For DS patients of Dr. Dennis Smith in Marietta, GA

Hello, I am looking for people's personal experiences w/ Dr. Smith. I am also looking for prices of self pay patients. My insurance won't touch WLS, so my parents are paying for my surgery...the increase of price from gastric bypass to DS could be a deciding factor. I live in Nashville, TN, and I am doing research on Lap DS surgery. I am currently scheduled for Gastric Bypass on February 26th in Nashville, but I have just learned about the DS surgery in the last couple of weeks, and I want to do as much research as possible before making a decision to change surgeries. Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated!! Sincerely, Amanda Biggs

Hi Amanda, I can't help you with regards to self pay or the DS but I can tell you that Dr Dennis Smith Jr is my doctors number one choice for surgeons. Have you checked out the DS board? Pat

You can call their office and speak with Denise or Nell. Both are very nice to talk to. You can also call Kennestone Hospital at 770-956-STAR to get the self pay price on the hospital portion. (great hospital system, I have worked there for 4 years) I am having the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (1st part of the DS as a stand alone surgery) in March and the cash/self-pay is approximately 5 - 6K for the surgeon, 9 - 10k for the hospital, and 2k for the anesthesiologists. You also have to do bloodwork, psych eval, EKG, Nutritionist, and Pulmonary clearance. My PCP sent me for most of the pre-op stuff, so I didn't have to pay that out of pocket. Hope this helps! Jackie

Although your insurance might not cover the surgery you should speak with them about the pre ops, labs, etc because many will cover portions of things. As for Dr. Smith, he is not my doctor but my own surgeon recommended him if I wanted mine done lap (I am going for the DS) rather than open...so to me that says a lot.

Dr. Smith is a wonderful surgeon. He is one of the best in the field. Which also means he is not the cheapest doctors out there. I would contact his office and get the prices for self pay (including his assistant surgeon cost), contact the hospital for thier charges. Be sure you know all the costs up front, it can be very very expensive. I would take the DS anyday over the RNY. I researched for over a year.