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Jacksonville Surgical Assoc (Dr. Cywes) closing--need new Dr. In Jax



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Holy Moley this is ugly. Well, I had great hopes with Dr. Cywes but dang, still no letter. Trying to be patient. There is 1 more day the office will be open in Valdosta (30 May), then they close. I spoke with Dana on the 20th she said they were having an office meeting that morning and were hoping to come out with the final information on a doc from Moultrie (Dr. Melton) taking over the Valdosta office. Basically the Jacksonville folks don't return and the new doc and staff take over everything. We don't have to do anything but continue with our previously set appointments.

But...still no letter. I'm hoping the delay is in getting the information correct before they send it out. The only information I could find on Dr. Melton is that he's been doing lapbands for 4 years (not sure how old the bio was), and that he works out of Colquitt Regional and Smith-Northview. However, I also have found out that Smith-Northview being part if the South Georgia Medical Group cannot do lapbands there, so there goes that for us Valdostans.

Being Tri-Care, I'm not likely to get much choice in doctor anyway.

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At this point I have got all my records and have an appointment at St Vincent's and because there is no MD who will do the plication I am probably going to get the gastric sleeve

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Bad news.. What ever happened to Pinnar? If he is still in Jax then he can take over. Does anyone know why Cywes is closing?

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Cywes is going back to pediatrics as I understand.

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My surgeon was Dr.Pinnar and he is here in Jacksonville Fl - I believe he worked with Dr. Cywes in the past . Dr Pinnar helped save my life with the lap band and his approach to making it work for you. I have lost 280 pounds and completely reversed diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and lung disease. His contact info is 904-503-1530 and he's on 4131 University Blvd building 15 Jacksonville, FL 32216

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All I can say is that Dr. Cywes is an excellent, professional Doctor who I believe cares about my health. I was banded in 2011 and have received nothing but the best care from him and his staff prior to and since then. There must be some issue causing Dr. Cywes to relocate and I wish him the best of luck. My advice to all is to avoid Dr. Pinnar at all cost. He was with (my) Dr. Cywes for a short time and I found him to be unprofessional and inept. He was unable to find my port for a fill and spent 10 minutes poking me in the stomach with a needle. Dr. Cywes came in and found the port in 30 seconds. I would not trust Pinnar to remove a splinter.

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I had an appointment with Dr. Cywes yesterday...all is well. Thank goodness! I really didn't want to go to another surgeon. I had checked on Dr. Cywes' bio and was really comfortable with him. A lot of inaccurate information on LBT on this subject.

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Kkua, you had an appointment with him yesterday, June 13? I was in there Tuesday AM to pick up my records and the office looked like a ghost town. What office did you go to (in Jacksonville)? I was in the one on Perimeter Park Road off of Southside.

Any information you can give would be greatly appreciated.

During my appointment the last week of May, I had a long discussion with Dr. C about his move to West Palm Beach. He said his former partners made it too difficult for him to practice here and he felt he was doing his patients an injustice by making them travel to Tampa and Brunswick for procedures.

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I thought Dr. C was gone from Jax ? You had an appt with him in town ? Share w/us where he is practicing ?

Lee

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LJCBF, I saw Dr. C in the Valdosta ofc. He did tell us he's now working out if West Palm & Tampa. It's a going to be a very long drive for surgery but my confidence in him as a surgeon is worth it to me. The doc taking over his patients in Valdosta (Melton), Dr. C said he has much confidence in but he will only be doing lapband, no hybrid. That's what I want. I'm 53, and have wasted and lost too much of my life already. He also explained why the closing, without the probable gory details...a mess.

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My best friend and I went to the seminar for Dr Uchal at St Vincent's the other night here in Jacksonville. He was very personable and still very straight forward about the risks and rewards of bariatric surgery without being rude or in your face. The practice at St Vincents seems to be better structured than Dr Cywes office. They have a schedule of all their support group meetings from July thru the end of the year. Some of the topics on there were cooking classes, nutrition, meetings at the Publix for grocery shopping tips, etc. My best friend has chosen him to do her surgery. She is having a revision to the sleeve. I unfortunately due to my lack of insurance coverage has to wait until the first of the year. I've also heard good things about Dr Javier Herrera that also practices with Dr Uchal. Good luck!

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I have my first appointment with Dr. Uchal today at 10:30. Dr. Cywes did my band in February.

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North Florida Surgeons take other patients. I had two fills by Dr. Webb because I had my surgery in Fort Lauderdale before moving here. I do believe everyone in his group does weight loss surgeries. He does not say much but he had done a lot of surgeries. I worked in the Pacu at St. Vincents South and he had no issues of taking me. He is a good surgeon. Got to see his work upfront.

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IF ANYONE NEEDS A PLASTIC SURGEON IN JACKSONVILLE , DR LOREN Z & HIS SON MARK CLAYMON ARE EXCELLENT DOCTORS! 904-388-6110

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My experience with Dr. Baptista has been wonderful and I just found out he is listed as one of Jacksonville Best Doctor's by Jacksonville Magazine. I love how much he cares (before and after the surgey) and the support I get from his office is also amazing. I would strongly recommend him to anyone considering weight loss surgery. He also offers support groups monthly which is helpful.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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