Tell me all you know about Dr. Voellinger and Dr. Sudan.

And especially with them performing the DS surgery.

I thought I had read that Dr. Sudan hadn't performed that many DS surgeries, but now I'm not so sure.  I'm also now hearing that neither has Dr. Voellinger.

Any and all opinions welcome!

Dr.Sudan has been performing BPD/DS for at least a decade and when he was in Omaha NE, it was one of the things he was known for.

I'd strongly suggest that you go to the Bariatric Surgeon profiles for both Dr's Sudan and Voellenger, It gives people's personal comments... good and bad about the Dr's. You can also contact the person who posted the comment for clarification or to ask questions. 

I hope this will give you the tools you need to assess both very competent Dr's to determine who is the best fit for you.

 

From the 2 times I've met with Dr. Sudan not only is he beyond competent, but he is very personable and patient. He answers all questions and will explain any and everything at length if necessary.

You would probably do well to ask this question on the DS forum or on the Nebraska forum. When interviewing surgeons, I did, and received numerous responses.


Best wishes,

Renee

Have you been to an info seminar at Duke yet? I went this past Tuesday. I went into the seminar thinking that I want to have the DS. Dr. Pryor spoke at the seminar and said that they don't do many DSs due to issues with diarrhea etc. I do still plan to speak to Dr Sudan when I make my initial appt though.

Dr. Pryor is full of **** (no pun intended)!  They don't do many DSs at Duke because Dr. Sudan is the only one there who can do it and he just started doing them again.  I was Duke's first DS on 11/12/09.  Dr. Sudan also told me that the other surgeons there are not interested in learning to do the DS as they have enough band and RNY business. 

Some DSers do have issues with diarhea, as do some RNYers.  I know that with the DS it is usually easily controlled with dietary changes or by adding chia seeds to your diet.  In fact, many DSers have issues with constipation.

My experience with Duke has been that no one has any clue what the hell they're talking about when it comes to the DS other than Dr. Sudan.  I'm talking about the psychs, the head bariatric nurse, the nutritionists, etc.  ALL of them have given me bad/false info.  I usually will argue with them as I feel it may help future patients, but sometimes I just have to smile and nod knowing the whole time that I know better.

Do your research by speaking with Dr. Sudan and visiting the DS forum, dsfacts.com and duodenalswitch.com.

Good luck!

Dr. Sudan has done over 300 DS surgeries, but they were almost all done in Nebraska.  He moved to Duke this year and had to wait to begin doing the DS until his equipment (he uses the Davinci robot) arrived and he also told me (Duke's first DS) that he wanted to be sure that he and the OR staff worked well together and that they understood his equipment before doing any DS procedures there.  I had mine on 11/12 and another girl I know had hers on 11/19.  I've heard he's done another one and I know Renee (posted above) is to have hers anyday now.

I LOVE Dr. Sudan.  When I was doing research he got excellent reviews from past patients.  I've met with him several times (pre-op, surgery, 3 week follow up, etc.) and every time he has been very kind and patient.  He takes his time and I've never felt rushed.  He seems to genuinely care about his patients.  Having said that, I happen to think that Duke's admin staff suck ass.  I hear they have gotten better, but please be aware that you may need to be proactive and stay on top of them in order to get things done in a timely manner.  Of course, I happen to think this is good practice for DS post-op life as you will need to be able to be assertive when needed in regards to your healthcare whenever dealing with medical professionals who do not know about the DS.  Also know that the nuts and even the head bariatric nurse are still spouting off incorrect DS information, so do your research on the DS board at dsfacts.com and duodenalswitch.com.

As for Voellinger, I heard not so good things about him and his DS patients when I was doing my research, so I didn't bother to meet with him or look into him any further.

Good luck!