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Marcus Free
"<HTML><BODY TEXT= COLOR=#OOOOFF> <FONT SIZE=+2><FONT FACE="POOH">My first impression of Dr. Free is that he is very young. I had to attend his weight loss "seminar" before I can get an appointment with him. Overall the seminar was very informative, but I had already done my research, so he didn'r really tell me much that I didn't already know. He emphasizes the need for aftercare and the need to choose the best surgery for each individual patient. He was very careful to address the risks of surgery, but he did add that when we get our appointments, he will spend more time going over risks again on an individual basis. I liked the fact that he was very upfront about everthing from risks to dealing with insurance companies. He said that one benefit to his youth is that he was taught to do operations laparscopically first whereas older docs learned everything "open" and have to go back and relearn laparoscopy. I have been favorably impressed by his office staff so far, I'll actually get to deal with them when I get my paperwork in to them next week. 11/1/02************************************************************UPDATE******************* I finally had my consultation today with Dr. Free. He was very personal and direct, very informative and answered all my questions. I like the way explained things and really answered all my questions before he got around to "So, do you have any questions?". 10/23/02 Dr Free's office called to schedule my consultation visit after I turned in the 12 page questionnaire, my lab work and my psych eval. They already have my surgery date set for 11/6! They are great to deal with and are handling all the insurance stuff. No difficulties so far. ********************************************************UPDATE************************ 11/15/02 I am 9 days post op and at least 10 pounds down. I had some difficulties after surgery, but Dr. Free was wonderful. He and his staff have been the best people to deal with at all times. </body></html>"

Bay Area Medical Center
"I was generally treated well at this hospital, but there were some problems. I had requested a private room, but was never able to get one the whole time I was there, nor on my return visit a week later. The first night postop, I was in room with an unfortunate elderly lady who yelled and moaned and cried all night. After that night I was moved to another semi-private room with another WLS patient and that was much better. The facility seemed to not have enough of anything. At various times during my stay, there were not enough pillows, gowns, over-bed tables, wheelchairs and even MEDICATIONS. The hospital had to send out to other hospitals in the area 3 times for different roommates' medications. One as common as pain medication! There was a problem with equipment not working properly. On both visits I had difficulties with bed controls not working properly. Also, the nurse-call, tv and light button gizmo didn't work. These problems were eventually fixed. Another problem with the facility is the intercom panels located in each patient room. Apparently, the intercom that allows nurses to ask,"May I help you?" without leaving the nursing station, also allows them to "page" all rooms simultaneously to communicate with other staff members with messages like "Nurse aide so and so, please come to the front desk". That wouldn't by itself be so bad, but the messages are CONSTANT and LOUD. There are no volume controls on the panels. I had my husband tape a towel over the one on my side of the room, but it did little good and the one on the other side continued to blare unabated. Another major concern was that during both stays at this facility, only once was I given anything close to a head-to-toe assessment by any nurse and NEVER by a RN. I know what the standards are, I AM a nurse. As a fresh post op from abdominal surgery, no one wanted to listen for bowel sounds or listen to lung fields. Staff were slow to respond to any requests. I had on SCD's or "Leg squeezers" that I could not take off myself and was once left for well over an hour, calling repeatedly, before I got someone to assist me to go to the bathroom. After that, I frequently left the SCD's off when family members were not available to help me. The IV pumps were on poles that would not roll, so I would have to take myself loose from the IV, (being a nurse, I know how to do this safely) but someone else would have been held captive waiting for assistance. Finally, on my return visit for a postop infection, my roommate was person having migraine headaches. Truthfully, she was a less than pleasant patient to deal with and caused the nurses lots of headaches. Unfortunately our room was located near the nurses station and since we could never get the staff members who were in and out constantly to close the door (and even when the door was closed) we could hear clearly every conversation in the nurse's station. Not only was the noise annoying, but the staff made several comments that were insensitive at best and at worst unprofessional (to say the least) regarding my roommate. I made mention of this to our nurse the next time she came in the room and noise was reduced slightly. Needless to say, I was not happy with my visits to this facility and I would not choose to go there again if another facility could meet my needs. "
About Me
Corpus Christi, TX
Location
41.8
BMI
RNY
Surgery
11/06/2002
Surgery Date
Aug 30, 2002
Member Since
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