James Swain, MD

I meet dr Swain on Tuesday for the first time after having a gastric sleeve done in April from a different surgeon. I have had nausea and cramping since shortly after surgery and have for the last 10 months been living on protein shakes and eating some food that I could tolerate. I wanted a second opinion and got one with dr swain within five minutes of seeing me he knew what was wrong and scheduled me for a scope within the same week of meeting him. We are preparing to do a bypass to fix the issues that I am having. I so wish I would have had him do the initial surgery I would not have been going through all this over the last 10 months. He is a life saver and so very thankful that I got the second opinion. The office staff is amazing and caring as well thank you from the bottom of my heart
Mar 1st, 2023

I couldn't have asked for a better surgeon, Dr. Swain is confident, has excellent judgment and a great bedside manner. He's the guy you want. Kelly the NP in the office is just wonderful. Such a good nurse and goes beyond what is expected. Loved my experience with this team.
May 29th, 2022

I had an awesome experience! I had surgery in July of 2020 and Dr Swain is everything you would want in a surgeon... He is very nice and has good bedside manners and genuinely cared about how I felt before and after surgery. I would highly recommend him for anyone looking to have bariatric surgery. Dr Swain and his staff are great and he is truly everything that I heard he was and hoped he would be
Mar 20th, 2021

Revised. I had gastric bypass 20yrs ago at honor health shea with Dr. Blackstone. Its been successful for me weight wise .I was referred back because of nutritional issues and all of a sudden having hypoglycemia from the wls. Dr. Blackstone is no longer there so I saw Dr. Swain..Im assuming he trained under her because his bedside manner is as bad as hers is they both get really defensive when there is a complication. or you have something negative to say about wls (read reviews) At my appt. the Nutritionist didnt even bring up my recent labs which did have an abnormality and she wrote down things that were not accurate.. example I said that I eat yogurt once in the morning with 1 TSP of granola and 1 yogurt in the afternoon without it. She wrote down that I eat granola twice a day..I also said that I eat turkey wraps for lunch. She assumed its full on carb tortillas and they are low carb .. this seems like a small thing but Dr. Swain saw that and said Im a carb lover implying Im consuming a lot of carbs..Not sure why that was even necessary to bring up since I wasnt there for weight.Yeah I like carbs but since the hypoglycemia started I have been trying to eat lower carb. but prior to it I was eating a regular diet. I went into that appt with info from my endo and from researching treatments in medical journals . I asked Dr.Swain about them. He said none work and his advice to me was to just not eat carbs. When patients come to him for wls does he say just dont eat carbs? He then did say a reversal of the gastric bypass would work but that he wont do it as I would regain all my weight and I would have severe heartburn. Uhmm after 20 yrs I barely have any wls tool left but thanks to a lot of therapy I have maintained a 100 pound loss as well as I have never gone over 200 pounds due to eating in moderation.BUT If this had occurred before yr 5 I would 100%. Agree that I probably would have gained all weight back. I agree too that I may gain some back but ALL ? No . He basically dismissed all of my hard work that I have done for 20 yrs. Regardless I would rather be fat /have heartburn than possibly die from a low blood sugar. Like I said I had went into that appt with a lot of questions because my endo had given me some info and I had researched a lot. I had found a few surgical options that HAD worked for other people .For example I read in a medical journal that putting a ring around the pouch to slow down absorption has helped some people. He said he had never heard of that but that it wouldnt work. He said if I didnt agree with what he was saying then I should get a 2nd opinion..actually he said Sweetie this isnt working I think you should just get a second opinion. (Very condescending and unprofessional.) Its not that I did not believe him it was that I was just trying to understand the WHY and the conflicting info but he had no interest in doing that. He also put in my chart that I didnt believe him that a reversal could cause severe heartburn. WHAT? I never said I dont believe that. I said I would rather have severe heartburn than severe hypoglycemia.. Despite strictures, nutritional issues and recent SIBO from gastric bypass I have been a proponent of gastric bypass for 20 yrs.However now I have changed my mind unless you have severe weight related health issues I would not recommend it. hypoglycemia was not a known possible complication when I had my wls. This is a complication that can be deadly So its been scary /stressful and Dr. Swain showed zero compassion about that. A simple Im sorry that you have experienced this complication and Im sorry that we dont have better treatment options would have gone a long way..When I said that this shouldve been a known complication and that I regret having this surgery now his reply was well its a rare complication.. Its actually a very under reported complication . Dr Swain might have good surgical skills but I definitely do not recommend him. I do agree with him though about that second opinion Which I already have scheduled.
Sep 10th, 2023

Loved Dr Swain and felt extremely comfortable with him and his nursing staff at Scottsdale Shea. Hes very knowledgeable and I have had a great experience with him. However, the office staff was unable to properly complete any paperwork I needed for work or short term disability appropriately. It was either filled out incorrectly or not completed. I am four months out and still having to contact them because paperwork was not sent or wasnt completed correctly. Its unfortunate because Dr. Swain, the NP, nurses, dietitian, psychologists were all amazing and professional but this upset refrains me from wanting to refer anyone to this practice. It was extremely frustrating to have an office staff that was unable to perform their job correctly as it effected me financially.
Jan 12th, 2021