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Share your surgeon with me please :thumbup: I have been reasearching the last week or so emailing and calling. I am looking for a surgeon who has done at least 200 Sleeves. If you love your surgeon please tell me about him or her. How many sleeves/leaks/deaths. Price? What does that price include? How has your aftercare been? And any other info you want to include. :001_cool:

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My surgeon was Dr. Christophersen (I always spell that wrong) at Genesis Bariatric in Davenport, Iowa. My clinic is of the mindset "once you have surgery, you are with us for life!" so probably not your best bet if you're in TN. :001_cool: My surgeon was excellent though. I don't recall how many sleeves he has done, but he has had 1 leak, which was caused several weeks post-op due to the patient advancing his diet too quickly. My price was (I think) around $22,000. That included surgery itself + anesthesia, 1 night hospital stay, all my pre-op appointments & evaluations (psych, dietitian, physical therapist, recreational therapist, pharmacist, nurses appt.'s), all of the Vitamins they gave me for pre-op and aftercare (though I didn't use all of them) and all my aftercare for the first 9 months post-op. Aftercare has been great. I had a 2-week postop, 3 month, and I will go back at 6 month, 9 month, 1 year, and then annually. Both the surgeon and the dietitian are very open to questions and everyone in the office is extremely friendly. I look forward to my appointments because they are always excited to see me! LOL. It's kind of cool because they don't see me often, so for example when I went in for my 3 month post-op appt, they hadn't seen me in 2 1/2 months and I had lost over 35 lbs in that time, so even the receptionist was like "WOW, Randi! I didn't even recognize you! You look amazing!" :thumbup: Couldn't ask for a better experience!

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Dr Nicholson in Dallas has done a tremendous amount of surgeries. If you type in Dr Nicholson bariatric in any search engine it should take you to his site. His staff is amazing. Self pay was 12,200. It pays for surgery, up to two nights in the hospital pain meds while there etc. I believe it even covers follow up visits and and all preop work. It is all listed on his site. Good luck!:001_tt2:

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Thanks Lucy, I contacted him on Wednesday and am waiting to hear back from him. Everything I've read has been great about Dr Nicholson.

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I had surgery with Dr. :thumbup:Nick May 17, everything has gone well. Had the surgery at Baylor Plano, very nice experience so far all around. I still have a some pain in one incision site, but that is normal I'm told as it is the biggest incision where they pull the removed stomach out, so it had to be a deeper stitch. No problems with leaking or infections, he has a very good rate on that. He is also the medical director for bariatric surgery at big Baylor too. Check out his website! Nick Nicholson clinic.

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I went to Dr Aceves in Mexico. I had the best care there that I have ever received in my life.Go to the doctor section on this board and read about his credentials. He is fabulous!

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Mark Pleatman, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Bariatric Surgeon Profile - Mark Pleatman MD

His profile hasn't been updated, he's actually done closer to 400 sleeves. If you google him you can see his website too (it may be linked there on OH, I'm not sure).

Self-pay price for a sleeve is $11,200. The $200 is for the initial consult, which my insurance actually paid for. The $11,000 covers his fee, the hospital fee, and anesthesia, all pre-op testing (the hospital stuff, he didn't require psych or anything), and two years of follow-up visits. I've been extremely pleased with the entire experience! :001_tt2:

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I had surgery on June 15 with Dr. Aceves. The whole experience has been terrific. I am now home with no complications and feel fine other than a sore throat. I Am 59 years old, have high cholesterol, sleep apnea, degenerative disc disease, arthritis and had a BMI of 38. I feel like I had Nordstroms quality for JC Penny cost. My surgery cost $8750 inclusive as opposed to $23000 here at home. I stayed in the most immaculate hospital with extraordinarily attentive staff for 3 nights as opposed to 2 at home. My surgeon has done more than 700 VSG as opposed to 40 for the whole practice here in Delaware. That is why I went to Dr. Aceves, who is Board Certified and a proctor surgeon for other surgeons. Dr. Aceves follows you closely for 5 years and more if needed

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I just had surgery on June 11th with Dr. James Davidson at Forest Park in Dallas. He is at Presbyterian Hospital. I'd recommend him. Self pay is $12,510, that includes everything, including up to two nights in the hospital. All aftercare up to your three month visit. They do consider you a patient for life and he wants to see you every few months if possible and annually after the first year. The staff is great, Forest Park is wonderful. Sandy, Dr. Davidson's nurse....you get her cell phone number and it is ON from 6 AM until mid-night, 365 days a year. 'Nuff said! :)

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I also had Dr James Davidson in Dallas. He is just great. Highly recommend him, Forest Park, Sandy, and the rest of his staff!! 12,510 covers it out of pocket.

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I will be sleeved with Dr. Jossart from LapSF at California Pacific Medical Center. He has done 900+ vsg's. The sticker price covers the surgery, hospital stay, anesthesia, and it includes 23 months of aftercare by the surgeon & nutritionist.

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I will be sleeved by Dr. Brandon Helbling at Mid-Dakota Clinic/St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, ND. He has done hundred of sleeves with a zero complication rate. The staff are great. Insurance coverage was no problem because he is in a pilot program with BC/BS; I got approval in a week.

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I wish you the best. I had a great recovery, and am on my way with a loss of 30lbs since may 12. I have not had any complications at all.

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My surgeon was Dr. Robert Marvin in Houston, doctormarvin.com, he is world reknown.Aftercare is included.He is great!

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
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    • ChunkCat

      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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