I tried to get an appt with Dr.'s Baghai and Takahashi but they are both booked til May! My insurance will only pay for me to go to these 3 doctors, who are all on the same team. Dr. Solomon is new to their team (joined last year) and has about 3 years experience in Bariatric / general surgery. He had an opening for next week so I took it! Now I'm wondering if I should wait for the other doctors who have more experience, and seem to be very popular.

Anyone have any feedback?

What kind of insurance do you have that you're so limited to your choices?

I have Anthem Blue Cross HMO- Healthcare Partners. I've talked to them extensively about this and those are the only choices they gave me.

I tried to get an appt with Dr.'s Baghai and Takahashi but they are both booked til May! My insurance will only pay for me to go to these 3 doctors, who are all on the same team. Dr. Solomon is new to their team (joined last year) and has about 3 years experience in Bariatric / general surgery. He had an opening for next week so I took it! Now I'm wondering if I should wait for the other doctors who have more experience, and seem to be very popular.

Anyone have any feedback? :bananalama:

What I would want to find out is how many (in numbers) Lap Band surgeries does that doctor have experience in. My surgeon has done over 3,000 Lap Bands which is on the higher end since it was only approved by the FDA (in America) in 2001. That's about 500 a year, more than one a day. If this surgeon hasn't done that many bands, but is more familiar with bypass or sleeve or some other kind of bariatric surgery then I might wait for one in that practice that is more familiar with the band. Good luck, just make sure you do ALL your research before you go under the knife.

Wow! You seem to have found the right doctor!!! :bananalama:

Thanks for the advice.. I am definitely doing my research, slowly but surely I am going to get the answers I need. I guess that's the price you pay for going thru your insurance. If I could afford to pay cash I would! But thanks for your reply and good luck on your journey! Your band is around the corner! Very cool. :cheers2:

I don't think you have anything to lose by seeing him next week. It is usually at least 6 months before surgery could even be scheduled. They require a lot of pre op testing, which is a good thing. I work at Torrance Memorial and asked someone in surgery about him when he first started, said he was an excellent surgeon.

By the time you would be scheduled, he will have even more experience. You will also have time to research if you don't feel comfortable. At least, you can get the ball rolling.

When I had my band, Dr. Takahashi had only done about a dozen but I trusted her experience as an experienced laparoscopic surgeon, in bariatrics, critical care and general surgery. Remember, the younger surgeons are sometimes better at laparoscopy than the older ones, not to take away from their experience and knowledge. I think I read that Dr. Solomon also has training in Robotics...the next frontier in surgery.

Also, Monday night is the lap band support meeting, might be wise to attend. You will be required to attend meetings before surgery anyway. A rep from lap band is supposed to be there, they can usually answer a lot of questions, some even the

surgeons can't.

Good luck with your decision, don't rush into anything just because you see someone has done 5000 bands, you want quality and not an assembly line. You have to do your research.

I tried to get an appt with Dr.'s Baghai and Takahashi but they are both booked til May! My insurance will only pay for me to go to these 3 doctors, who are all on the same team. Dr. Solomon is new to their team (joined last year) and has about 3 years experience in Bariatric / general surgery. He had an opening for next week so I took it! Now I'm wondering if I should wait for the other doctors who have more experience, and seem to be very popular.

Anyone have any feedback?

Hi MommyO...... I was just wondering if you kept your appointment with Dr. Solomon because I have an appointment with him on June 1st. I too was trying to get in to see Dr. Takahashi but she didn't have anything available till July. If you did see him, how did it go and does he seem to know his stuff?

Not sure if you went through with your surgery or not but I had my surgery with Dr. Solomon and he is outstanding! I highly recommend him. He did my sleeve with scareless technique. I had no pain and no scares on my stomach. I have lost 95 lbs and I feel wonderful and blessed.