michelle P.
Send Message
Block
Add Friend

Namir Katkhouda
"What was your first impression of him/her? When I first met Dr K at the USC simposium, I thought that he was very arogent but deveringly so. He is #2 in the country and very confident within his abilities. To me it was more important for him to be a skilled surgeon than one who is not and just a talker. How did your impression change over time? When I had my first appt. with Dr K my impression of him from the simposium did not change. The only thing that I had to add to my impression of him was that he is very direct. Don't try to beat around the bush with him because he will call you out on it! How would you describe his/her office staff? His office staff is very busy. The girls who answer his line are very nice and helpful. His first PA was nice and his second PA Naomi has her moments. One day you can call with a question and she is very nice and the next time you feel like she is being disturbed by your call. She does know her stuff and I do trust all of her knowledge. You will deal with Naomi for most of the preop and post op care. I have only spoke with Dr K at my first and one and only appt with him, the day of surgery and very briefly the days after while I was in the hospital. I think his staff is just over worked. Make sure you also follow up on every test result with them. They will tell you that they did not receive the faxes so a back up copy is good to have on hand. Also do not be surprised if you get your surgery date rescheduled! It happens! What did you like least about him/her? Not seeing enough of him. I saw him once 10 months before surgery, I did not see him the morning of and then I saw him very briefly while I was in the hospital. I did not see him on my 2 week visit or when my staples were removed. How much does he/she emphasize aftercare? He designed the diet along with the USC dietician. He does expect you to follow everything directed. Does he/she have a structured aftercare program? They do have a support group but it is at a very bad time for those of us who work. It is on Thursday mornings. How did he/she address the risks of surgery? They address all of this in great detail at the simposium and at the first visit. How would you rate him/her overall? Overall I would rate Dr K a 10+++ for his ability! Which is better, surgical competence, bedside manner, or both great? To me I think Dr K's surgical competence out ways his bedside manner. I was more at ease knowing that I was in the hands of a very competent surgeon. My family was at my bedside for comfort which balanced the whole process out."

USC University Hospital
"My concerns with the hospital was that after surgery my family was not informed if I was ok or where I was at. My surgery was at 10:30 am and done at 12:30. I was in my room at 5pm. It was at 4:00 when my family asked if everything was ok and then the front desk phoned my sugeon to speak with them over the phone. When I was wheeled into my room my family was finally able to see me. I shared a room with another WLS patient who had been there for already 5 days. I did not like having to share the bathroom. The nursing staff was horrible with cleaning up the restroom after which made me not want to use it. I asked for a comode and never got it. The RN's on duty were horrible at answering the calls. Every morning the charge nurse would come in and ask how they where doing with their calling system (that let me know that they knew they had a problem) on a scale from 1 - 10. I would tell them it was a 1-2. It never got better. The nurses aids are awsome as well as the residents which helped smooth over the rest of the horrible staff. On a whole I knew that I was in good hands and the Dr K really expects a lot out of the nursing staff at the hospital as well. I would not enjoy having to go back to USC University Hospital again. "
About Me
Laguna Beach, CA
Location
29.6
BMI
RNY
Surgery
10/25/2004
Surgery Date
Jan 11, 2004
Member Since
×