How many surgeries is enough to count as "qualified"

Best wishes to both of you on your decisions!

~Lisa

My surgeon has over 1,700 DS surgeries under his belt, which was why I chose him. I had to travel as the DS is not done in FL and I figured I might as well go with the best. My surgeon does not even do the RNY and I really love that about him.  He totally understands the DS like nobody else I've ever spoken with (I had a consult with another DS surgeon who was more pro RNY and I was uncomfortable with that.)

We've seen on these boards that more experience = better outcome with fewer complications. There is a steep learning curve. I do not know anything about your doctor so I cannot comment; just telling you my philosophy.

He is a known entity here. Several satisfied patients have posted in the years I've been involved here.

What's important is that you get good nutritional information and followup, and he's NOT going to do that. Learning about DS nutrition will be your own responsibility. You are highly likely to get RNY-based information from the practice (most practices do that), and it is all totally wrong for the DS (with the exception of the need to control carb intake). That's where this board is invaluable. I hope you'll be able to make great use of the hundreds of pages of information here, since you've already made such a terrific start :-).

Have you read www.dsfacts.com yet?

 Thanks Eliabeth. i agree that the follow up nutrition advice will be based on RNY, but from what i have read here i shpuld be o.k. I have read DSfacts.com, and everytime i think i have read it all and fully understand the procedure i end up reading for another 5 or 6 hours!! This forum has so much information and actual patients from so many surgeons that it is invaluable. Thank you everyone who has responded to my question.
Rick

You sound like you'll be fine :-). Hey, there's always MORE to learn. Google Scholar is your friend, go there and put in "duodenal switch" and you could be occupied for weeks. (Of course, you get the stupid crap that way, too, so it pays to be a critical reader, but that's a given.)

Your level of confidence along with Dr. Oakley's is most important, here.  If he's on dsfacts, then he's gotten some good reviews.  I'm glad there's another DS surgeon on the rise in that part of the country.