Dr. Henry Sindos Wicker, MD

Dr Wicker has operated on me twice. First for a ruptured appendix when I was a child, and recently for a hernia repair. He was my first choice when I realized I would need surgery again. He explained the procedure thoroughly and answered all of my questions. His office staff and nurse are professional and courteous. The day of the surgery, he spent as much time as I needed going over what to expect both during surgery and the recuperation. The entire experience from him, his office staff and the hospital staff was top notch,

My 12 year old daughter was diagnosed with inguinal hernia. During our first visit with Dr. Wicker, he answered all our inquiries about our daughter's condition and spent time with us until all our questions were answered. My daughter had surgery on Friday afternoon after our initial visit that week. I was pleasantly surprised when Dr. Wicker called on Saturday afternoon to check on our daughter (this is the first experience we had that an MD personally called to follow up after surgical procedure. We usually hear from their nurse). I also want to comment on his staff. His nurse Mona was very professional and Tammy, the office receptionist was courteous and friendly.

Arrogant, would not let you ask questions.Kept saying he was the surgeon,you do it his way or thats it.

Dr. Wicker will tell you that he has never had any significant complications from his hernia repairs, but what that really means is that he will not take any responsibility for the complications that you will most likely have. He can seem nice at first, but ultimately he has little patience for anyone who is not an MD, and even then he is certain that he is better than any other surgeon. Oddly enough, he seems to have all kinds of respect for the medical and pharmaceutical sales reps who stop by sell to him - even though they do not usually have medical degrees.His office staff is atrocious. I have never encountered such imcompetent and unhelpful staff members as his. I have never had a nurse who refused to return calls. I have never had a nurse promise to send my records to another doctor right in front of the current doctor, and then refuse to do so later. Since Dr. Wicker refused to admit that my abdominal pain was related to the surgery, he said he could no longer help me and that… I had to see another doctor. I asked if my records could be sent to my gastroenterologist. It took 2 1/2 weeks and repeated - and progressively heated - phone calls to get my records sent. The office staff kept telling me that they could not "refer" me because I did not have an HMO. (What?!) I have a PPO; there should have not been a problem. And there are more meanings to the word "referral" than just the kind that relate to official HMO referrals. I couldn't believe it. It was like having tea with the Mad Hatter. And they just seemed so stupid. I don't understand how and why they chose to be so unhelpful. If you go to this doctor, I wish you a lot of luck. If you want to reconsider and have a better outcome, then try someone at Inova Fairfax instead.