SUMMARY
I have read all the Yelp reviews. I must admit I don't give Yelp reviews much weight in terms of picking a surgeon. Doctors can be nice and great individuals but often this has nothing to do with PATIENT OUTCOME. The outcome we are looking for is being CANCER FREE (dying some other way). So it is necessary to tell you my story so you can make this important assessment for yourself.
My story below illustrates that you must have a competent and skilled doctor doing your procedure. All doctors are not the same. If the surgeon misses things, or is not good at removing polyps, you could die. I believe Barry Zamost is a skilled and competent surgeon who I trust my life to. His staff is excellent. The office runs like a clock. .. And yes he also happens to be a great individual but this was not my primary consideration in picking him.
MY STORY
I had an HMO do a Colonoscopy at age 50 where they missed several large polyps. Five years later, under PPO insurance, I had a subsequent colonoscopy with the same group and it revealed several polyps an large flat polyps . It is likely that these polyps were likely not caught on the first Colonoscopy. These polyps were all pre-Cancer.
I began looking for a new Gastroenterologist to do a subsequent colonoscopy to: 1) find other polyps that may have been missed; 2) Make sure no fragments were missed on polyps taken out; 3) no growth of old polyps removed;
My friend had a knew Gastroenterologist who worked in the valley and asked him who he would have operate on him if he needed work done and he recommended Barry Zamost. 6 months later, Dr. Zamost did a Colonoscopy and found that the original large polyps were not fully removed, also he found new polyps that were likely not caught on the first 2 procedures. He also recommended repeat procedures first 1 year and 2 years apart.