Question:
Are there any experienced surgeons in the cities of Arlington or Ft.Worth, TX

I've decided to have WLS. Now I need to find a surgeon. I find it hard to believe that, in the whole D/FW area, all experienced surgeons are in Dallas. Dallas is very incon-venient for me and my support system. The traffic is terrible and probably impossible for anyone I know to arrange time off to be there w/ me. Having *someone* able to be there for me is very important to me. If I have the surgery done close to home someone could arrange to be there. I live in Arlington and my family lives on the far west side of Ft.Worth. I'd have to practically go thru it alone if I use a surgeon in Dallas. You'd think that with all the hospitals and surgeons in Arlington and Ft.Worth there must be some experienced surgeons closer to me than Dallas. Does *ANYONE* know of a surgeon experienced in WLS in Arlington or Ft. Worth, TX???? PLEASE let me know!!!!    — Cathy D. (posted on May 5, 2001)

May 5, 2001
Well, consider yourself somewhat lucky. Some people have to drive and even fly hundreds of miles for a doctor.
   — [Anonymous]

May 6, 2001
Well, Anonymous,I don't feel lucky. I don't want to die fat. I really need my family near and don't want to go thru this alone. *If* I did have to travel hundreds of miles for a doctor it wouldn't be possible for me to have surgery at all. I couldn't afford to fly and I wouldn't have anyone to drive me home afterwards and couldn't afford a motel for the time after surgery your not supposed to drive. Anyway...Tarrant County is huge & extremely well populated. I just thought a with all the Drs. in Tarrant Co. some of them would be experienced in WLS w/ so many obese people in our society these days. So far, no one knows of any Dr's yet. But, I know many others are in the same situation.
   — Cathy D.

May 6, 2001
I wish I could help you, but I don't know of any surgeons in Ft. Worth or Arlington. That may be in large part due to the fact that the hospitals in Dallas are where UT Southwestern Medical school is located. You might just look at the Meet Local Peers section under Ft. Worth and Arlington and see if anyone has found a surgeon there. I will be using a surgeon in Palestine, Dr. Dirk Rodriguez. That is a lot further away from Arlington to Dallas, but he doesn't have a huge waiting list like the surgeons in Dallas who you would have to wait until next year for a consultation appointment. I am from Amarillo. There is nowhere to go for surgery that is any closer than Lubbock, Wichita Falls and or Dallas. Those are the only options available to me. If you hadn't considered it, try Dr. Warnock in Wichita Falls or a surgeon with the new Bariatric Treatment Centers. I know the traffic is a major factor, but there may be no other option for you. If you want this surgery bad enough, you may have to have it in Dallas. Considering that it is no further away than it is, I would rather have the traffice to face than the plane flight and drive from Houston to Palestine. Wish I were more helpful, but all I can do is encourage you to research every doctor you know of and try to find out as much about each one as far as how many surgeries they have done and how their patients feel about their aftercare. The only reason I am going to Palestine is because he does a lap procedure, with a small incision. I don't want the open procedure unless I have no other options. I was going to use Dr. McCarty's office, but had a BMI over their cutoff of 45 for the lap surgery. I dropped out of the program and went with Dr. Hall in Lubbock who only does open wls. When I was denied by my insurance, I found out that they had tried to get approval for the VBG. I want the RNY, and decided to move on when I found out about Dr. Rodriguez. Good luck.
   — Diana M.

May 7, 2001
Cathy- I live in Irving and am seeing Dr. Veninga tomorrow in Plano. For me, the drive is worth it and in reality, your support will have to take the time off anyway to be with you for those few days and it is only a few days. My mother lives in OK and will drive the 2 hours here to be with me for the surgery and my dad lives in Cedar Hill. They will all be driving to the Plano area to be with me and I think that your "support" will be more than willing to travel the extra hour or so to be with you.
   — Cara C.

May 17, 2001
I live in Saginaw and also tried to find a doctor in the Fort Worth area so it would be convenient for everyone in my family. There were none in Fort Worth that were experienced in that type of surgery. I chose a doctor in Wichita Falls and will be seeing him next week about having open RNY. As far as I know Dallas is going to be the closest city. If anyone else knows about a doctor in Fort Worth I would also be interested.
   — blank first name B.

May 17, 2001
Cathy - I also live in Irving and extensively researched all of the doctors that I could find in the area. I found about 12 in the Dallas area, but found none in Tarrant county. Of the 12 or so in Dallas, none were covered by my insurance. I was lucky enough to get an out of network approval from my insurance company and am having surgery on 6/13 with Dr. Veninga. If you go to one of the doctors that perform Lap, perhaps your hospital stay will only be a couple of days and that would not be too much of an inconvenience.
   — Christy R.