Second guessing surgeon choice.

I'll go ahead and chime in here. Travel was not an issue for me as I live in Alaska and knew I would have to travel thousands of miles no matter who I chose as my surgeon. I was a virgin DS and phone and e-mail interviewed many surgeons all over the country before I made my decision. I found that Jossart was very heavy on trying to push me toward a VSG. Simper didn't have as much experience as other surgeons, but after talking with him extensively and "clicking" with him, I felt comfortable with his experience. I didn't talk to Rabkin or Keshishian, but I've heard nothing but amazing things about both. If you can afford that route, you might feel more at ease with going with those who have done thousands vs. a hundred or so. In the end, I've been nothing but impressed with Simper. He is also a vascular surgeon, which to me, spoke volumes about his surgical abilities. He certainly was looking for me to tell him why I wanted a DS above all other surgeries and was impressed with my research. He is a huge supporter of the DS, but wants intelligent DS patients. My PCP and he stay in contact and he gets copies of all of my lab work. Feel free to message me if you have any other specific questions.

Another Simper patient weighing in here.  I agree with the others, if you have to travel 6 hours to Salt Lake, you might as well travel to California, or other locations, etc. to get the surgeon you feel the most comfortable with.  Rabkin and Keshian are awesome, and they have many, many DS's under their belts.  Dr. SImper is a good surgeon, and I admire his bedside manner as well as his skills.  I don't think you can go wrong with any of the surgeons you are considering.  

Good luck to you.

How many DS's has he done,  and over how many years?

I'm not familiar with the surgeons you are considering.  I can tell you though that I changed my original surgeon choice.  Have you had a visit with your original surgeon choice yet or spoke to any of the staff?  Have you done that with your other surgeon choices?  I switched surgeons because of how the staff treated me and based on how willing they were to work with me.  This was a life changing decicion for me, so I did not want to have my surgery performed by a surgeon that had poor office staff.  I looked at it as if I had a problem pre-op and they were slow to take care of it, how would things be handled post-op if I had a problem.  I'm glad I changed my surgeon choice.   I agree with the others that having a surgeon with a good reputation is important too...but I wanted the whole package.  Just go with what feels right to you.  Good luck and may you make the best choice for you!  

~Roxy