Having hard time finding surgeon in my area that does SADI or DS

[Cyndi]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie here, trying to figure out what surgery is right for me. My problem is I can't seem to find a surgeon near me that does the two surgeries I am interested in, SADI/SIP and DS. I was wondering if any of you had to go a distance (2 hour or more drive) to have your surgery?
Thanks a lot guys!

 

[Larra]

In Florida, the only surgeon doing the Ds is Dr. Dennis Smith, who recently relocated to Fla from GA. He has an excellent reputation. I couple people here recently had their surgeries with him and I bet if you do a shout out for his patients you will get some responses (though their may be a slight delay due to the holiday).
If you do end up needing to travel, you won't be the only one. Many people have to travel for this surgery, some even out of the country. It's an inconvenience but it can definitely be done, and it's well worth the effort for an operation that you will live with for the rest of your life.

 

[southernlady]

Welcome @Cyndi

Have you considered Dr. Dennis Smith in Celebration, FL.

Many of us have had to travel. Two hours is nothing. I know several who traveled across county, many to other countries, and at least one DSer traveled half way around the world.

Liz

 

[BebeZed]

welcome @Cyndi

 

[DianaCox]

Really examine what little long term information there is about the SADI - which isn't much.

 

[bearmom]

I traveled outside the US (30 hours!!) for my DS and would do it again every year if I had to. I'd likely see what I could finagle as a cash price in the US if I were to do it again today, but I'd still tavel for a DS, rather than get RNY right here. My insurance was willing to pay for RNY right here at home, but I traveled AND self paid, that's how strongly I felt about it.

I'm still leery of SADI and SIPS, in part because because they are too new and there just isn't any data on them yet, but also because they are being misrepresented to potential patients, and possibly insurance to get it covered. If it's a great surgery with a successful record, then this shouldn't be the case.

 

[Cyndi]

Thanks for all your replies. I'm curious how the appointments pre-surgery are handled when your surgeon if a distance from home (taking off of work and such, to travel). How often do you usually see him before surgery? Don't get me wrong, I know I have to see the surgeon, I just was wandering if he wants to see you monthly, bi-monthly or less up to surgery day?
Thanks Southernlady & Lara for mentioning Dr. Dennis. I'm going to check him out.
Diana, I know from reading the forum your all about the DS procedure. At one point all surgeries had no long term data. I'm glad you are happy with your chosen surgery.
Thanks again gals!

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Yup, I went out of state for mine, about a 3.5 hour drive. Went there twice before my surgery, did my preop clearances at home.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Thanks for all your replies. I'm curious how the appointments pre-surgery are handled when your surgeon if a distance from home (taking off of work and such, to travel). How often do you usually see him before surgery? Don't get me wrong, I know I have to see the surgeon, I just was wandering if he wants to see you monthly, bi-monthly or less up to surgery day?
Thanks Southernlady & Lara for mentioning Dr. Dennis. I'm going to check him out.
Diana, I know from reading the forum your all about the DS procedure. At one point all surgeries had no long term data. I'm glad you are happy with your chosen surgery.
Thanks again gals!

Good luck with YOUR chosen surgery...especially if you chose an unproven procedure with a surgeon who is too inexperienced/lazy to do the established procedure and is willing to lie to your insurance company who may then come after you for whatever they paid the crook.

Possible thin ice ahead...

 

[DSRIGGS]

I had my original DS in Peoria, IL 20 minutes from my home but I had issues and 23 months after that surgery I had a revision with Dr Ara Keshshian in Glendale, CA. Dr K and I traded numerous emails and phone calls and decided I would fly out and have a consultation on Monday and a couple labs then surgery on Tuesday. You can send imaging and reports to your surgeons office and he/she can review and do a lot of things over the phone. This was very easy with Dr K, but he is like no other Doc I have ever known.

The travel was not a big deal

 

[Cyndi]

Thanks Elizabeth and DSRiggs. Glad to hear the Doctors work with the patients who live a distance away.
DSRiggs, hope everything goes great for you on Tuesday.

Spiky Bugger, I am doing my research, that is one reason I came to this board. I'm looking for answers to my questions and positive/negative first hand experiences from people.
I'm an intelligent women and rest assured I would never chose a surgeon who is inexperienced and lazy.
What I would love to hear from you (and Diana)is your experience with your chosen surgery.
Please no 'seemingly' scare tactics here.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Cyndi - thanks but I had my revision in August.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Thanks Elizabeth and DSRiggs. Glad to hear the Doctors work with the patients who live a distance away.
DSRiggs, hope everything goes great for you on Tuesday.

Spiky Bugger, I am doing my research, that is one reason I came to this board. I'm looking for answers to my questions and positive/negative first hand experiences from people.
I'm an intelligent women and rest assured I would never chose a surgeon who is inexperienced and lazy.
What I would love to hear from you (and Diana)is your experience with your chosen surgery.
Please no 'seemingly' scare tactics here.

Experienced, un-lazy surgeons do the real DS and don't try to "sell" an unproven shortcut to patients. And since the shortcut surgeries have no long term data, insurances don't knowingly pay for them. Ergo, unless you are self-pay and willing to be someone's science experiment, those shortcut procedures are a gamble...both in terms of function and finance.

My band surgery was a long distance, ten grand deal. The DS was a cakewalk, only about 3.5 hour drive each way and insurance covered it. But patients have gone from Alaska to Brazil for a good DS surgeon. There are so few DS surgeons in the country, all of them have had plenty of experience with long distance patients.

One thing about Smith...it used to be that he only took "easy" cases, then he kind of disappeared on the DS front, now he seems to have reentered the game. But I do recall that he would not do a band-to-DS revision...made the patient go to another surgeon to have her band removed...wait three or four months...and then he did her DS. Almost like HE was the one needing a guarantee that all would go well...SMDH

 

[Jo777]

@Cyndi, I'm not a DSer so not going to weigh in on the life post-op.. I was however a self-pay WLS patient. Travel was not a big deal, flew to CA, was driven to MX.. and flew back several days later. My PCP was on board, I listed the labs I WANTED done, he did them.. and now I split the difference.. sometimes I get my labs done by him, other times I get them done on my own. Either way, I read them and log them. There was no real follow-up in my case or even pre-op. My PCP cleared me, then the surgeon did some of his own tests the day before.

I did want to address one thing you said though- I've known many of the folks here for better than 5 years, "scare tactics" are not something they employ, ever. Facts, sometimes hard to hear- yes. Very pointed discussion when needed, sure.. scare tactics- nope. It's why as a non-DSer I stick around. Most other places (actually all, to this point) are filled with people who will fluff up your bed, despite it being on fire.. not really helpful in the long term. I'd rather the bucket of cold water and some discomfort in order to save my ass.

 

[Larra]

@Spiky Bugger my recollection is a bit different from yours regarding Dr. Smith, in that I believe he does band to DS revisions but does not do RNY to DS revisions. It's possible that there was a time when that wasn't the case, but he was around in GA for years and doing band to DS revisions there. And I don't know that he only takes "easy" cases either. He is well known to do very thorough work-ups pre-op, perhaps more so than some other DS surgeons, but I haven't heard of him turning people away more than anyone else.