Question:
WOULD IT BE WISE TO LET THE DOCTOR HELP ME CHOOSE WHICH SURGERY THAT WOULD BE BEST

FOR ME. I'M ALSO CONCERNED THAT I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO DR.GOODMAN'S OFFICE ABOUT SURGERY AND I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT HE ONLY DO OPEN I REALLY DON'T WANT THE SCAR THAT IS ASSOCIATED W/ OPEN SURGERY SO I HAVE ALSO BEEN TALKING TO DR.GAGNER OFFICE WHO HAS NOT BEEN AS ORGANIZED AS DR.GOODMAN'S OFFICE THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT I FEEL GUILTY BECAUSE I LOVE DR.GOODMANS PERSONALITY BUT I NEED DR.GAGNER FOR WHAT I REALLY WANT. BEING THIS WILL BE A LIFE CHANGE ANY ADVISE WILL BE APPRECIATED AND ALSO ANYONE WHO HAD DR.GAGNER PLEASE RESPOND ON SERVICE, COMPLICATIONS AND WOULD YOU USE HIM AGAIN PLEASE.    — TANGIE B. (posted on September 12, 2000)

September 12, 2000
I have to answer this question because I have had both surgeons! I originally had an open RNY with Dr. Goodman on 8/11/99. He is an excellent surgeon, however, the only drawback, IMO, is he does not transect (divide) the stomach. I had lost about 90 lbs. by my 6-month mark, when I discovered I had a disrupted staple line. When the stomach has not been transected, that means that the food just leaks into the old, larger stomach, causing the stomach to empty faster, so you get hungry faster and can eat a lot more. Please understand this...the staple line disruption was NOT Dr. Goodman's fault and it was NOT my fault. It's rare, but it is one of those things that can happen. Dr. Goodman is one of the best and certainly most caring doctor I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you are his patient, you are his patient for life. He is always available to you. Well, the solution to the staple line disruption is another surgery to have the stomach transected. I opted to have this done laparoscopically simply because I'm self-employed, and could not afford to take the extra time off, so I went to Dr. Gagner. For such a high volume place, Dr. Gagner's office is somewhat disorganized and slow, however, at least everyone there is very nice. My surgery was on 8/24/00, and everything went just fine. The recovery period is significantly shorter, and Dr. Gagner is the finest lap surgeon in the Northeast, however, I will never have the relationship with Dr. Gagner that I had and still have with Dr. Goodman. Dr. Goodman has been concerned with my health and well-being throughout this procedure, and I will always consider him my doctor, as well as a friend, even though I am officially now Dr. Gagner's patient. Both these men are excellent surgeons. Your decision should not be made based on a scar, but on your requirements for a specific procedure and your comfort and trust level with the surgeon. When choosing a surgeon, we should all be aware that, because of the nature of this surgery, he or she should be easily and readily available to us for the rest of our lives. I hope this has been of some help. Good luck. Leslie
   — Leslie F.