There are probably a few things everyone looks for when looking for a bariatric surgeon. Beyond insurance coverage and/or cost and location, you probably wonder about success rates, and use your gut to decide whether you like the surgeon and the look and feel of the clinic or hospital.

What are the factors you are looking at if you are looking for a surgeon? If you’ve already had WLS or chosen a surgeon, what did you look for? Was there a “deciding factor” that helped you decide “This is the one for me?”

I’m also wondering whether your decision was entirely based on something objective, or whether there was a factor involved that you can’t really explain – your gut just told you to choose your surgeon.

And finally…did it work out for you, if you’ve already had surgery?

My PCP recommended my surgeon. I had my consult with him and really liked him. He took his time and answered all of my questions. He explained everything and what would happen. I also met his nutritionist that day and really liked her as well.

As I did all my pre-testing I got really good feedback from the nursing staff at the hospital and they were all so caring that I knew I would be well taken care of from surgery.

I had my sleeve done May 5 and everything went amazingly well. No nausea, minimal pain and everyone smiled the whole time.

My first post-op the surgeon was he same...patient and took his time with me. Even after surgery he is still attentive and caring. I would choose him again and again.

My primary consideration was how many times has the doc done the procedure.

I got a list of approved surgeons and hospitals from my insurance and Googled each doctor and looked at their years of practice doing the Sleeve and the patient reviews.

2nd was location. My nearest insurance approved doc was in Houston, TX. 2 hours away.

I wanted a hospital that was not in the city proper. I wanted to avoid the traffic that Houston's famous for. :-P

That was it. I spent a few hours over the course of a week researching and picking my surgeon and deciding on one of the 3 hospitals he was practicing in.

Everything worked out well, except for that loooooonnnnnng ride home! Frankensleeve felt every curve and bump in the road. :-(

I wanted a surgeon who had performed the surgery multiple times and who had the bed side manner of a human being not a robot. I also didn't want a surgeon who didn't sugarcoat what to expect (blunt) and what he expected of me. I got both. Dr. Miroslav Uchal at St. Vincents here in the Jacksonville area is my guy and I am fortunate to have him (and his team) with me on this journey!

I may get some raised eyebrows at this. My choice of surgeons was serendipitous.

I started by looking for Bariatric centers of excellence in my area. I then wanted one that was closest to home. They had one of those information meetings at an affiliated hospital very close to home, so I went to that meeting.

Went home pondered a little, called for an appointment which took a month to get in.

Went to that appointment saw a bariatrician m.d. and a nurse. The nurse asked which surgeon I would like to use and I had no clue. I told her that Dr. Koeplin had talked at the info session and that was the only one I knew about. She said she scrubbed in with him and thought he was excellent, so I said "okay, I'll go with him."

When I saw my PC (who is a friend) she told me how much she liked him and how she had chosen him for surgery on her thyroid. That was enough of an endorsement for me.

I finally met him about two weeks before surgery and he was the best choice I could have made. He is very personable, highly skilled, has a sense of humor ( not often found in surgeons) and did a fantastic job.

Center of Excellence was required by my insurance company. I went to the one that I knew (NYU) and respected.

Went to his seminar. My husband and I liked him. He explained everything. Told us why he would choose gastric sleeve for us. Took his time. Made us feel comfortable, even though he was 1 1/2 hours away.

my insurance required center of excelence and so i went with the one that was close to me and had the highest success rate at 2 4 and 6 years post op im still pre-op btw

My selection criteria:

* ASMBS Center of Excellence

* Intro lecture (3 hours) showed him to be smart, unrattled, a good educator, not too young and not too old

* Geographically convenient to me and in US (insurance covered surgery)

* Thousands of WLSs performed and (he said) no surgical deaths

* Consultation - he was confident, but not cocky; inspired my confidence (a gut / judgment thing for me)

* His staff obviously respected and adored him (again, a gut / judgment thing)

* His staff seemed (and are) very competent, too.

* Although I hated all the pre-op hurdles at the time, looking back I feel they worked to my advantage by encouraging me to educate myself (mostly online) prior to surgery. I believe that in my case pre-op knowledge of what was to come has been critical to my WLS success.

FYI, I didn't know anyone who'd had WLS, so I didn't consult anyone for personal references.