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Who Was Your Gastric Sleeve Surgeon



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My surgeon was Jon Schram M.D . His office is in Holland ,Michigan and he operates at Zeeland (Michigan) Community Hospital. He is great, as is his staff. Zeeland Hospital is a Spectrum hospital - small and cozy. The building is only 6+ years old, well maintained and the rooms are huge. I have recommended Dr. Schram to several people. One of my co workers had a sleeve before my surgery- which is how I found him. My coworker and I both think he is the best.

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My daughter and I took our Mexican sleeve vacation in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Our surgeon was a very lovely Dr Jose Castaneda Cruz in the beautiful Premiere Hospital CMQ Group. From start to finish Dr Castaneda not only has a soft and gently caring approach but he was thorough and VERY accomodating. Our flight had been very delayed and we had chosen 1st day surgery, since our time was limited. But Dr Castaneda adapted to the inconvenience along with the other staff and we still were 1st day surgery! I was surprised that the Dr., hospital and staff are as beautiful as you see on their website. I have never received such excellent care in the US!The nurses are very dedicated to making you comfortable and are very encouraging ( like they used to be in the US). I am a former LPN nurse so I always observe and believe in erring on the side of caution, so I am confident in highly recommending this Dr and hospital. The Doctor, staff and facility were EXCELLENT and we felt more like we were vacationing the whole time, rather than having just had surgery. In 11 months I have lost 60 pounds and feel and look much better with hopes of reaching the 100 lb mark in 6 months. Post Op has been only positive for me, in every way!

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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 am concerned about the same thing. My insurance requires me o use the Trophy Club hospital and he only oes to that hospital the third week of the month. If I can not get in on the August roster I will need to wait until November due to other commitments and the third week of November is Thanksgiving. I am OK with that but have not heard if he will schedule that week.

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My surgeon is Dr. Daniel Jones, and my surgery was performed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, MA. Dr. Jones is an exceptional surgeon, and has a fantastic personality to go with his technical skills. The staff at the BIDMC Weight Loss Center are amazing to work with, and provide an excellent level of support. While my in-hospital stay was longer than originally anticipated (I had some minor complications, and ended up staying 6 days, instead of the usual 3), the care I received, while there, was exceptional. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend the BIDMC program, and Dr. Jones, to anyone looking to have surgery in the Boston area.

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My surgeon was Dr. David Thoman in Santa Barbara, CA and I had my surgery at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Dr. Thoman was great and the facility was amazing. Every room was private with a big flat screen tv and a couch that folded out into a bed for your loved ones to stay with you if they wanted. It was more like a hotel than a hospital!

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My name is Julie and I was sleeved by Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico (Obesity Control Centre) on August 13, 2012. Thoroughly researched and found he was exceptionally qualified and well-recommended. Two weeks post-op and extremely pleased with the way surgery went - no complications, no difficulties with post care and wounds are healing well.

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Dr. Choi and Dr. Bandera(assisted) at Fort Gordon, Eisenhower Army Hospital August 2012

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August 31, 2012,

Hi Fellow Sleeve’s,

I have been sitting out on these boards now for over 4 years. Believe me, I have seen every kind of post there are out there, and I have been challenged many times for some things I have said. And this is perfectly fine. I recently read a post on one of the boards (OH) that made me stop and think and also upset me too. This woman had posted that she was going to the ER because she was sure she had a Blood Clot in her lungs (she diagnosed it herself and she has NO medical background-not good at ALL). She was sure it was Dr. Aceves’s fault because she had, had Sleeve surgery—that wasn’t fair to blame him and in the end she did not have a blood clot at all. After reading what this woman had said and reading everyone else’s posts, I truly think she is having panic attacks and DID NOT prepare herself mentally of physical for this surgery. -_-

Another point I would like to make is that she had NOT spoken to her PCP about any after care or tells him/her what she was doing about going to Mexico for Sleeve surgery. If she feared her PCP would not be supportive, then she should have found a PCP who would have been there for her for after care. I have always said that you need to do all these things before you go for the surgery. You really need to have your head in the right place before you go for WLS. I have a feeling that maybe she is not taking her medication, and she would like to blame “ANYONE” she can for her issues and problems—it is NOT Dr. Aceves’s fault and she is unreasonable to make these kind of statements about him. She has also since deactivated her membership on OH and left this negative posting. Many of you saw right though what she was saying and posting. Thanks for being this alert when we encounter someone like her. :o

I have a suggestion, for the future and need your help PLEASE. I think it would be wise if we encounter anyone like this in the future it would be so helpful to Nina—Dr. Aceves’s Patient Coordinator to be notified or give Nina a heads-up that this person having issues or problems. Nina has the ability to work with them and see what is real, and what is just unadulterated false. :wub:

Regrettably if someone has NOT been to Dr. Aceves yet and reads that posting; they might think what she posted is real—and not a panic attack or other metal issues she may have going on. :unsure:

Those of us who have had surgery with Dr. Aceves know for a fact that we received excellent care and also know that he goes to every effort to make sure that we leave him in remarkably great health. :wub:

So in the future if you suspect that someone is way off base with their posting, I am sure Nina would love to have a heads up on this. :D

Take care,

Suzanne

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Has anyone used Blue Point Surgical Group in Woodbridge, Va. Dr. Denis Halmi?

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I will be sleeved on 9/5 with Dr. Hess from Boston medical center. I'll let you all know how it goes. He's been great so far.

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Dr. Peter Lalor.

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Dr. Christopher Reilly (Houston)

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I love Nick Nicholson in Dallas, and also had a great experience at Forest Park. I have Blue Cross Federal Employees Program, and they paid quickly and gave me no problems!

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    • KeeWee

      It's been 10 long years! Here is my VSG weight loss surgiversary update..
      https://www.ae1bmerchme.com/post/10-year-surgiversary-update-for-2024 
      · 0 replies
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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. 
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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

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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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