Looking for a FL surgeon willing to take on complicated case.

I am a post-op WLS patient who has had great success after my procedure. I am writing on behalf of my son who has Spina Bifida. He is quite obese and needs some kind of help. However, he has had some prior surgery to his bowels and bladder from Dr. Dixon Walker up at Shands from many years ago. He is almost 21 years old and Dr. Walker retired a long time ago. How do you think I could go about finding a surgeon perhaps in Gainesville who would be willing to take on a complicated RNY case? Charlene in Melbourne

Hi Charlene, I don't know about Gainesville, but Dr. Robert Marema is at US Bariatric Orlando in Celebration. When ObesityHelp magazine released its top 100 "Surgeon Rankings...Lives Transformed Score" (July 2003), derived from information collected from over 150,000 bariatric patients, Dr. Marema was listed as #1. Dr. Marema does all of US Bariatric Orlando's revision procedures for patients with surgeries done elsewhere, so he is no stranger to complicated cases. HTH, Kristen

Charlene, I was thinking that maybe the lap band might be a better choice for him because it doesn't affect the bowel. I know that Dr. Cywes in Jacksonville doesn't shy away from complicated patients but he only does the band. But whichever surgeon you choose should be able to help you and he to decide which is the better option for him. Good luck to you. Kat

Did Dr. Marema used to do surgery down in Ft. Lauderdale. His name is familiar. And Celebration iw a whole closer than Gainesville. I am not sure that he would get enough results with the Lap Band. Thank you ladies. Char

Yes, Dr. Marema founded US Bariatric in Ft Lauderdale, and spends about 70 percent of his case time in Celebration now with Dr. Keith Kim. The US Bariatric Orlando phone number is 407.303.4504. HTH, Kristen

Charlene, I think you might want to check with Dr. Michel Murr who has great success with complicated sugeries. He is chief of of bariatric medicine at Tampa General. He does over 300 gastric bypass surgeries a yr. There is info at zmbi.com Good luck to you and your son.

You might also want to look into the Sleeve. It is a procedure that is quite simple and doesn't require maintenance.

I spoke with the doctor's office in Celebration and also talked more to my son. We are going to try and make one of the seminars in the next few weeks. Char

Hi Kristen..... My daughter had RNY done in India 3 weeks ago. So far she is right on track with the others posting at the same time frame. I was wondering about a doctor to take her case here in the states. My surgeon doesn't do anyone from other doctors much less another country. Do you think this doctor Marema would take her on? I really would rather her to have follow up with a good bariatric surgeon.