Question:
Lap RNY surgeons in Baltimore/D.C./northern Virginia area???

I am posting for a friend who is looking for a good surgeon to do a Lap RNY in the Baltimore/D.C./Northern Virginia area. This friend scheduled an appointment for February in JUNE (8 months ago--she got first available appt.) with a leading lap RNY surgeon in Baltimore and just had the surgeon/hospital cancel out yesterday because the surgeon was changing hospitals! She has not been able to contact the surgeon to reschedule, and doesn't want to wait another 8 months to get to see him!!!!!! Any recommendations??? Thanks.    — Sarah S. (posted on January 30, 2003)

January 30, 2003
This sounds like my experience. I believe the surgeon you may be referring to is Dr. Switzer. I also tried Dr. Magnuson and faxed a request to his office in October. They called last week and offered me an appt for the initial consult in September -- I declined. I then contacted Dr. Greene's office and scheduled an appt for 2/20 -- before they will schedule an appt, you must first attend a support group meeting at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Springs.
   — jaaxo

January 30, 2003
I also had a similar experience with Dr. Michael Schweitzer in Baltimore. I made an appointment back in June and the appointment date is April 4, 2003! In July, I had my first appointment with Dr. Barry Greene, a surgeon in Silver Spring/Rockville. My surgery date is March 10 - almost a month before I would have had my first office visit with Dr. Schweitzer! Your friend may want to try Dr. Greene. As mentioned, he does require you to attend a support group meeting before scheduling your initial appointment. The group meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. Meetings start at 6:30, but be there by 6:15 to sign in and get a seat.
   — Jeana B.

January 30, 2003
I to had a similar problem with Dr. Schweitzer, I ended up having open RNY with Dr. Roe , it was the best thing I have ever done for myself.!!!
   — Rho

January 31, 2003
Original poster here--the surgeon my friend had problems with was Schweitzer.
   — Sarah S.

January 31, 2003
Dr. Roe doesn't do LAP but he is a wonderful surgeon. He uses a very small incision(about 4") and there is not much pain. I would highly recommend him if you will consider open instead of lap.
   — Jeff B.

January 31, 2003
The person who convinced me to have WLS had been operated on by a first-rate surgeon who works out of a hospital in Franklin Square, MD by the name of Apparao Vanguri.... He is on the database in this website, and you can get more information on him through the "find a doc" link, clicking on Maryland, and scrolling to the bottom of the list... my friend, Terry Dellinger of York, PA, could not have praised this guy any more highly than he did... I was not able to have him do mine because I could not get a referral from my PCP...
   — Robert S.

February 1, 2003
I think that my surgeon, Dr. Hazem Elariny in Alexandria, is just incredible. He's performed hundreds of WLS rocedures and he's had no mortalities and very low complication rates. He offers a variety of bariatric surgeries (all lap), including RNYs, BPD-DSs, VBGs with sleeve gastrectomy, VGs, and AGBs. He's also wonderful, dedicated, and caring person... as well as brilliant (he graduated from med school at the age of 22 and later picked up a PhD in biochemistry to go along with his MD). Another plus is that he has the most active and supportive group of post-op patients that I can imagine. I live in Florida and traveled to Virginia to have my surgery (because I wanted the Duodenal Switch procedure, and Dr. Elariny is one of the best). It could have been a scary experience to be so far from home, but Dr. Elariny's group of post-op patients adopted me like I was family. Some of them are my friends for life now. Check out his patients' message board at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DS_Elariny/. I'm sure you'll find folks there who can answer any question you may have about his credentials and their experiences with him. Good luck to your friend. It must be so frustrating to have your plans derailed like that, but it's possible that it will all work out for the best and she'll end up being grateful for this involuntary change of plans.
   — Tally