I went to my first WLS information seminar today at a hospital in a city about 90 minutes from me. My husband had extensive inpatient treatment there after a bad accident, so we are familiar with and trust the hospital, plus they are an ASMBS certified center. I liked the surgeon and I gave them my contact info to set up an initial appointment.

However, I am now feeling like I should speak with another surgeon/center near to where I live before I decide to move forward with this hospital. Based on the information I received today about preop screenings, the visits seem like they will be multiple times monthly by the time you do the dietitian, psychologist, labs, sleep study, etc. I wouldn't not choose the hospital I visited with today solely because of the distance, but if I found another reputable surgeon nearby that I liked, the distance might cause them to win out.

What do you think? How many surgeons did you see before choosing one?

I would consult as many as you need to be comfortable with your decision, whether it's one or four....I am very limited on choices where I live, the nearest one was 2 hours away. I wish I had the opportunity to consult more. Choose the one that makes you feel the most comfortable and the least amount of stress.

I had seen 3 surgeons

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I visited 3. The first was a bit of a drive from my house (only because of Dallas traffic). Thankfully I found someone a little closer who was also amazing with a very supportive and awesome staff so I went with them! I think you should definitely consult with more than 1 surgeon just to make sure you are 100% comfortable with not only the surgical aspect, but the aftercare as well.

Sent from my SM-G900P using the BariatricPal App

I only saw one and I felt very comfortable with him from the off even though he was quite a way from where I live. With the skin surgery I saw three before I felt I had made the right decision.

Good luck !!

Kate

I only visited the one... it probably would have been a good idea to visit 1 or 2 others but I had gotten his name from another bariatric patient and was anxious to get the process started. I had the sleeve done because I was insistent upon it but he was kind of pushy about bypass and didn't listen much to my concerns wrt how bypass would affect me as a college student in particular... and his APN (who I have all my post-op appointments with) seems really against me being on sites like this which I think is kind of weird. So I think I might have been happier with another surgeon/team but my results have been pretty good so it's whatever. If you think the commute might be an issue I'd visit the closer surgeon just to get an idea for it.

Thank you guys very much for responding! Sorry for my delay in replying; I can't get my notifications settings configured properly and apparently I am not being notified when people respond to my posts. I just assumed this post didn't get any answers. I was wrong! Thank you for the insights. I have a sort of emotional attachment to the hospital I mentioned above (likely due to my husband being treated there) so I will probably end up going with them, but I'm going to look for at least one surgeon in my area to visit as well.

For those who visited more than one, what swayed your decision? The surgeon's complication rates, perceived quality of follow-up care, how many nights you stay in hospital, etc. - anything that made a difference?

I called three and visited one. My decision was financial. I have a 50% copay. All three were a center of excellence and all three had great doctors.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using the BariatricPal App