Just had my consult and i am so happy. He is wonderful.

Hi there,

I consult with Dr Marsden on 9/06/12. I love his staff at true results. I was originally scheduled to go with Dr. Kim, but I felt rushed and pressured, and was really sure that after I had the surgery with Dr. Kim, he would not be there for me if any problems came up.

Also, Dr. Kim's staff never wanted to answer questions. I had my first visit at True Results yesterday, and they were absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to schedule my surgery and get moving towards a healthier me!

Which true results location do you use? I used the Richardson office, as I was originally going to do the 'crap band' but after my research - decided that was NOT the way to go. the staff there were always pleasant but I was also a pain in their rear, as I phoned ALL the time for questions and such and to make sure they were on top of things.

Good luck to you - I'm getting sleeved on Sept. 10!! Can't wait.

Hi there,

I consult with Dr Marsden on 9/06/12. I love his staff at true results. I was originally scheduled to go with Dr. Kim, but I felt rushed and pressured, and was really sure that after I had the surgery with Dr. Kim, he would not be there for me if any problems came up.

Also, Dr. Kim's staff never wanted to answer questions. I had my first visit at True Results yesterday, and they were absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to schedule my surgery and get moving towards a healthier me!

That is funny! I had my lap band through Dr. Marseden and I was not very pleased with the aftercare followup services. I was going to go use him for my sleeve procedure and even approved by the insurance but he was having issues being allowed to perform the surgery at an hospital of excellence, which was required by my insurance provider (UHC, at the time). I opted to have alternate consultation with Dr. Kim and I found the experience and the referrals to be much more rewarding and supportive. First impression with quality experience goes along way when considering such an invasive surgery. I wish you will and hope have a better experience with True Results and Dr. Marsden than I did.

Thats odd as I have UHC and plano baylor is a coe where dr marsden does his surgery at. In talking with him i felt like he truly cares about his patients and would be there if they needed him. Good luck with your sleeve.

I'm going to the True Results in Richardson. I haven't met with Dr. Marsden yet, but his staff, specifically Amanda, the patient advocate, have really taken the time to give me a lot of information. Plus Dr. Kim's office gave me the amount I would be financially responsible for, and it was more than 3 times what True Results estimated I would be responsible for. I called my insurance company (BCBS) to find out why the difference, and they couldn't figure out where Dr. Kim's office was getting their numbers from.

Good luck to you all. I'm so glad I found this forum!

Glad you like them as well.....just so happy that I don't have to deal with them anymore!! don't have to worry about fills and dealing with all that....so glad I decided on the sleeve. that's odd about the price difference - I wonder if it was more cause maybe Dr Kim's office was out of network or not a part of the COE for your insurance. I'm happy that this is covered at 100% for me since I've met my deductible and out of pocket max already!!

good luck.... can't believe Sept. 10th is fast approaching - I start my two week diet next Monday.....

I went back and forth between Dr. Kim and Dr. Marsden...

Marsden - Great guy. Well respected surgeon, especially in the lap band world. Very very friendly and able to help me make a good decision on what was best for me. Call's often required next day call backs. Several promises were not kept by his staff. Only had done a dozen sleeves as of june'ish when i met him.

Kim - Not as much of a personable guy. Very well respected sleeve surgeon. Staff was great. Completed over 1,200 sleeves.

I chose Dr Kim, but doubt either would be a bad choice.

We all have to make the choice in which we feel the most comfortable with. I personally asked how many sleeves he has done and he said around 30 with no leaks or complications. He said he takes his time to ensure all goes well and uses evisel as a sealant after the staples - he has been looking into the complcation rate and found out that many surgeons don't use this sealant on the outside of the staple line, but they do a double stitch as an oversewn process. He has checked and most of the strictures and leaks have been in his opinion associated with those techniques - he said that the staple line should not be pinched and such by oversewn, as this can cause problems. Also, Dr Marsden has performed 1000+ gastric bypass and other bariatric surgeries - so I feel very comforable in my decision.

I wish you well and hope you get to your goal weight in a timely manner!!

Thank you (all) for all of the information. It's very helpful when making a decision. I wish you all good luck and good health.

All of this information is very helpful. It's nice reading how you all came to make you final decisions. I just went to my last visit at TR last week and am just waiting for BCBS to approve the surgery. Meanwhile, I have been exploring True Results website and am feeling a little uneasy about the content as it relates to the Gastric sleeve. During my visits, the nurse practioner tried to discourage me from choosing the sleeve at least three times and tried to sell me on lapband. The website is very much in line with that and discourages the sleeve everywhere it is mentioned. I'm just wondering if it's too late to go to another facility since I've been with TR for 6 months already. I don't want a set-back but i want the person doing the surgery to belive in it at least as much as I do. I still have not met Dr. Marsden but I will have a list of questions for him when i do.

When I talked to the patient advocate, Amanda, she was saying that the sleeve is more preferrable to doctors because they do not have to invest the time into after care, that you have a few follow up visits, but basically they don't need to keep seeing you to make adjustments like the band. They didn't try to talk me out of the sleeve, they were just upfront that the band is what they specialize in. I can't wait to meet Dr. Marsden on the 6th to ask some more questions too as well.

I agree - the facility at True Results is there to only make money on the lapband..as they get paid per band installed - ..but I didn't let them change my mind- they also asked why I was not having the surgery done at their center (another money making center) - i was like are you nuts.....this is major surgery and I would never have it somewhere as an outpatient....I was quite adament about this and therefore they never tried to push the issue.

they will NOT be making any money off of me.....just the office visits they will bill my insurance company. that's why they try and shove the crap band down your throat.

I predict in about 5 years, they will not be offering the band due to it's many complications.

I stayed with them because it was at the 5th visit that I changed my mind to the sleeve and didn't want to risk not getting all the paperwork over to another facility when they are really good at all the paperwork - then choose Dr. Marsden over the other surgeons due to overall surgical experience - not sleeve experience - but his overall years as a surgeon.

everyone is different - make your choice according to how you feel and don't let them push you towards anything you are not comfortable with.

Good luck to everyone!!

All of this information is very helpful. It's nice reading how you all came to make you final decisions. I just went to my last visit at TR last week and am just waiting for BCBS to approve the surgery. Meanwhile, I have been exploring True Results website and am feeling a little uneasy about the content as it relates to the Gastric sleeve. During my visits, the nurse practioner tried to discourage me from choosing the sleeve at least three times and tried to sell me on lapband. The website is very much in line with that and discourages the sleeve everywhere it is mentioned. I'm just wondering if it's too late to go to another facility since I've been with TR for 6 months already. I don't want a set-back but i want the person doing the surgery to belive in it at least as much as I do. I still have not met Dr. Marsden but I will have a list of questions for him when i do.

Let me first repeat again that Dr Marsden is a great man and surgeon. With that said, switching from marsden to kim only cost me about 3 weeks. I started kim's preop diet, his staff worked on getting my paper work from marsden and all was well.

I can tell you, marsden spent almost an hour with me discussing band vs sleeve and at no time did he push one over the other. He simply got me talking about lifestyle, goals, what I was comfortable with etc. Good luck

I don't think BCBS will allow the surgery anywhere except a BCBS facility but i do know that the band is like a roll of the dice... It worked for my friend very well but my sister was over 320 lbs and only lost 28 lbs with the band and put 15 of that back on. This was all over a 2 year period. She decided on the sleeve and had the surgery just over 4 months ago and is down to 238 as of today. On top of that, the band had infused with her liver and they didn't even know this until they went in to perform the VGS!!

mufasas-mom, i just notice you have you surgery date! I am so excited for you!!