Comments on Michael Perez, MD Holy Cross

Dear People, I am close to selecting this Dr. for my gastric sleeve procedure. He told me that he has done 50 of these procedures.He is out of Holy Cross, Fort Lauderdale. Does anyone have any feedback on him? Thanks in advance, Bill Berg

Hi Bill, Have you thought about attending one of the USB support groups? That would put you in touch with his post-ops. HTH, Kristen

Kristen-Thanks! Very logical yet never thought of it. Regards-Bill

Bill, My friend had the sleeve done at cleveland clinic with Dr. Rosenthal. She was very happy with him and his staff. Cindy

Cindy, Thank you. Bill

I read an article once that indicated that after 100 procedures the complication rate magically drops. Now the article was referring to gastric bypass but I think the experience level would be applicable to any bariatric procedure. I would look for someone with much more experience. Red

Hi Red, You aren't going to find anyone with that much experience with the sleeve gastrectomy, since it is such a relatively new procedure for weight loss surgeons (just about 4 years). That being said/written, it is indeed best to find someone with SG experience in addition to lots of successful experience with gastric bypass. Kristen

Actually, you can find surgeons that have done more than 100 sleeve gastrectomies just not in the state of Florida. The sleeve gastrectomy is after all the stomach portion of the DS. It is not all that new, as the DS has been done in two parts for years for SMO. The VSG is just new as a stand alone procedure. That being said I would think it more important to find someone with lots of DS experience since they would have done more of the sleeve gastrectomies than a surgeon that has performed gastric bypass surgery. But here again one is not going to find a surgeon with that kind of experience in the state of Florida. Red

You're right! I completely forgot about DS. Dr. Kim said that he might look into doing the DS again in Celebration - we'll see. He is one of approximately 10 DS surgeons who function as preceptors, so he is fully qualified and has the experience. DUH! A bad day to stop caffeine, I guess. Kristen

Kristin- I know that Dr. Kim is a qualified DS surgeon and I always have in the back of my mind that if I get in real trouble that there is a doctor within shouting distance that is familiar with my surgery. I take a great deal of comfort in that fact. It would be great if he would start doing the DS again. As it stands now, Dr. Smith in Atlanta is the closest DS surgeon. I went to Omaha and had surgery with Dr. Anthone. In fact I just had my six month check up and I am doing great. And if all that was not enough this morning when I got on the scale I found I was down 102 pounds! Red