I have a sleeve gastrectomy consult scheduled with Dr.Shillingford in 2 weeks. Google reviews and Facebook has him close to 5 stars, which makes makes me a little suspicious, but otherwise his staff has been extremely pleasant to communicate with.

He is a member of the American Board of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and according to his website has performed > 4000 surgeries, but I worry about it being a "conveyor belt" type of experience, if that makes sense.

Also, the only other doctor I have considered going to is Dr.Wizman in Margate because he offers BLIS Complication Protection. I am a local and do not have to travel far for either surgeon, but wanted to post on this forum to see if anyone consulted both surgeons and what was your deciding factor regarding choosing your surgeon.

Also, I am self-pay.

Edited August 27, 20178 yr by greygoosecytosis
update

I used Dr wizman's partner, Dr Taggar. Their self pay price was $8899. I used coral springs medical center, but I think Dr wizman also does surgeries at Northwest.

I couldn't be happier with my experience. The coordinators are busy, but I was persistent and had all my questions answered. I also learned they can be flexible on some preop testing based on different factors. They originally asked for h pylori, but then waived it. Another gal had the psycheval waived. I traveled from SC, had surgery on Friday 8/11,had a follow up Monday, then sat in the car 10 hours home.

So, I know I didn't answer your question, but I wanted to share my experience with Dr wizman's office. I think my whole process was 3.5 weeks from consult to surgery.

Best wishes!



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24 minutes ago, ToSleeveOrNotToSleeve said:

I used Dr wizman's partner, Dr Taggar. Their self pay price was $8899. I used coral springs medical center, but I think Dr wizman also does surgeries at Northwest.

I couldn't be happier with my experience. The coordinators are busy, but I was persistent and had all my questions answered. I also learned they can be flexible on some preop testing based on different factors. They originally asked for h pylori, but then waived it. Another gal had the psycheval waived. I traveled from SC, had surgery on Friday 8/11,had a follow up Monday, then sat in the car 10 hours home.

So, I know I didn't answer your question, but I wanted to share my experience with Dr wizman's office. I think my whole process was 3.5 weeks from consult to surgery.

Best wishes!



Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!

How long were you in the hospital for?

Was a leak test performed while hospitalized?

The self pay package comes with 3 days, 2 nights, but they try to get you home on day 2, saying you heal better at home. I checked in at 7, surgery at 9, and went home around 2 the next day. So about 31 hours?

I had the blue dye test in the OR. Dr Taggar told me they haven't found much value in post op swallow tests, so they don't do them. I also like their diet plan. Because my bmi was below 37, I didn't really have a preop diet. But I did 3 shakes a day, plus a lean green meal. Post op, we started purees including ground turkey/chicken on day 3-14, regular texture meats day 15-30ish (plus beans) and red meat/veggies after that. I felt like it was so much more doable than some of the other plans I read about.

I can give Dr. Shillingford my highest recommendation. I was also a self-pay. Their staff is great, he is honest and realistic and did a great job with me. You can't do better.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfMSOUsiP9VXUbd6KDnkwqw

This is a lady who flew down from up north and had her sleeve performed by Dr. S. Same procedure, same hospital, same self-pay as me. Watching this before really helped me to know exactly what to expect.

Good luck!

55 minutes ago, ToSleeveOrNotToSleeve said:

The self pay package comes with 3 days, 2 nights, but they try to get you home on day 2, saying you heal better at home. I checked in at 7, surgery at 9, and went home around 2 the next day. So about 31 hours?

I had the blue dye test in the OR. Dr Taggar told me they haven't found much value in post op swallow tests, so they don't do them. I also like their diet plan. Because my bmi was below 37, I didn't really have a preop diet. But I did 3 shakes a day, plus a lean green meal. Post op, we started purees including ground turkey/chicken on day 3-14, regular texture meats day 15-30ish (plus beans) and red meat/veggies after that. I felt like it was so much more doable than some of the other plans I read about.

Thank you again! Good luck to you!

17 minutes ago, gwbicster said:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfMSOUsiP9VXUbd6KDnkwqw

This is a lady who flew down from up north and had her sleeve performed by Dr. S. Same procedure, same hospital, same self-pay as me. Watching this before really helped me to know exactly what to expect.

Good luck!

Thank you for sharing your experience and the video!

How long were you in the hospital for?

Was a leak test performed post-operatively before discharge from the hospital?

2-1/2 days. And, yes.

I had the leak test the next day. I stayed in the hospital the full 3 days two nights. All I wanted to do was sleep. I felt like the nurses were in every 10 minutes. I suppose that's a good thing. I took no pain pills after leaving the hospital. I had no gas pains. I did walk the halls because the nurses told me to do it as much as possible.

Thanks so much!