Hello All,

Who here has used Dr Pleatman for their surgery? What complications if any have you had with not only the surgery but the staff & surgeon himself? I know Big T used him & is doing very well. I would like to hear from any others asap. Thank You Very Much.

I am selfpay at this point & will be deciding between him and Dr.Hawasli.

AWW, Christina! Self-pay, huh? I know you have been fighting the insurance and playing all those games for SO long! I haven't seen you in a while and figured you have been busy with the Calendar Girls...

Glad to see your are just going to "Gir 'er Done!" (in my best Cable guy accent).

No opinions on the Docs you have listed, just wanted to say HI and Good Luck! You won't regret it, and for sure you have done your homework! My Best to You!

Thank you so very much Kathy. Its been a rollercoaster & I am about done tossing my cookies:0)

I really wanted Dr.Hawasli to do the surgery because I have a built the relationship there but I know Dr Pleatman is also very capable & $2000.00 less. Plus he gives 2 yrs of fills for FREE.

Where Are All The Pleatman Patients???:0)

Here is a post from another Dr. Pleatman patient...

http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=104&highlight=Pleatman

Maybe you can PM and ask questions..~Mandy

Christina,

Iam a self-pay and I will be using Dr. Pleatman on MAY 17TH for my surgery. Will meet him on the 16th for first time but he was quick on responding to E-mails. Very flexible with me on timing. Total price is $12,500 with two years of fills. I live in Wisc. and will drive to Michigan this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

Ron

Here is another post from a new member who will be banded My 17th by Dr. Pleatman.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6881

Thanks La Madam & Ron, I appreciate it:0)

Here is a letter I sent Dr. Pleatman this AM. Six days after surgery.

Dr. Pleatman,

I was your lap band surgery on 5/17/2005. Just a note on my progress. We drove the five hour trip back to Wisconsin the day after surgery with no problems. We stopped four times so I could walk to prevent blood clots. I have felt great since the surgery with the only discomfort being the sore throat for one day and some shoulder pain for two days. I have had no problems from the incisions and I am amazed at how small they are. They seem to be healing just fine as the tape has held up well. I walked several times each day and seem to be getting stronger with time. Totally, no discomfort now, just periods of fatigue from the liquid diet, I guess. I have been taking about 900 cals. per day, 20% fat, with about 50-60 grams of Protein. I stepped on the scales for the first time last night and I am down 10 lbs from the surgery (less than a week) and 23 lbs from the time that I first e-mailed you. I realize most of this is Water weight but it feels good to be heading in the right direction.

I will call Jo this Weds. to arrange my 6 week check up and first fill. I feel good enough to be doing more but have promised my wife to wait the two weeks on golf. However, I have been fishing from the pier and catching a good rock bass bite that is going on. GRIN

Dr. Pleatman, I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and other self pay patients for making this operation affordable for self pays like myself. You cut thru all of the red tape and requirements to schedule me very quickly and you did every thing you promised. You are very personable and a good person who seems to care about your patients. God bless you. Too bad you live in Wolverine country. Go Buckeyes, Badgers and Wildcats. Grin

Best Regards

Ron

Lake Geneva, WI

I'll Succeed,

How did your surgery go with Dr. Pleatman? I was banded by Dr. Ortiz 5/26 but will be using Dr. Pleatman for aftercare. I called the office to arrange my first fill appt and they scheduled it for 6/29. That's only 5 weeks after surgery which makes me a little nervous. Has he mentioned if he does fills under fluoro? Hope everything went well!

Chris

Hi, I am a newbie here.. Hello everyone! I just called Dr. Pleatman's office yesterday. Karen, the nurse there was very pleasant to speak to. I am seriously thinking of going to see him for further information about the surgery. But, I too am curious if anyone has done well from him doing their surgery..

Thanks

I'll Succeed,

How did your surgery go with Dr. Pleatman? I was banded by Dr. Ortiz 5/26 but will be using Dr. Pleatman for aftercare. I called the office to arrange my first fill appt and they scheduled it for 6/29. That's only 5 weeks after surgery which makes me a little nervous. Has he mentioned if he does fills under fluoro? Hope everything went well!

Chris

Hello surgery went pretty status quo, however I did develope a very large Hematoma(Blood Under the skin) & therefore my healing process will be slower than others. I am hoping the Doctor will drain it on this upcoming Monday. As to his aftercare program I have heard very good things about it & am sure you'll be pleased. He does not use Fluoro for any of his fils to the best of my knowledge. But you could double check with Joe or Kaaren at the office. Best of luck & let me know if I may help.

Hi, I am a newbie here.. Hello everyone! I just called Dr. Pleatman's office yesterday. Karen, the nurse there was very pleasant to speak to. I am seriously thinking of going to see him for further information about the surgery. But, I too am curious if anyone has done well from him doing their surgery..

Thanks

I know two men here on LBT that have used Dr.P & myself. Both gentleman came through with FLYING COLORS. I also had a great surgery but did develope a Hematoma. The only reason that this even happened was Dr.Pleatman was trying to do me a favor & make my port insicion extra small. Other than this MINOR set back & am EXTREMLY PLEASED with my procedure & Hightly Recommend him. Also to the best of my knowledge Karen is not a nurse just a gal that works there. She has had BOTH Operations.

Personally I beleive he is more pro-RNY but does both procedures. His patience have had better success with the RNY over the two yrs BUT THAT IS STRICKLY because I do not believe they had a good support program & enough knowledge (LIKE LBT) to be successful at it & these people gave up way to early & switch to the RNY. THAT IS STRICKLY MY OPINION. He (Dr.P) will only want you to be well informed going into surgery on which procedure to have. I believe knowledge is power, & he lets you choose, of course but I felt he was leaning towards more pro-RNY> Which is fine it just wasn't going to be my choice;0)

good Luck to all of you & let me know if I may help anymore.

Lap Band Talk has been great!!! TXS to all of you for being here and helping us learn more about it. I did how ever just get an email from someone saying that Dr. P does not use "fluoro" can someone explain that to me? I guess I didn't realize there must be different things to fill with. Again txs to all!!

Lap Band Talk has been great!!! TXS to all of you for being here and helping us learn more about it. I did how ever just get an email from someone saying that Dr. P does not use "fluoro" can someone explain that to me? I guess I didn't realize there must be different things to fill with. Again txs to all!!

All fills are done with saline ONLY. As to the "process" of the fill it really quite simple. They locate your port & inject a very long needle w/saline & fill up your band or remove saline from your band the same way.

The only use for Flora is to see the Fluid run freely through the band in the end making sure your not to tight or there is no possible leaks(to the BEST of my knowledge).

The same results can be had by drinking a bit of Water & making sure it goes down easily. Flora would be used only if there seems to be a problem. This is what Dr.P told me. Hope that helps.

Just to clarify- Flouro refers to a machine that allows them to see your insides like an x-ray machine. It moves in real time an they can see what they are doing with the needle and with having you drink while on the machine. It is not something that gets injected into you. All bands,to my knowledge, just get injected with saline all the time.

Dr. P. uses a sonogram to locate the port and that aids in not getting stuck or missing the port when getting fills. I beleive Dr. P. only uses flouro if the port is difficult to access (flipped port) or if there are leakage concerns.

T

Hope this helps.