Is there anyone on here from the Bay Area?

I'm in Temecula so if you are ever up this way :) 

Anyone in LA area know of a place where I can get my evaluation? I need a much sooner date, low to no cost. My ins is LA Care. Thanks in advance. 

Hi gmjsgirl!

Well, no one seems to have the answer to your question, and that includes me, so I'll ask you a different question - have you researched all your bariatric surgery options, including the DS? The DS works well for anyone who meets the standard medical criteria for bariatric surgery, but is esp useful for people with a higher bmi because it has the best statistics for percentage excess weight loss, for maintaining that weight loss, and for resolution of almost all comorbidities. With a bmi of about 50, IMHO it is something you need to know about and consider.

the DS also avoids many of the drawbacks of gastric bypass - dumping occurs rarely if at all, you can take NSAIDs safely (in correct doses) whereas with gastric bypass they are contraindicated for the rest of your life, you can drink liquids with meals, and there are no foods that are forbidden for life. You would also have these advantages with VSG, but the weight loss and esp the maintenance of weight loss are not as good with VSG, and in fact we are seeing people who want/need revisions from VSG to DS all the time.

The surgeon you have named does not do the DS, so either it won't be discussed at your seminar or it will be dismissed as "too dangerous" or "extreme" or whatever. In fact it has been a standard of care bariatric surgery for at least 20 years and if you know your protein and vitamin requirements and stick with them, long term results are excellent.

Feel free to pm me for more info, and I wish you the best with whatever you decide.

Larra

I was trying to go see Dr. K while still on HPSJ and of course they denied it. I could have appealed the denial, but I realized even if I won I wouldn't have the money to pay for vitamins & such so I'm holding off until next year. You could try the same thing with Dr. Rabkin's office. His website is paclap.com. When his office tries to put your insurance through it'll get denied and you could do an appeal. I don't really know how those work though or how hard it is to win.

It's been almost a year since Taniesa commented about going to Dr. Coates for a revision and I still haven't heard of anyone actually getting one done from him. He probably has, but I don't think it's a lot. So if you still go to him, get as much info on how many he's done, the outcomes and how well those patients are doing.