Dr. Elariny and revision to DS questions

Hello, I'm pretty new to these boards and am looking for a surgeon to revise my RNY to a full DS.   The closest doctor that performs this surgery would be Dr. Elariny in Virginia and would be about 5 hours away for me.   I'm a little leery after reading his patient reviews...although I know that surgical skills is #1 I would like to have a surgeon that also has a nice bedside manner and the reviews concern me about that. Do any of you have any input on this, have you had surgery with him?
I'd love to talk with someone that has had RNY to DS surgery...anyone out there?? 

Thank-you in advance for any replies!

Where are you located that Elariny is your closest option at 5 hours away?

I've read the Elariny reviews on here, too, and I can say that when I saw him in person at the information session, he seemed very easygoing and talkative. I would be having him as my surgeon if I could have the DS with him covered as in network with my insurance, but all DS surgeries he performs are considered out of network (though I'm not sure how it all works with revisions).

Hi Tabitha,

I started my journey by going to Dr. Elariny, but decided not to pursue him because of the poor running of his office.  Personally, I felt very at ease with him; but I didn't care for his assistant, Dr. Williams, because I felt like he was trying to pressure me into pre-paying for the whole surgery up front ($12K that I don't have).  And whenever I called, I had a very hard time communicating with his office staff (language barriers), and it took forever to get simple paperwork faxed to me for my FSA reimbursement.  Now, if you have the money and you can live with his poorly run office, then I encourage you to go to him because frankly, I think he's a damn brilliant surgeon; and all other things being equal, I'd put my life in his hands in a split second.  I think where people get turned off by him is that his tolerance for BS is very low.  And he's not touchy feely by any means.  But he is personable, and truly does care about his patients.  He won't tolerate noncompliance with the DS though.  Period.

I hope this is helpful more than confounding.  Are you in NC by chance?  I'm in Durham, and it would be nice to meet up with a fellow fairly local DSer wannabe!  If interested, let me know and I'll PM you!

Thank-you both for your replies.  Yes, I'm in NC too!  So far the doctors that I've found that do a full RNY revision to DS are Dr. Elariny, about 5 hours...Dr. Greenbaum in NJ which would be 7-8 hours and Dr. Gagner in Florida which would be about 12 hours.  Dr. Schweitzer from MD has not responded to my email and the assistant couldn't answer my question on the phone so I have no idea if he is an option for me or not. I think I'll call there again today. I think that Dr. Elariny is probably not the best choice for me. It's hard to keep an open mind about him because my first surgeon, the one that did my RNY, left a lot to be desired in bedside manner and I really don't want to deal with that again and the office staff is important too since they are the ones you deal with most of the time. And we definitely don't have the money to pay upfront, that's for sure.
Thank-you again...off to do more reading! 

From my understanding, Dr. Schweitzer can do the revision, but if it's bedside manner you're seeking, I don't think you'll find it there! That's what I have heard from others who have had him as their surgeon. I'll let you know how I perceive him after my initial consultation with him in a couple months...yup, he's VERY busy. Took me almost 3 months just to get a consultation, and I know it's taken others over 3 months from insurance approval to an actual surgery date.

I finally got a reply back from Dr. Schweitzer stating that he does not perform that surgery.  So ...that's another off of the list for a RNY revision to DS.  The search is still on!

Amplebeauty has used this Dr and she may see your post and answer I will send her a email she is part if my group and I know she has had some surgery's w/ Dr Elariny I know I have spoke to here about doing this surgery w/ him. Still in the research end of it. Best of luck in whoever you pick...

HI Tabitha, I used Dr Elariny for Lap band and then RNY this past May 08. I don't particularily like his office staff either as I found them to be not very friendly and language problem as well.  I didn't really want to use him for the RNY but no other Dr in the No. VA. area would see me since I had him do the lap band earlier, so I had to go back to him. Unfortunately, I had to pay $3200.00 up front before the RNY and they really wanted more. I think they are money hungry but he is a good surgeon and competent. I'm sure the reason they get as much  $$ up front is because the insurance co usually doesn't pay what they submit and I think this is a way for him to recoup some of his charges. I don't expect to see any of this money come back to me so I guess I can chalk it up to experience. My suggestion is to research another Dr if at all possible...Hope this helps some...Jim

Dr E did both my WLS's, and I wouldn't let anyone else touch me in that regard.  He is absolutely the BEST, being ranked #2 in the WORLD and has a ZERO mortality rate.  I had to travel 3 hours to him, and it was worth every mile.

His office, yea, they need help.  And no, you don't see him after the surgery (unless there is a problem).  But his skill is outstanding, and when you follow up with him in the office, he is THERE for you, 100%.

Being you are 5 hrs away, you won't necessarily have all that much interaction with his office.  They HAVE improved a LOT over the last month or so.  I was just there last week, and it was night and day, the difference.

So the decision really is yours.  Do you want a world class surgeon to do your surgery whose office staff and bedside manner may be lacking?  Or do you want to go  elsewhere to a possibly lesser skilled surgeon who has great bedside manner and whose office will coo over you?  Personally, I figured the bedside manner stuff and office coo's were temporary, but the surgery was permanant.  But it is YOUR decision to make.

Thank-you both for the new replies, I appreciate it.
My first surgeon, the one that did the RNY was basically a jerk so I'm a bit gun-shy about going through that again.  My follow-up visits with him were actually detrimental to me emotionally...someday I'm going to write a letter to him and let him know how he negatively affected me.  He probably won't care but it would probably be good for me to do.
Anyway, that is why it concerned me to read negative reviews about Dr. Elariny.  I don't need someone to fawn over me but I do need someone that has some level of compassion in addition to great surgical skills. 
I am concerned about the money aspect too. I have a deductible of $2500 and adding thousands more to that upfront just seems impossible. Definitely something I will have to figure out.
Thank-you all again!