Hi, my name is Brian Grace, Dr. Tsuda’s Physician Assistant.
I’ve been involved in bariatrics for 15 years. I fell into it by chance, but I’ve never wanted to go back. Bariatric surgery is a dream job for me because I get to help people lose significant amounts of weight and improve those weight-related medical problems that seem to plague the obese population prior to bariatric surgery.
When I was involved in family practice, I would be prescribing medication after medication, but since I became involved in bariatric surgery, I have been able to help people resolve those medical problems that were difficult to treat prior to weight loss surgery.
That’s really why I love this area of medicine.
I am involved with the pre-surgery workup for bariatric patients as well as follow-up care. During the pre-surgery period, I’m involved in the diets, ordering the tests for patients, including endoscopy, chest x-rays, EKGs, reviewing blood work, and helping patients get to surgery. During surgery, I assist in the operation, and postoperatively, I’m involved in managing patients with their dietary guidelines, assessing any problems that might come up, and ordering necessary tests.
I make myself available at all times during the postoperative bariatric process, and patients can access me any time if they are ever unsure about their post-op lifestyle guidelines.