"I finally got to my surgeon's appointment on Friday April 28 and was extremely impressed with the office staff. Everyone was very nice and helpful. I was complimented by the nutrition counselor for comeing so well prepared with copies of all paperwork that I thought would be helpful to them. Finally I met Dr. Kellum and was impressed so much with him. He listened to me and was careing. I had a vertical banded gastroplasty in Oct. of 1985 which produced some results but now what was fully expected. He informed me that they do not do this type of surgery anymore only the gastric bypass. He thinks I certainly meet all the criteria, have proven to have the comorbidities and says he thinks I should be approved for this surgery. He says if I have it then after about a year he will send me back to the plastic surgeon for the much needed panniculectomy. I am hopeful that everything goes well and will hope to hear an approval soon. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has had Dr. Kellum for thier surgery or have had thier surgery at the medical college of Virginia. I was very impressed with the staff as well as Dr. Kellum and came out of there feeling very hopeful. I have been doing such research on this surgery for the past year now and I would really recommend to anyone to do that before you actually go to see a surgeon. I will update at a future time with great news hopefully. Sincerely, Sarah Brackett Aust 13, 2000. I had my surgery on July 24, 2000. I am extremely pleased with Dr. John Kellum as my surgeon. My surgery was a difficult revision surgery. More difficult than either Dr. Kellum or I had imagined. I was in the hospital for one week. I feel I recieved the best care. Dr. Kellum, his residents and his staff took excellent care of me. I feel I had one of the best surgeons for my surgery and would recommend him highly."
