Jacksonville Surgeon????

Is anyone in here from Jacksonville Florida and can recommend a GREAT surgeon?  I dont just want to go to anyone.  I would rather go to somone who has been recommended. Thanks for any help you can provide! Jennifer

I dont know of any in Jacksonville but sure someone will.. But I can recommend someone just north of you that is wonderful. Dr Kent and Dr Henderson of GA Coast Surgeons

I'm in Jacksonville, FL and my lapband was put in by Dr. Herrera.  I don't know if he's a GREAT surgeon, but I like him.  I haven't had any problems with my band so far.  He also took out my gall bladder in October (stones)  He did a good job - I had a few more holes but recovered quickly.   What's your definition of a great surgeon? 

Ok, here's an update: 

In 2009, Dr. Herrera couldn't find my port, so he told me that it had flipped and I needed to go in and flip it back over. He said he would wave his fees, and I could do it at a surgery center so that it would cost less, since I'm self-pay. Well, when he got in there, the port had not flipped, it had just shifted and he had never noticed it - then again, he never had never scoped me or used any other diagnostic equipment to see if it had really flipped. Still, I was out $2k and a day of surgery to find this out. 

Then, in 2011, I really started having problems with the band. I had frequent heart burn and reflux and I could barely eat anything. If I ate more than a few bites of food at a time, I would either cough it up or my heart would start to race. Dr. H scoped me and said it was a "small slip" and that he wouldn't fill my band anymore - that I needed a revision (at the cost of several thousand more dollars with the newly hired revision specialist). He wasn't even willing to go in and fix the slip. 

So, I found a new doctor who told me on my first visit to him when he scoped me that I had a hiatal hernia. During the fluoroscope he pointed to the screen and said "see your stomach here?" "That's your chest." Then he pointed to an area farther down the screen and said "it's supposed to be down here."

He performed surgery on me soon after that and said that I had a "massive" hernia and that about half of my stomach was in my chest and it took a long time for him to carefully work it down out of my chest and take off the old band and put on a new one.  Now, how in the h*ll did Dr. Herrera miss that? Or how about, maybe, he should have fixed the hernia (that he knew about) when he did the very first surgery??

Oh sure, like any good salesman, he's a nice guy. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give a 8 for personality but a 1 for his diagnostic skills. 

I would never see him again and I would NOT recommend him. 

I'm glad you posted this.  I have heard his name a great deal but the thing is, for 99% of the population if a doctor is "Nice" to them, they think that makes him a stellar surgeon.  I suspect that may be the case here.

Good to see actual examples.

BTW, you can't see a flipped port on endoscopy but you can with simple xray or fluoroscopy.

 

"BTW, you can't see a flipped port on endoscopy but you can with simple xray or fluoroscopy."

I was typing fast there and taking shortcuts. I meant fluoroscopy. He didn't do anything other than try to find the port for a fill and when he couldn't find it after poking around for a while, he said "it's flipped." and scheduled me for surgery.  Maybe he was eager to do a surgery again. Surgery is the answer for a surgeon, right? When you have a hammer, every problem is a nail. 

I was kind of mad at myself afterwards. I really should have insisted on a fluoroscopy or xray before agreeing to have him go in to flip the port. What a waste of time and money.  Really, this whole band has been a waste of time and money. 

In hindsight, I would have asked for his partner, Dr. Chappano, to look for my port. Herrera always had some difficulty finding my port, even though he put it in and it was on the chart. Chappano never had a problem finding it the few times I went to him.   In fact, if someone is thinking of going to North Florida Surgeons, go to Chappano. Don't see Herrera. I thought it was kind of telling that the last time I wanted to schedule an appt with them, Herrera was available the next day but I had to wait two weeks to see Chappano because he was booked. Of course I scheduled with Chappano. I won't see Herrera again. 

 

 

 

I'm in Jacksonville, and my surgeon is Dr. Herrera at St. Vincent's.  In my opinion he is great!  He really listens and is very understanding, and he has done what is best for me.  PM me if you want more info.  I think he is an awesome surgeon!

Honestly, most of this depends on your insurance and which doctors they contract with.

Hello. I live in Jacksonville, Florida and my surgeon was Dr. Herrera at St. Vincent's Hospital.