catecholamine
Resident Nerd
Dr. K. Williams and Dr. Boyce both work at New Life Bariatrics in Knoxville, TN. I had my surgery with Williams on 01/22/14.
Pre-op: As many of you know, their office pushes Dr. Boyce's overpriced RNY-type all-in-one vites and think they're appropriate for DS patients (they aren't - but they refuse to believe it). Their nutritional advice is for RNY and not that useful for DS patients, either.
You see Dr. Williams only once before surgery - on the initial consult. He explained the procedure well enough, however he did stop in the middle to answer a personal call from someone that was not work related....kind of unprofessional.
They want you on an 800 calorie diet before surgery (up to 4wks before depending on BMI) on their "special" (read: expensive) food.
The surgery: When Dr. Williams Came to see me right before they wheeled me into the OR, he sprung on me that they may only do they sleeve. This was obviously frightening. As it turned out, he did do the full DS, and the first words out of my mouth in recovery is "Did he do the full DS?". I am very displeased that he sprung that worry on me at the last minute, having never mentioned that possibility before. He seems to have done the surgery well enough - I'm 5 days out, the pain now is tolerable, no complications. There were 7 incisions, 1 drain, and a bunch of unexplained tiny red scabs where I'd been poked near some of the incisions. They covered the incisions with glue and some kind of new-skin like stuff to keep water out.
Stuff you should know: Both Dr. Boyce AND Dr. Williams now only remove 50% of the stomach with the DS. This is a larger than normal sleeve. They also usually give 100cm common channels. Also, if you don't do your own research about nutrition and vites, you're gonna find yourself in a world of trouble. Oh, and they have an $1800 non-covered services fee that everyone has to pay. Youch.
Is he passable? Yeah. I seem put together okay. Long term? Not so sure about my big sleeve. Time will tell if I should have looked elsewhere.
Pre-op: As many of you know, their office pushes Dr. Boyce's overpriced RNY-type all-in-one vites and think they're appropriate for DS patients (they aren't - but they refuse to believe it). Their nutritional advice is for RNY and not that useful for DS patients, either.
You see Dr. Williams only once before surgery - on the initial consult. He explained the procedure well enough, however he did stop in the middle to answer a personal call from someone that was not work related....kind of unprofessional.
They want you on an 800 calorie diet before surgery (up to 4wks before depending on BMI) on their "special" (read: expensive) food.
The surgery: When Dr. Williams Came to see me right before they wheeled me into the OR, he sprung on me that they may only do they sleeve. This was obviously frightening. As it turned out, he did do the full DS, and the first words out of my mouth in recovery is "Did he do the full DS?". I am very displeased that he sprung that worry on me at the last minute, having never mentioned that possibility before. He seems to have done the surgery well enough - I'm 5 days out, the pain now is tolerable, no complications. There were 7 incisions, 1 drain, and a bunch of unexplained tiny red scabs where I'd been poked near some of the incisions. They covered the incisions with glue and some kind of new-skin like stuff to keep water out.
Stuff you should know: Both Dr. Boyce AND Dr. Williams now only remove 50% of the stomach with the DS. This is a larger than normal sleeve. They also usually give 100cm common channels. Also, if you don't do your own research about nutrition and vites, you're gonna find yourself in a world of trouble. Oh, and they have an $1800 non-covered services fee that everyone has to pay. Youch.
Is he passable? Yeah. I seem put together okay. Long term? Not so sure about my big sleeve. Time will tell if I should have looked elsewhere.
