chellemabelle76

34 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

that's actually true - you're only going to see the surgeon a couple of times, most likely - once while you're in the OR and knocked out! You'll be dealing a lot more with the PAs or NPs, nurses, dietitians, and psychologists at the clinic than you will with the surgeon.

Exactly! Their surgical track record is super important, but feeling supported by/having a good rapport with everyone else is probably more important than having the warm fuzzies about my surgeon. In an ideal world, of course, I'd have all of the above! But if I have a world class surgeon who maybe isn't the most personable, but the nurses, dieticians, etc are very kind, empathetic, etc, that would still work.

Thanks for the answers so far! Old Salt, I really liked your point about considering the center as a whole, not just the surgeon, and how comprehensive the care is. That was a helpful place for me to start researching from, and I will likely attend the seminars for my top choices to see what feel I get for them.

I'm just barely starting to explore, but I also KNOW I want to do this. I'm the kind of person who mulls things over in the back of my mind for ages, and once I hit the research stage, it's because I've already pretty much decided.

And I feel like this is the hardest part. Who do I trust such a major surgery, with such lifelong maintenance, to? Also, do I go with some place local that is on my insurance? Or do I consider Mexico and self pay?

I would love to know how others figured who exactly to entrust this major surgery to.

Thank you!