Has anyone had surgery by Dr. Crookes or Dr. Keshishian?

I am a self paying patient and I wanted to know if anyone has had these doctors and if so how much did they charge you? You can send me a private message if you like. It will be DS Lap. I am actually very upset with Dr. K office. They had given me a price and I asked for a discount which they did give me. Now that I am ready to set up my appt. they have a few surprises for me. One, my initial dr fee that I paid won't go towards the surgery but at my first appt they said it would. And now they are saying that the 2 years post op is not included either. That if i wanna see the dr the fee would be $80 per visit. I am beyond upset at this. They told me this is all because of the discount they gave me. Ugh! So mad. So now I am looking to see if this is right ? Or should I look for another dr? Like Dr Crookes? PLease help! All and any advise is helpful!  

I believe they are both in good standing.  Once you recover, there's no reason your regular PCP cannot monitor your nutritional levels, so the 2 year post op thing is unnecessary, so don't sweat it.  I've not seen my surgeon in years after a couple of annual visits with a hug, being told I'm doing great and sending me for bloodwork.  What a waste of time and money!  I roll my bloodwork into my annual scope and grope with my PCP and get everything done in one day.  

Being self-pay, I'd also like to recommend looking at Dr. Ungson in MX and Dr. Marchanesi in Brazil.  Their price is considerably cheaper than you'll get in the US and they have top ratings.  I wouldn't recommend anyone else in these countries, though.   I believe Dr. Houston in TX has a reasonable self-pay price if I recall correctly.  Like I said above, once you're recovered, your PCP can coordinate everything else.

Thanks for your reply! I will look into Dr. Crookes as well. I am not to open in going out of the country to do this surgery. But who knows I might get more info from Dr Ungson. Thanks again! I just want to make sure Dr. K's office is giving me a fair price. :-)

Do look him up.  The price for surgery, room and board for two and airfare is often altogether less expensive than paying cash in the US...and he's highly respected worldwide.

I was self pay with Dr. Keshishian and as far as I'm concerned...the sun rises nd sets on him. Mine was a revision so more cash but it's covered all my post op for the last 2 years. I highly recommend him.

Hi Gail,

That was one of my concerns. They gave me a "discount" so now since they gave me a "discount" they are telling me that the 2 year post op visits are not included in my "discount" price. Which they never told me back in June when I first got this "discount" approved by Dr. K office. So I am kind of upset at this.

I'm not sure about the discount. I paid a program fee. I feel I have had complete access to Dr. K when I needed him.

Good luck to you.

My surgery with Dr. K  was covered by insurance, but I did have a "program fee" (not covered by insurance) that pays for all visits and such for 2 years.  I agree here...I can call at any time and get a response.  His office staff, in my opinion, are excellent. 

It's one thing to have a problem with office staff, another to consider the quality of the surgeon. Dr. K is one of the most highly regarded DS surgeons around. You won't do better. And Val has addressed the follow-up issue.

    Dr. Crookes also has an excellent reputation, but does the DS open, which isn't what you want. As to whether or not he has a self-pay option, I have no idea.

    Dr. Ungson in Mexico also has an excellent reputation, but last I knew only did the DS open as well. If you are open to going to Mexico, you could ask his staff about this issue.

    But really, if you are anywhere near Dr. K, see if you can't get over your anger at his staff and at least have a consultation with him. You won't be disappointed.

Larra

Thank you very much for your input. It really does give me a different view. You are right I was angry at the staff for not making thing so clear. That really has nothing to do with Dr. K experience. :-)