-op.

I've only met with Dr. Mitchell once and he seemed nice and was very sensitive to my needs. He is soft spoken and took time to talk to me. He answered all the questions I had for him. He reviewed the surgery and the risks involved. He made me feel that no matter what problem I might experience, he would be capable of correcting it. His office staff was great and I felt comfortable talking with them. They were not judgemental at all (way to go!) and that helped me feel at ease with the decision of WLS.



02/15/02 Dr. Mitchell has cancelled all his gastric bypass surgeries ... yes, mine included, without notice or reason. Dr. Gaskin has agreed to take me on and operate. I will meet with him on 03/04/02 and surgery will be on 03/05/02.

03/19/02 I wanted to put an update about my experience with Dr. Gaskin, since so many people have been referred to him since Dr. M and Dr. F have stopped doing gastric bypass. I thought he was very competent and would recommend him.

I was suppose to meet with Dr Mitchell on Feb 27, and was called and xnled and was given to Dr Gaskin. I had an appointment on Mar 7 2002, it went well. He was very nice and went over everything about the surgery. He was running about 45 minutes late. The office was pretty full but everyone was nice. I have been approved by my insurance, but now I am waiting from New Start to get a date for surgery.

I was originally scheduled with Dr. Kevin Mitchell. I was slated for surgery Valentine's day. He sadly stopped taking new patients and I hear he is leaving bariatric surgery on a whole. I was very upset because the reason I was given at the time wasn't the truth. I was told there was something erroneous in my psych eval, and upon talking to the psychologist... we stragitened the whole mess out.

It is now March 7, 2002. Dr. Gaskin, one of the parntners in this group said he'd take my case. Further more, he said March 19th! OMG less than 2 weeks away. I'm so very happy. I've heard some great things about him and I will meet him the 18th. His office is only about a 15 minute drive from my home, so this will be wonderful! Dr. Gaskin, if you read this, THANK YOU!

Dr. Fabito was very sweet. He really looked like he loved what he was doing. I'm only pre-op right now but I have heard he doesn't have much of a bedside manner.
Ida is secratary is nice at first but you really have to keep on her to get stuff done. I've caught her several times trying to talk her way out of situations.
Dr. Fabito himself does not give you much information about before and after surgery, just mainly the mechanics of the surgery. He did talk about the risk but is
very confident of his abilities. Overall rating 3 and 1/2 stars on five star basis.

Feb. 21st. I will be switching to dr. Gaskin in St. Louis. I will still be having surgery March 27th 2002. Dr. Fabito's office had no intentions of calling me to tell me my surgery might be cancelled. EWWW that made me so mad. I have not met Dr. Gaskin but have heard great things about him on this site. He goes through a program called new start and I strongly urge everyone who is going to a dr. in this network DO NOT bypass the New Start Program. They are great!

4/12/2013 - Very very long time since my last post but I have now matured and gotten over the whole OMG I'm gonna have surgery thing. I did have the surgery and I did love over 100lbs. I failed the surgery but it did not fail me. Sodas are an absolute and forever evil that you must quit 100% But that's not why I am writing this. Dr. Gaskin no longer practices to my knowledge but I wanted to compare my experience then to my mother's experience now. I lived 3 hours away and met with Dr. Gaskin the day before surgery. I never met with a nutritionist or psychiatrist. Though that might not have made a difference. I also only had one follow up with Dr. Gaskin. Have a relationship with your surgeon. It is critical. Find or create a support group! If you start backsliding, own up to it. Don't be like me and stick your head in the sand.