Welcome to the first step on your weight loss journey. Here you can learn about the bariatric surgery program at St. Francis Hospital, a part of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and our personalized care approach. You'll embark down a path that covers qualification requirements, an information session and scheduling an appointment.
This whole experience has strengthened the relationship I have with my daughter and brought us much closer together. The most common weight loss surgery, the sleeve gastrectomy procedure is a form of bariatric surgery where part of the stomach is removed to reduce food intake. This procedure creates a smaller stomach pouch to reduce food intake and intestinal bypass to reduce calorie absorption and produce significant weight loss results.
This whole experience has strengthened the relationship I have with my daughter and brought us much closer together. The most common weight loss surgery, the sleeve gastrectomy procedure is a form of bariatric surgery where part of the stomach is removed to reduce food intake. This procedure creates a smaller stomach pouch to reduce food intake and intestinal bypass to reduce calorie absorption and produce significant weight loss results.
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Your weight loss journey is personal. It's about commitment and having confidence in the surgery you choose. Many people find gastric bypass the right option for them because it's been around for over half a century and is the second most performed weight loss surgery in the United States.
People who undergo gastric bypass also find they lose more weight in less time than with other bariatric procedures, possibly because they experience a feeling of fullness and reduced appetite.If you and your physician decide gastric bypass is the preferred approach, the surgery will typically be performed through minimally invasive incisions using robotic-assisted surgical system.
People who undergo gastric bypass also find they lose more weight in less time than with other bariatric procedures, possibly because they experience a feeling of fullness and reduced appetite.If you and your physician decide gastric bypass is the preferred approach, the surgery will typically be performed through minimally invasive incisions using robotic-assisted surgical system.
Having concerns about your weight loss surgery outcome? Revision surgery is used when your first bariatric surgery didn't yield sufficient results or if you had complications. Another popular reason people undergo revision surgery is to convert from gastric banding (i.e., having the band removed) to another option.
Insurance can be one of the most important factors in moving forward with weight loss surgery. And while most insurance plans cover bariatric surgery, your coverage may depend on your medical history, insurance policy and benefit, or exclusions. That's why it's important to have a discussion with your provider about what's covered and what's not.
Reviews (10)
Terisse Harmon
Mar 30, 2021
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My journey started October 2019 with my first visit to Dr Antwar and his crew!! My first impression was great followed up by Dr spending whatever amount of time I needed to not only educate me on the different procedures available to me but then took the time to understand what obstacles I face in losing weight and what concerns I have. Answered all my crazy questions and spoke plain talk with me I felt like I mattered. And I did. Then came 6 months of requirements to meet and numerous appts with him again,nutritionist.etc finally the day came and his team meet me at hospital with bells and smiles
Tona Gloria
Jan 20, 2021
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Bill Childs
Aug 26, 2020
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The entire practice does not flow. No one knows anything. Then the information I was given was even incorrect. Save yourself the trouble and go elsewhere. Huge waste of my time. I completed everything. During which I seen many red flags but just kept accepting their lies and incompetence. Then when the time came to schedule my surgery more lies. I got my records and changed doctors.
Ryan Shipley
Nov 30, 2019
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My wife and I met with Dr. Anwar earlier this year. We both had lap bands that needed to be removed and we were interested in revising our surgeries to the gastric bypass. Dr. Anwar and his team (Terry, his scheduler has been especially helpful throughout this whole process) were fabulous from day one. Dr. Anwar spent quite a bit of time with us to explain our options. I had some pretty extensive complications with the lap band, and Dr. Anwar wrote an impressive report to our insurance company to ensure my revision was covered. So, my surgery was scheduled shortly after we received the surgery
Leota Hansen
Oct 18, 2019
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Michael went to Franciscan Hospital because of horrible pain in his back. They did an MRI of the spine and found he had spinal stenosis and sciatica. That is so. The doctor told me that he needed exercise and lose weight. No kidding but there's so much more to it than that. So they loaded him up with IV painkillers. Later they told me they did not, but as they injected things into his IV I said what is that? They told me fentanyl, morphine, Flexeril and and and. Later they said We only gave them oral meds. That is not what they said as they injected things into the IV line. I was there, I saw it
Alysha P.
Jan 29, 2019
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I want to start of by saying that this is an excellent medical team! I had surgery in April of 2018 and I have lost 110 pounds as of January of 2019, it is not an easy journey, but one that I do not regret having. I would love to give them 5 stars because I absolutely love Dr. Swedler, and I have two friends who have seen Dr. Anwar and love him equally, and all the nurses were great! However, the office staff is overwhelmed. It took me at least two months longer to have surgery just because the woman who is supposed to schedule everything and correspond with the insurance companies can't keep up
Timothy Zetterwall
Oct 30, 2018
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Started my weight loss journey last August 31 and as of today 9/11/18.
I have lost almost 100 lbs and have had the best surgery team helping Dr. Houseworth. This Dr. Is the best and has fantastic bedside manner and was there from beginning to end.
Great man! My nutritionist was Gretchen Hoffman and she was great at giving me the guidance and support along the way, she is a real asset to this procedure. Thanks to Fransican for having these two professionals!
I have lost almost 100 lbs and have had the best surgery team helping Dr. Houseworth. This Dr. Is the best and has fantastic bedside manner and was there from beginning to end.
Great man! My nutritionist was Gretchen Hoffman and she was great at giving me the guidance and support along the way, she is a real asset to this procedure. Thanks to Fransican for having these two professionals!
Jenn B.
Oct 01, 2018
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I've been very happy with Dr. Swedler. I'm 6 weeks post opt from sleeve surgery and everything is going great. I will say you need to be very proactive with any questions or concerns though. They give you a list of everything that needs to be completed and no one will call to remind you. I had to call and check a couple times to make sure they got what they needed and they were a tad slow getting back to me on a surgery date. But I think that was the office staff dropping the ball. Otherwise my surgeon was great. He had a great bedside manner and was easy to talk to and pleasant on the eyes. :
Benafoo Benafoo
Jul 14, 2018
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I ended up leaving this program for Eviva. I saw my surgeon (Dr. Houseworth) once for about 10 minutes at the first consultation and was handed a checklist and told to come back when I'm done. No one ever called me to follow up on anything or check in. Then, once I finished diligently working through my checklist, they submitted to my insurance (2 weeks later than they said they were going to) who denied me because they (CHI) didn't provide the correct information. My insurance does cover VSG, I do qualify and I met all pre-qualification criteria, I did everything exactly as prescribed; the problem
Maria Talley
Dec 11, 2017
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Everything in the process was smooth until I had questions. I sent the surgery scheduler Christina a message on 10/6 regarding an educational class that was listed on my pre-surgical requirements. I wanted to know if that was the nursing class or the nutrition class that I had already completed... no response. I called and sent another email on around oct 25th and finally heard back from the office staff NOT Christina the surgery scheduler. The disrespectful part of this whole situation is through my chart I was able to see my messages were open by her yet I was never acknowledged. Coordinating
