finding right dr????????

i'm a lil  confused,   i went to seminar of dr kerlakian in cin.oh.....he was great.........i;m going tomorrow to dr sonnantine  seminar,   did  any one else  go to more than 1 dr b-4  they made up their mind on who will do their  surgery..........................dr   kerlakian  does   hand assisted rny............can yall give me advise in what to do    i want the best    rny   dr

I researched a lot of doctors before my surgery, but when I attended the seminar at St. Joe's East in Lexington, I knew they were right for me. I highly recommend the team there. If you're still looking around, give them a try! My doctor was Dr. Josh Steiner. He is excellent. Here's a list of the upcoming seminars at St. Joe's.

Everyone will tell you the same thing.  Research , research and research.  I recommend of course  Dr. Sonnanstine.  In my opinion he is the best. You will know who right for you.  Ask questions check the doctors training.  Ask how many surgeries he or she has done.  Training is a big important part.  Your session tomorrow night will be open to any questions to have.  So make a list and ask away.  He is a very easy to speak to person.  He cares so much about his patients. I had a problem when I was 1 year out.  My gallbladder went bad.  Called Dr. Tom in tears and he told me to go to the hospital.  He beat me there.  He is just wonderful

Jane

I think you are doing the right thing, you have the right as a consumer to shop around the right center and the right surgeon.  You will feel it when it's right...If I had it to do over again I would have visited different surgeons and probably not chosen the one I had.  Dr. Sonnanstine is my choice as well as I have chosen him to be my post-op doc..I did that because I knew him well, watched him work and had confidence in his skills.  He is cute as a button..not just his looks but his personality as well.  he has a big heart and loves his a patients and is very hands on.  He has a great post-op program with Taryn running support group meetings..and best of all he is right in your back door..how much more convenient can that be? I will see you tomorrow night! Brenda

I was planning on checking out other doctors but once i met with Dr. Sonnanstine I knew he was the one.  I didnt check anyone else out.  Plus I had read so many great things on here about him.

I didn't go to more than one seminar but I did talk to a lot of people that had surgery and asked their opinions of their surgeons.  After hearing how some don't do lap at all or only on people under a certain weight.....hearing about the different pre-op and post-op support/education that is offered (or in some cases, not offered).....researching the surgeon's education and background.....I found that Dr. Sonnanstine was the right one for me.   I was over 400lbs and Dr. Sonnanstine was able to do my surgery laparascopically.....something that some surgeons wouldn't have been able to do. I've heard of hand-assisted RNY but I don't really know that much about it.  My thought is that it'll mean a larger incision in your belly where his hand has to go vs. the 6 tiny incisions that I had with laparascopic RNY.  I would worry more about infection and hernia with a larger incision.  As well as needing more time to heal. 

Oh Chris, I cringe every time someone mentions the word "hernia"...ouchkers. I had 3 large hernia's from my open incision....I had those fixed in Nov..that ended up a mess as I had a reaction or something to the mesh, I ended up crying and I mean literally, "Crying" to Dr. Sonnanstine for help..he took over my care..ended up taking the mesh out of me..put me on a wound vac before and after that surgery...4 months off work ..I missed the holidays completely..I don't remember Christmas at all..since my fever was 104.5 on Christmas eve..he operated on me Dec 27th..fun week I had between Christmas and New Year!...it was difficult for me but I watched closely as Dr. Sonnanstine stressed about my care..I tease saying the few gray hairs he has belong to me...well his nurse Taryn put a few there as well...guess you could say the two of us ruined his holiday...ack..poor guy..lol