Just curious about Dr. K

[nedsmehlp]

I've heard so many of you that have had Dr K do your DS really swear by him. I was just curious, do you have to fly there for the consult? How long do you have to stay in CA before and after surgery? Do you have to fly there for the first, third, 6th, 9th, etc follow ups? How long are you in the hospital? Any information you can give me would be appreciated. Just wondering if it is financially feasible to have him do my surgery.

 

[DSRIGGS]

No you don't have to go in person for a consultation. You can skype and have labs, psych eval and nutritional consultation locally.

He will want to see you the day before surgery to do a quick examination, discuss the procedure and any questions, give you and A & D injection if needed (having D at a high level promotes healing and recovery), get any labs, ekg and chest x-ray if you haven't had one at home within a few weeks. Then you will register at the hospital for next day's admission.

As far as length of stay he really like you to plan 10-14 days but if you are doing well he will release you earlier.

I have had 3 surgeries with him:

• My revision to extend absorbing intestinal path due to malnutrition from my Virgin DS
• Verntral Hernia repair with Mesh
• Lysis of adhesion surgery where half of my colon was going to be removed due to redundant colon and issues it was causing but when he got in he saw that my gut cavity was full of scar tissues/adhesions. One completely wrapped my colon and was causing it to flip and twist, so he cleaned all that up and decided to be conservative and leave my sigmoid and left side colon.

We typically stay at a Hotel in Burbank as it is a couple blocks from a great downtown area with great restaurants, a mall and two movie theaters. Hotels are very expensive there and the brand new Springhill Suites where we like to stay is $180sh if you can book ahead of time and $225 and up if there is availability and not far from date. The last time we did and Airbnb place for much cheaper. It is about a $3-5K trip for food, travel and lodging for us.

It is worth every penny because he is the most incredible person you have ever met. As far as follow up there is no need to see him once your return home and you can call or email him. I bet since 2015 we have emailed back and forth 400 times. He answers very quickly and it is him, not his staff although I talk to Kristina and Silva on occasion too. I have typically gone home after a week, but that was with a good and smooth recovery...so it varies.

 

[-Flo-]

I didn't travel for Dr. K, but I did travel for an experienced DS surgeon. He had me stay in the area for 2 weeks post op. After that I have never been back to see him. I have talked to him on the phone and email since. If you can afford it, I would go with Dr. K. I have only heard amazing things about him.

 

[nedsmehlp]

No you don't have to go in person for a consultation. You can skype and have labs, psych eval and nutritional consultation locally.

He will want to see you the day before surgery to do a quick examination, discuss the procedure and any questions, give you and A & D injection if needed (having D at a high level promotes healing and recovery), get any labs, ekg and chest x-ray if you haven't had one at home within a few weeks. Then you will register at the hospital for next day's admission.

As far as length of stay he really like you to plan 10-14 days but if you are doing well he will release you earlier.

I have had 3 surgeries with him:

• My revision to extend absorbing intestinal path due to malnutrition from my Virgin DS
• Verntral Hernia repair with Mesh
• Lysis of adhesion surgery where half of my colon was going to be removed due to redundant colon and issues it was causing but when he got in he saw that my gut cavity was full of scar tissues/adhesions. One completely wrapped my colon and was causing it to flip and twist, so he cleaned all that up and decided to be conservative and leave my sigmoid and left side colon.

We typically stay at a Hotel in Burbank as it is a couple blocks from a great downtown area with great restaurants, a mall and two movie theaters. Hotels are very expensive there and the brand new Springhill Suites where we like to stay is $180sh if you can book ahead of time and $225 and up if there is availability and not far from date. The last time we did and Airbnb place for much cheaper. It is about a $3-5K trip for food, travel and lodging for us.

It is worth every penny because he is the most incredible person you have ever met. As far as follow up there is no need to see him once your return home and you can call or email him. I bet since 2015 we have emailed back and forth 400 times. He answers very quickly and it is him, not his staff although I talk to Kristina and Silva on occasion too. I have typically gone home after a week, but that was with a good and smooth recovery...so it varies.

Sorry DSRiggs, I messed up trying to reply to you. Anyway, thanks so much for the detailed information. I really appreciate it. I'm going to call Dr. K's office tomorrow to ask some questions. So sorry to hear about all the medical problems you had! Hope you're doing good now.

 

[nedsmehlp]

Flo, thanks for all your information you have been giving me. I'm going to talk to his office, it never hurts to check things out.

 

[galaxygrrl]

If you are going to talk to Dr. K, you should comparison shop and talk to Dr. Rabkin who did not do my surgery (I went to Mexico) but has been nothing but awesome to me and I'm part of his group. He is a kind and wonderful man and just as skilled as Dr. K