"I saw Dr. Goodman on 3/21/01. My very first
impression was that he was very thin and very
young. These of course being fine with me.
It's just the first thing I noticed.
Then he started talking and he had a nice voice.
He also had a very nice smile. He seemed happy
to be there even though it was at night and the
noreaster was knocking on our door. (bad winds and
rain). I was already thinking good thoughts
about him.
He asked me a little of my medical history and
asked if I had any questions. I was there with
both my mother and father. I had a lot of questions,
my mother had a few and my father had none. But
everything was answered very honestly. He made
me feel like I had full trust in him already.
He made me feel at ease. Even when we were talking
about the death factor. I was really worried
about dying from the surgery or complications
of the surgery. He put my mind at ease. Oh, I
forgot to say that we saw a 20 minute video before
we met with him.
He examined me and then gave his thoughts on
my predicament. Let's just say I wanted to
have the surgery right then and there. And I
am not the kind of person to trust anybody right
away. I have had bad situations in the past
and have learned never to trust anyone right
away. But I was all smiles until I went to
sleep that night. And I hardly ever smile
these days. He gave me hope.
The most important thing he said was an answer
to a question I posed to him, "why did you get
into this field of medicine/surgery?"
He answered (without hesitation) "Because this
surgery makes people happy. I like to make people
happy.
Need I say more?
======
AFTERCARE: he has a monthly meeting with others
who have had the surgery. He says I need to
go to the meeting BEFORE the surgery so I can
talk to people. Post op visits will be one week,
one week after that, one month, three months
for a while.
======
on a scale of 0-10 I would rate him a 9. Only
because I really don't have anything to compare
him to. He was the first doctor I saw.
He seemed very knowledgable in the process. I
have many, many medical problems (most not due
to weight) and he had an answer for all the
problems. He had a way to take care of the surgery
and not let the problems get in the way. I
was really worried that I wouldn't be able to
do the surgery because of my problems. But
he knows just how to handle them.
His bedside manner is great. Very happy, very
smiley, very understanding and listens to everything
you have to say with undivided attention."
