My Background
Many famous surgeons lived in Minnesota when I was growing up and, to me, they were heroes. Doing things that nobody else had the brains nor the confidence to do and saving lives in the process. I made my mind up early to become a surgeon.
By the late 1990’s, I had decided to focus on weight loss and weight loss surgery. Luckily, my training included both advanced minimally invasive surgery and metabolic surgery and I felt confident in both specialties when I entered practice. Over the years, I developed my S.L.I.M.M.S.® procedures to exceed the results of standard bariatric procedures. I also designed the High Impact Weight Loss® program to provide a significant improvement over long-term dieting.
No matter how much weight a person wants to lose, and no matter whether they choose to utilize a non-surgical or a surgical solution, my focus is to maximize their success and help them achieve their personal fitness goals.
Where I've Been
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1960, Fairbanks Alaska
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Live birth. Fairly competitive APGAR scores
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1961/62, my parents moved us to Unalakleet, Alaska, a Native Village, in the Bering Sea, to teach grade school. Most people were Inupiat or Yupik
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1964 - 1968, Buffalo, New York. Dad in graduate school
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1969 - 1976, Minneapolis, Minnesota. I grew up here. Mom taught grade school and directed a special education department, dad was a professor at the medical school
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1977 - 1978, moved to Long Lake, MN due to the violence in MPLS public schools
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Finished high school here – When I graduated my dad asked, “What do you want in life?” I answered, “I never want to be bored again.” He responded, “Be careful what you ask for.”
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1978 - 1985, University of Minnesota
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Air Force ROTC, Engineering, Biology, Medical History. Multiple jobs to pay for school; Iron worker, Mississippi riverboat deckhand, Painting Contractor, etc.
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*The years, 1977-1985, were difficult, helping parents deal with overwhelming “family issues.” Learned to observe people from several different perspectives.*
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1987 - 1992, University of Minnesota Medical School
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1989 - 1991, American Heart Association Research Fellowship
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1991, Vincent, my brother and best friend, diagnosed with Glioblastoma
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He had complained to doctors about headaches for several months. They blamed lifestyle and recommended Tylenol. Finally, he went to a chiropractor who immediately obtained a CAT scan. 5cm brain tumor. Inoperable by that time.
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1992 - 1997, Surgical Residency, University of Chicago
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Learned surgery, occasionally saw sunlight, limits on the hours that surgery residents worked were not established until 1997
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1995, Joined the US Army Reserve Medical Corps
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Goal, to give a little back. I found the Army surgeons to be outstanding
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1997, Newport Beach, California, Started a surgery practice
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1997 - 1999, Started advanced laparoscopic surgery at Hoag Hospital, Newport Beach.
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Not well received. I dealt with a lot of ridicule. Over time, the benefits of minimally invasive surgery became obvious, and opinions began to change
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1998, Vincent dies of glioblastoma/astrocytoma. This was rough
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1999, Started Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass at Hoag Hospital
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I was accused of being crazy and weird (there might have been some truth to that). Again, over time, opinions changed and bariatric surgery was “accepted”
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My first laparoscopic bypass patient was 62 and had prior abdominal surgery. She had been turned down for laparoscopic gastric bypass in San Diego and LA. After surgery she lost more than 140 pounds, became a ballroom dancing competitor, and maintained a weight of 125 pounds for 23 years.
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2001, September 11, Terrorists attack America. I had a solo surgical practice and was also in the Army Reserves. My wife was 38 weeks pregnant. This was a bit stressful
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2001, September 26, fifteen days after 9/11, my daughter Brianna was born. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen
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2001, December. At 3 months old, Brianna is diagnosed with Infantile Spasms, a severe form of epilepsy, which eventually developed into Lenox Gastaut Syndrome
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She had about 300 seizures/day in January 2002 and required hospitalization and a temporary phenobarbital coma.
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My wife at the time (Tracy, also an MD) and I traveled the country looking for a cure for Brianna. No cause for the epilepsy was ever identified, and there is no cure. Brianna has been taken to many specialists over the years and has been admitted to the ER, the hospital, and the ICU numerous times (41 major events in 2003 alone). I didn’t tell anyone at the hospital... what would be the point?
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I’ve experienced a lot of medical errors from the patient perspective over the years. So many complete fuckups, in fact, that I’ve lost count
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2002, I was a spokesperson for the Lap-Band company, Inamed
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I was criticized for this by several bariatric surgeons at the time. Then, the band became extremely popular, and the number of bariatric surgery “experts” grew by tenfold. My main procedure always remained the Gastric Bypass, until I developed the SLIMMS procedures.
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2001 - 2019, I grew my bariatric surgery center to over 30 employees. It became too hard to maintain quality care, so I shut it down and I converted back to a solo practice.
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January 2020, the Covid pandemic hit. Elective surgery closed down
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2019 - 2023, I developed my SLIMMS Procedures and authored three weight loss books
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2024, I once again begin a new chapter, performing my new SLIMMS Procedures exclusively and publishing my High Impact Weight Loss and DietaryRebuild® books.
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I haven’t been bored since leaving high school