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Who Was Your Gastric Sleeve Surgeon



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HI My Name is Kathy

My surgeon is Dr scott Welle and his partner is Dr Jeffery Monash,they are both awesome.

They do surgeries at both Tucson Medical Center and Northwest Hospital,which are both have recieved the Bariatric Surgery Excellance Award ,in Tucson Az and also hold monthly support groups,for bariatric patients,no matter what surgery they have had.

I highly reccomend them

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Dr. Miguel Silva - he works out of Columbia Presbyterian in NYC and The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ which is where I had my sleeve. I highly recommend him and his entire staff!!

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I had my VSG April 19, 2012 at St Luke's Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ. My surgeon was Dr Daniel Fang of Bridges Center for Surgical Weight Management. I chose Dr Fang after nearly a month of research (on dr and hospital). The Bridges program is very comprehensive and includes not only outstanding phone support, but also monthly support group meetings with a wide variety of topics. I find Dr Fang to be both professional and pleasant, if somewhat reserved. His office staff is exemplary in every sense! The hospital staff charged with my care was top notch from check-in to discharge and everyone in between. The nursing staff at St Luke's was wonderful; friendly, caring and attentive.

My surgery was covered by insurance (United Healthcare) and was approved on the first request. Though there were several hoops to jump through, I did what was required without incident.

I have zero complaints about Bridges, Dr Fang or St Luke's, even though I'm struggling with some things getting stuck (which is my fault most likely). Even a call to Dr Fang's office about this matter was treated with great urgency and care. I would recommend Dr Daniel Fang of www.bridgesaz.com with total confidance. I'm 20 pounds down since surgery and couldn't be happier with the choice I made. :D

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hi all! my wonderful surgeon was dr. bernie hanna in las vegas. staff are kind and take their time with you. dr. hanna has excellent surgical skills ( have scrubbed for him on general surgical cases in past ) which is why I chose him! hospital stay was at desert springs and was there for two nights. very supportive and personally calls his patients within a couple days after discharge to check on you. could not have asked for a better experience.

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Greetings all, glad am not the only one wit so many questions.

I had my 1st visit with Dr. Kim on 05/09... I am trying to go thru my insurance which requires a 6 month nutrion program (which I have already scheduled thru Dr Kim's office)...

I am having a sleep study done on June 1st and need a Psych evaluation thru my insurance as well. (United Health)

Good news for me is I have met all of my deductibles (had gall bladder removed in feb 12) and I dont have any major issues but my employer doesnt require me to just to be BMI over 40 which I am (bmi 43) ...

I am a little hesistant about my choice for a surgeon DR KIM .. I have a small window November - December for him to do my surgery ... and for his team to get my approval in time for surgery no later than this December... am just scared...

Any suggestions?

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I was sleeved on February 27, 2012 by Dr. Thomas Borland in New Iberia, Louisiana. I had a wonderful preop and postop experience thus far. I'd highly recommend him. I was self-pay and paid a total of $9800. I paid for all of my preop labs, the x-ray and EKG out of my own pocket. Everything else is covered in the $9800, including all postoperative visits.

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My surgeon is Nick Nicholson, in the Dallas area. He is exceptional and I would trust him with my best friend. I was went to Forest Park, but as an insured patient. It was great... Pristeen, and professional in every way.

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I used Dr. Robert Marvin and stayed at University General Hospital in Houston. I was happy with both!

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Greetings all' date=' glad am not the only one wit so many questions.

I had my 1st visit with Dr. Kim on 05/09... I am trying to go thru my insurance which requires a 6 month nutrion program (which I have already scheduled thru Dr Kim's office)...

I am having a sleep study done on June 1st and need a Psych evaluation thru my insurance as well. (United Health)

Good news for me is I have met all of my deductibles (had gall bladder removed in feb 12) and I dont have any major issues but my employer doesnt require me to just to be BMI over 40 which I am (bmi 43) ...

I am a little hesistant about my choice for a surgeon DR KIM .. I have a small window November - December for him to do my surgery ... and for his team to get my approval in time for surgery no later than this December... am just scared...

Any suggestions?[/quote']

I was sleeved April 10th with dr Kim. He is great!

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My surgeon was dr. Ponce de leon in Tijuana Mexico, I had a wonderful experience! My coordinator was Trish and my surgery took place at the INT Hospital and I stayed at the Lucerna Hotel for two nights, two days after my surgery. I highly recommend Dr. Ponce! My journey is on youtube including my surgery if anyone is interested. If you have any questions please feel free to message me! Good luck in your journey!

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Dr. Christan Birkedal Florida Memorial Hospital Daytona Beach

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Dr. Robert Marvin @ University General Hospital in Houston he was also on the show Heavy. Great staff, very patient & knowlegable. I love him because you wll know that he will take care of you!

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Hello!

My surgeon was Mark Pleatman of Bloomfield Hills, MI. I was self-pay, and the value is phenomenal. He has a no-surprises package for self-pay patients. The cost included the surgery, the anaesthesia, the hospital stay, two years of follow up appointments, and access to their nutrition program and support group with free lectures from time to time!

The staff there (I dealt with Rachel) was pleasant, competent, and the service was very human and personalized.

The hospital I stayed at was Doctor's Hospital of Michigan, and while it's in not-so-gorgeous Pontiac, the nurses there were STELLAR! When I turned on my light, the nurses were there in five minutes or so. They knew my name, they knew my story, and gave me hugs when I left the hospital--one even fetched me a glass vase with a ribbon around it for my roses! I got a lot of encouragement from these ladies!

The Pre-Op nurses did their best to calm me down, and they tried (pretty well!) to distract me while they were placing my IV.

No complaints, actually! I'm one week pre-op and have had no trouble whatsoever!

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Dr. Christopher Hart in Johns Creek, GA - he's out of Atlanta Bariatric and is absolutely phenomenal. Their program is very comprehensive and I was blessed to have very little pain or nausea after the surgery. In addition, the bariatric wing at Emory Hospital is wonderful - they even have a bed in there for someone to spend the night with you. The nursing staff was top notch - no complaints at all and would highly recommend Dr. Hart.

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Dr. Robert Wegner St. Francis Hospital in Memphis TN (sleeved on June 12, 2012) great surgeon,staff and hospital.

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 1 reply
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

    • 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. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        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💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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