Had original surgery in Mexico... Will a US doctor take me on for a revision?

I have a band that does not work for me at all. I'm pretty sure i have a slip. I moved from NJ to PA about 3 months ago and have not been able to find a doctor here that will take me on since i originally had surgery in Mexico. I've been looking for a band doctor. If i wanted to forget trying to work with the band any longer and move straight to revision... would a US doctor do that if my original surgery was not with him/her? I have a few calls in to local doctors, but i havent heard anything so far. Thanks...

~Kristin

 If you are willing to travel I would suggest looking into Dr. Eric Schlesinger in Pheonix AZ.  He did my revision and my original was with another surgeon, not in MX though.  I don't know if this would make a difference.  He is an excellent doctor and is very compassionate and takes the individual patients cir****tances into consideration.  He does many different types of revisions.

 Most Dr's will not touch Mexican band pts because of ins  issue's ( malpractice ins)  but  if you wanted your band out and a rny or D.S. done - well that can be another story.

Dr Schlesinger does a lot of revisions. He is worth the trip.  You can cal his office and talk to him , normally in surgery Tues & Thurs - I suggest calling on Wed    you can find him under Dr listings in Arizona

I had my band done in Mexico and am now going to have a revision to DS.  For a revision most doctors don't care where you had it done because they are taking it out not redoing it.  I had a hard time finding a doctor here to take care of my band and at first I had to learn how to do my own fills until I found one who would take care of me.  But now my band has broken and instead of keeping this horrible piece of crap in me I am going to get it out.  There is Dr Husted in Kentucky who does revisions and  some in Nashville, TN who does.  Maybe you can find one close to you but if you want DS you will most likely have to travel but it will be worth it.

Consider a revision to a Duodenal Switch (or DS for short).  Many DSers have to travel hundreds and thousands of miles to have theirs done by an experienced DS surgeon.  You are more than welcome to visit our DS board, where the regs are more than willing to answer your questions and provide support.  Here is the link.

Here is a list of DS surgeons performing/not performing revisions to DS in your region:

-  Dr. Husted in Kentucky (formerly California) performs RNY-to-DS revisions, as well as a number of other revisions, including GLB/VBG/other stomach stapling operations/MGB/VSG revisions, according to his website.  He has already moved to the Lake Cumberland Hospital in Somerset, Kentucky as of 9/2008.  Visit his website at www.johnhustedmd.com
-  Dr. Schweitzer in Maryland no longer performs RNY-to-full DS revisions, according to an e-mail sent by him to a member on the DS board.  However, he still performs other revisions.
-  Dr. Vanguri in Maryland performs RNY-to-DS revisions and has performed VBG-to-DS revisions, according to a member on the DS board.  The same member reported being pleased with the revision and Dr. V. is "absolutely wonderful!".
-  Dr. Greenbaum in New Jersey has performed more than 100 RNY-to-DS revisions.  One member mentioned in the DS board that he worked with Dr. Rabkin in California for about a year.  Several members have mentioned that he is an excellent surgeon, especially for RNY-to-DS revisions, and he has done excellent work!
-  Dr. Herron in NYC performs revisions.
-  Dr. Inabnet in NYC performs RNY-to-DS revisions and has performed hundreds of DS operations, according to a member on the DS board.  He also accepts high-risk cases.
-  Dr. Kurian in NYC performs revisions.  However, he no longer performs DS, according to several members on the DS board.
-  Dr. Pomp in NYC performs virgin DS but no longer performs revisions to DS, according to several members on the DS board.
-  Dr. Roslin in New York does DS.  However, when doing a revision from RNY, he makes it a distal RNY.  But he does not do RNY-to-DS revisions.  In addition, he performs VBG-to-DS revisions on a case-by-case basis, according to a member on the DS board.  Plus, he performs GLB-to-DS revisions, according to several members on the DS board.
-  Dr. Shah in NYC performs revisions on a case-by-case basis.
-  Dr. McMullen in NY does not perform revisions.
-  Dr. Nicastro in NY does not perform revisions.
-  Dr. Sparks in NY does not perform revisions.
-  Dr. Bonanni in Pennsylvania performs virgin DS but it's unknown if he performs any revisions to DS.
-  Dr. Peters in Pennsylvania does not perform RNY-to-DS revisions and does not intend to get involved in them.  However, he does perform GLB-to-DS revisions and revisions from old stomach stapling operations.  He appears to be very anti-GLB from what was reported on the DS board and is more than willing to remove GLBs and VBGs.

Further info about each DS surgeon can be found in the following link:
http://www.duodenalswitch.com/surgeons/surgeons.html

GLB-to-DS revisions are much easier to perform than RNY-to-DS revisions.

Here are the links to the DS websites for researching:
Duodenal Facts:  http://www.dsfacts.com
DuodenalSwitch.com:  http://wwwduodenalswitch.com

Hope this helps and best of luck on your research!

I have looked into the DS. I think it's great, but surgeons around me don't do it. I'm not opposed to traveling but i really want adequate after care. From my experiences now with the band from Mexico, i know it's really hard to get a doctor. I'm sure it would be a little different if it was done in the states, but i'm still cautious. Also, how would that work with insurance? I doubt my insurance would cover surgery if i was to have it done in another state. It's all so much to think about. I really need a local doc to take me on to atleast talk to me.

Kristen

1st call and find out from ins waht their criteria is . then start calling around - yes you have home work to do !!  but its all worth it !

and you soo right - you do need great after care and a wonderful support group/.

OOOh  1 more thought ,,call hte local hospitals and see if they have a bariatric  program - that will help you get your research done much faster..

Good Luck !

There are four doctors listed on the OH surgeons page that do DS revisions.  This is the link: http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/PA/a,doclisting/type,46/  I would check their info and make some calls to them to see what they will do and then when you check on your insurance you will have some names to start with.  This what I did and I got some great info and had a direction to go in.  Not all doctors are listed on the DS site and if they aren't that doesn't mean they are bad.  When you check the OH surgeons list you can read others reviews of them and you can even pm them to ask questions.