Texas DSers...need help...Dr. Barker or Dr. Stewart??

After being on the gain/lose roller coaster for way too many years, I've finally made the decision to have WLS.  I've done some research & am pretty sure I want to have DS as long term success is the most important thing to me & I feel like DS will give me the best shot at that.

That being said, I had an initial consult with Dr. Barker yesterday & was ready to go for it.  After giving it some more thought I decided that this surgery was was important enough that I should at least meet with another surgeon.  Plus, I waited 1 hour & 45 minutes in their office & then didn't even get to see Dr. Barker.  I saw the female doctor, but Dr. Barker is the one who will be doing the surgery & from what I've read on here I may not ever meet the man.  I don't feel comfortable having someone operate on me that I've never met.  I called Dr. Stewart's office today & scheduled a consult with him.

I would appreciate hearing from others who have used either surgeon...and please give it to me straight:good, bad or ugly (although after reading on here I'm not too worried about that...y'all seem pretty honest ).

Thanks!

Julie

I'm not from TX and have never met eitiher of them, but I can tell you we have many of Dr. Stewart's patients on the other wls board (they used to be here, long story) and that they all sing his praises.
    Dr. Barker is more of an RNY guy. He has years of experience with RNY. He has more recently begun doing some DS, but I don't know how many, which is definitely something to ask, if you ever get to met him. Or at least see if you can get the answer from his office staff. Dr. Stewart has tons of DS experience and even does revisions of other wls to the DS, which is more complex surgery. I don't think you would go wrong with him.

And you are also right about the longterm results being superior with the DS. It has the best statistics of any wls presently available for percentage excess weight loss and esp for maintainence of that weight loss.
     Second opinion - great idea.

Larra

 Hmmm...Dr. Barker's nurse told me yesterday that Dr. Barker is who another local surgeon (who only does the band & sleeve) sends all of his revisions to.  Please don't take that the wrong way, I'm not doubting what you say at all...I'm questioning the accuracy of what the nurse told me.

"revision" doesn't necessarily mean revision to the DS. He could be revising band to RNY, sleeve to RNY, proximal RNY to distal RNY, band to sleeve, etc.
    I don't think anyone is questioning Dr. Barker being an experienced bariatric surgeon. The only issue from your point of view is his experience with the DS. I would again recommend asking how many DS's he has done, not how many revisions, which probably involve the DS little or not at all.

Larra

I've heard good things about Dr. Barker. He has potential and promise! But he's new to DS.

If you can get Dr. Stewart, he has the experience and stats.

I would definitely go with Stewart.  He has the experience behind him that would be critical to my decision making.

~Becky

Stewart FTW.

I am pretty new on here, Dr. Barker performed my DS on Mar 19th. I did alot of research before I decided the DS would be best for me. I didn't have any complications and was released a day after my surgery... I would definitely say Dr. Barker is one of the best:)

Dr Stewart...hands down! Dr S has tons more experience with DS than the other guy. I have used Stewart for surgery related to my DS and I totally recommend him!

Hi,
Sounds like you are trying to make the best informed decision possible! I had a revision from RNY to DS with Dr. Stewart. He is a very good surgeon. If you decide to go with Dr. Stewart, you will be in excellent hands! He has a wonderful group of staff that works with him and I have taken excellent care of me. Anytime I have telephoned, the staff has taken a lot of time answering my questions and getting back with me. When I had my initial consult with Dr. Stewart, he spent at least an hour with me discussing my options, etc. He is quiet and very professional. I felt very compfortable with him and his staff. Let us know how your visit goes! Best wishes!!
Brenda