Dr. Mark Pleatman, anyone???

Hi Everyone! Has anyone been to Dr. Mark Pleatman in Bloomington Hills? His price is really low, and he seems too good to be true... we've been very seriously considering Mexico for my husband and my RNY's. We are self pay after exhausting the ins game. Has ANYONE had him or known someone who has? Or how do I find out more about him good AND bad? This sounds crazy, but the real reason that I'm concerned, is that his price is the same or lower than some of the clinics in Mexico, and that seems kind of strange.....so please, if anyone's heard of him, email me!!! Thanks, Kim (Also, what's the closest big city to Bloomington Hills? I can't find it on MapQuest)

Hmmm.... the reason I didn't choose Pleatman was because he has an additional charge of 1,500 over and above co-pays and what insurance covers. So for me, he would be more expensive. With self-pay, I don't know. He has seminars you should go to. I went and was impressed with him. There were only about 5 people there, so it was almost one-on-one. He is known as an excellent laproscopic surgeon and only does the RNY procedure laprocopically. (If he had to convert to an open, he would, but he said he's never had to) I liked him and you can email him and he actually answers. The location would have been the best for me, but I couldn't afford the extra money. Call his office and see when his next seminar will be. He also has a website with a lot of information and forms you would fill out if you had an actual consultation with him....just do a google search with his name and you'll find it, as I don't know it offhand. Good luck with everything.

Whoops sorry.....just realized you're out of state. Guess you can't go for a seminar, but check out his website. That extra money is for followup, but since you're from OR, maybe you could work something out.......I don't know.

Hi Kim Dr Mark Pleatman did hiatal hernia lap on me 12 yrs ago and I never had any problems, I would go to him if i wasnt going through cori center. When I checked him out he was the same price as every one else and his after care was 3000.00 so that is why I chose cori Tammy

Hi Jennifer I'm just wondering how your recovery is coming along? Are you still in pain? Hugs Linda

Careful now. I found out if you say something that they don't like they call your surgeon and tell on you. kp

The reason you can't find the address on Mapquest is because it is BLOOMFIELD HILLS, NOT Bloomington Hills. The reason my cash price is so low is that the Hospital's charge is extremely cheap. In fact, my charge for cash-pay patients is $5000, which is more than I get from insurance companies for patients whose surgery is covered. This covers the surgery and unlimited follow-up. The hospital only charges $5400 for RNY, and the anesthesia charge is $780. The program fee is only charged to patients who have insurance coverage, and it covers all follow-up care. The program fee used to be $3500, but is now down to $1500. If you look on my profile in Obesityhelp, you will find numerous patients whom you could ask about me. You can also join our Yahoo group and ask about me (I will warn you that my patients are biased in my favor). I suggest you come to one of my Information sessions. Perhaps you won't like me. By the way, I don't just do RNY; I also do lapband and lap sleeve gastrectomy, as well as revisions. Good luck. Mark Pleatman MD

Hello Kim, I have Dr. Pleatman and his aftercare program is great. He also has a dietiician on staff for presurgery and postop. If you are self-pay Dr. Pleatman's price is the best. I do have insurance and chose Dr. Pleatman for his expertise and I wanted the lap RNY instead of open RNY and he does not require all the pre test that other doctors require, the only requirements are what your insurance company insist on. Pontiac is close to Bloomfield Hills. Janice

Well not having to do all the preop testing can become deadly, it's not a good thing. Suppose you have undiagnosed sleep apnea as i did, read my profile and see what happens with that. You want a surgeon who is thorough!! Linda

Hi Everyone, and thanks for all the info! I finally got the courage yesterday to call Dr. Pleatman's office and speak to an actual person. I guess I was afraid I was going to get pressured like I was here in my hometown. LOL So, when I called yesterday, the lady I spoke to not only works for him, but he did her surgery. I talked to her for quite awhile, and she was brisk, professional, and really really nice. I liked her alot. I liked that she didn't try to talk me into anything, and told me honestly (I felt) how things were. She explained the fee's and that alone made me feel so much better. I think when talking about not requiring all the tests, that perhaps it's only the tests not considered critical except by insurance. Such as the 500 question Psych eval, etc. The downloadable patient forms on their website reinforces the need for alot of pre-op testing, plus you need to have a consent letter from your PCP saying that you are in acceptable condition for surgery. So, all in all, I am feeling pretty confident in this now. I think it will much easier to get aftercare having a US doctor, also. And if there were complications, I would be more confident in a US surgeon following up with more surgery, if necessary. The doctors I checked out in Mexico I still am very impressed with, and if this doesn't work out, then I will proceed with them. Dr. Rumbaut in Monterrey was our first choice (a little more expensive, though), and Dr. Aguirre in Ensenada our second. Their track records are excellent and doing an exhaustive search on both of them didn't turn up anything negative on either of them. I still believe if you are careful in doing your homework on the doctor and the hospital, then it is a good option. You HAVE to be careful in the Doctor, no matter where you go. The reason I'm being so careful and hesitant In this decision is because my husband and I are both going to do this. If both of us had complications and they were fatal, our children would have no parents. If just one of us were having surgery I wouldn't feel that the stakes were so incredibly high. I don't mean that the way it sounds, just that they would not be robbed of both parents at the same time. As it is, they aren't getting the full benefit from either of us, because of our weight. I am furious with our insurance for making us have to go outside our comfort zone. (PacificSource, you really need to change!!) But like my husband says, and I believe, everything happens to us for a reason, whether we ever know what it is or not. I just reread this and can't believe how long it is. Thank you again everyone, for all your help and concern. I feel like I've made some really good friends, and I hope you stay in touch. If I do have surgery in Michigan, maybe I could meet a few of you? I'd really like that! Hugs, Kim