Ok, I need some advice. Today was my fist consultation with my dr. It went great. The ball is rolling. They called insurance and we dont need alot of pre stuff done. Just the NUT and psych eval. So was really excited. Said they could probably get surgery in about 5-6 weeks. I was so afraid after reading alot of posts about how long the process can take. Anyways, I went to work after appointment and talked to my boss about what I was doing. He said it was fantastic but wanted me to call someone and talk to them. When I called this individual i found out that they had this person as their doctor and had gastric by pass surgery from him. Something went terribly wrong and he spent 9 months in the hospital and is now paralyzed. (On an good note the by pass has helped him lose over 150 lbs even with being paralyzed). Here is my problem, The only other doctors that are in network is 2 hrs away. Do I go to someone else? What would you do? Its easy with this guy, he didnt require 6 months of diet before surgery etc. I am afraid if I go to someone else that the process will take a lot longer. Now this was about 3 years ago and I did check him out with the bbb and he is a bariactric center of excellence. I asked him how many surgerys he had done, he said over 200 by passes, over 300 lap bands and about 250 gastric sleaves. I know everyone is human and can make mistakes. Without knowing what caused the problem with the surgery how do I decide what to do? This gentleman was over 500lbs and he would only say on the phone that the dr shouldnt of opperated on him. So...... What would you do???? Any thoughts?

I personally would go with my heart and how I felt if u have any doubts I would find another doc.. Also I would be frank and honest with the surgeon and see if you could find other patients who have had the surgery by this surgeon.You'd would rather it take longer than have a botched surgery..perhaps this man has other issues ? I don't know how much u have to loose but sounds like this man may have been a high risk patient? Do your homework & do not go with a doctor just because they can do your surgery sooner , this surgery is to help make you healthy ! Also ask on this forum if anyone knows this surgeon .let ppl know what area you are in and there could be someone out there who has used the same surgeon;-) good luck !!

The process wouldn't take longer if that's all your insurance company requires. The only requirement I had added by my surgeon other than what my insurance required was for me to quit smoking 3 months before surgery. I think if you are really uncomfortable with your surgeon, it may be good to look into the other surgeon. You need to feel confident in your surgeon or you will think every pain is something that he did wrong.

I have two pieces of advice.

First interview the other surgeons. I went to two in my area. I thought for sure I would be going with the First doc after my appointment with him, but he required more steps then my insurance did. He also did not line up with medication recommendations that my pcp. When I went to the second doc it was perfect. He spent time with me and I knew he was the one.

This is a major life changing process - if you have doubts now it will cause you a lot of stress.

Secondly - in Texas there is a website you can search every doc and find out what lawsuits or disabling they have received from the board. Check for that with your state. The amount of surgeries he has done is pretty low in my opinion.

I did go to the web site and check him out with the medical board. There has only been 2 things filed against him, both was for inaccurate record keeping and it was settled with $1000 fine and a class for 8 hours on record keeping. But that was like in 1996 so a long time ago. Thanks everyone for the great advice.