Looking for a DS surgeon near New Mexico
- Thread starter kevin86
- Start date
newanatomy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 2,983
I saw Dr. Simper briefly the day before I left the hospital. I have not seen him since. I am coming up on two years post-op. I discussed having the DS with my PCP before I went in for it. If my PCP had not been supportive, I would have gotten a new PCP. Most of us never need to see our surgeons again. For some, it is a personal preference not, a necessity. For others, maybe they had some complications that required their surgeon's attention.
I give my PCP a list of the labs I want drawn and he has his staff write the orders then signs it. Easy! I use the list found here:
http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/generic-ds-lab-order.191/
I give my PCP a list of the labs I want drawn and he has his staff write the orders then signs it. Easy! I use the list found here:
http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/generic-ds-lab-order.191/
Oh ok. Well thank you for that info!!
Hi Kevin, I was from El Paso, Tx (almost New Mexico)! We drove to Delano and I had my surgery with Dr. Keshishian. I stayed in Bakersfield for 1 week after and then we drove home. I wish I could use Dr K as follow-up, and I did go back at 1 year. Now, after almost 15 yrs, I am just a loyal fan. He is very helpful if you need questions answered and is available by email. I have had to train my PCP's in aftercare, and have been lucky to have ones that are willing to learn. I would also recommend Dr Ayoola in Denton. He has done the DS on several of my friends and co-workers and they are very happy. Best of luck in your research and decisions.
As of right now I'm looking between Keshishian and Ayoola. I'm thinking it to may end up being Ayoola or Simper though because Keshishian is not listed as an Aetna Institute of Quality so I'm not sure if they will be willing to pay.
Thank you very much.
Oh ok. I'll have to research it. May I ask what doctor you used?
DSRIGGS
Yes, that is chocolate covered bacon
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2014
- Messages
- 4,635
Kevin I started to reply yesterday but forgot to post it. Email the office ...the web site is dssurgery.com and you can find the email address there and send your question to Kristina or Silva (both are lovely ladies) and they will get back to you. Just tell them you learned about Dr K from here and that you live out of state but we're looking in to Dr K's services and wanted to know if your Aetna PPO policy would be accepted by there office/grant approval for the DS procedure. Obviously they aren't going to submit for final approval now but they will be able to find out for you in general if Aetna will cover.... Note all policies are not the same but they can take your information and check on it.
Clementine used Dr K and so did I for my recent revision..i am from central, il.... Dr k and I talk over email quite a bit and he is the most incredible surgeon/Dr I have ever met so although he won't be there to see you for follow up he will give you incredible advice and and answer any question you have (quickly over email).
Thank you everyone. I have spoken to Keshishian's staff. They do accept Aetna. So I've got an appointment with my Pcp on the 15th to let him know my plans and then decide between Simper, Ayoola, and Keshishian. My gut feeling is leaning me towards Ayoola. I'm not sure why just kinda a feeling I have. Could be because I'm a cowboys fan haha jk. Who knows what may change over the next few weeks. I'm gonna continue researching every day. I've stayed up till 1:00am for the last few days just reading posts and going to websites. The more research the better.
DSRIGGS
Yes, that is chocolate covered bacon
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2014
- Messages
- 4,635
Hi Kevin - I don't know much about Aooyla or Simper but they seem to have good reputations on the board..... Of course nobody has the reputation of Ara Keshshian. That man is just unbelievable in terms of experience (over 2,000 DS procedures), skill (he fixes other people's screw ups), energy, before side manner and incredible care and follow up of his patients. He operated on my son to fix very serious non batiatric issues with his GI tract and he fixed my messed up DS.
Just a short story about his incredible care and compassion for patients that aren't even his. My so who is 21 and has had major issues since being diagnosed with cancer in 2010 has gastroparesis on top of other things and it was making his life hell. a normal stomach is pretty much empty after a few hours. Testing showed his to only be 20% empty after 4 hours. This caused severe nausea, bloating and pain on top of his GERD related nightmare symptoms. I didn't know Dr K but knew of his reputation from here as a world class gut surgeon so I got his contact information and sent him an email at about 7 am central on a Saturday morning hoping to hear something back that week sometime. I Shit you not he called me within 15 minutes and we spent an hour on the phone discussing potential options. Note he told me that he didn't need to do the surgery because any good general surgeon could do it but we traded probably 50 emails over the next month with him giving advice and answers questions. I tried to give him my insurance information so he could bill us and he would have nothing to do with it. The guy gave away hours of his valuable time to a person he had never met. Things did not work out with a local surgeon (freaking guy wanted to completely remove Cameron stomach which was insanely radical an unwarranted) so we went to Dr K in June. He fixed numerous things on Cameron including a congenital small intestine defect.
At the same I had been having severe malnutrition and required huge amounts of a pancreatic enzyme to get any nutrition from my food. Long story short and the main point of this long post, my alimentary limb was made too short for my small bowel length and was the cause of my malnutrition. Why? My original DS surgeon didn't do the hess method where the AL and CC lengths are customized to the patient. Dr k does the Hess method and at the end of August I had revision surgery to lengthen my AL substantially and CC minimally.
Had the Hess method been used by my original surgeon I would not have battled severe malnutrition for the last 18 months.
So...... Whomever you choose make sure they do the Hess method. I don't know if the other two do or not, but although the non Hess method works for many it can leave some like me in dire straits. It takes an extra 20 minutes and is not contacted. I firmly believe it should be the only DS standard of care because it customizes the DS to the individual and eluminates the chance of too much or not enough wait loss (the non hess method can lead to not enough malabsorption in some people because their channels are too long for their small intestine length).
Bottom line is I would choose Dr K and it isn't close.. He is the best in the world, but if for whatever reason you don't, make sure your surgeon follows the Hess method.
Off the soap box now
Just a short story about his incredible care and compassion for patients that aren't even his. My so who is 21 and has had major issues since being diagnosed with cancer in 2010 has gastroparesis on top of other things and it was making his life hell. a normal stomach is pretty much empty after a few hours. Testing showed his to only be 20% empty after 4 hours. This caused severe nausea, bloating and pain on top of his GERD related nightmare symptoms. I didn't know Dr K but knew of his reputation from here as a world class gut surgeon so I got his contact information and sent him an email at about 7 am central on a Saturday morning hoping to hear something back that week sometime. I Shit you not he called me within 15 minutes and we spent an hour on the phone discussing potential options. Note he told me that he didn't need to do the surgery because any good general surgeon could do it but we traded probably 50 emails over the next month with him giving advice and answers questions. I tried to give him my insurance information so he could bill us and he would have nothing to do with it. The guy gave away hours of his valuable time to a person he had never met. Things did not work out with a local surgeon (freaking guy wanted to completely remove Cameron stomach which was insanely radical an unwarranted) so we went to Dr K in June. He fixed numerous things on Cameron including a congenital small intestine defect.
At the same I had been having severe malnutrition and required huge amounts of a pancreatic enzyme to get any nutrition from my food. Long story short and the main point of this long post, my alimentary limb was made too short for my small bowel length and was the cause of my malnutrition. Why? My original DS surgeon didn't do the hess method where the AL and CC lengths are customized to the patient. Dr k does the Hess method and at the end of August I had revision surgery to lengthen my AL substantially and CC minimally.
Had the Hess method been used by my original surgeon I would not have battled severe malnutrition for the last 18 months.
So...... Whomever you choose make sure they do the Hess method. I don't know if the other two do or not, but although the non Hess method works for many it can leave some like me in dire straits. It takes an extra 20 minutes and is not contacted. I firmly believe it should be the only DS standard of care because it customizes the DS to the individual and eluminates the chance of too much or not enough wait loss (the non hess method can lead to not enough malabsorption in some people because their channels are too long for their small intestine length).
Bottom line is I would choose Dr K and it isn't close.. He is the best in the world, but if for whatever reason you don't, make sure your surgeon follows the Hess method.
Off the soap box now
That is actually is a very amazing story. I'm for sure going to research him.
My other question for anyone out there was how did you handle your PCP prior to anything? Do you find it best to partner with them or just go straight to the surgeon? I'm new to this whole thing so I have no idea how the process works.
