Help

Hi I am starting the process for having the sleeve surgery.. my doctor asked me if I know what doctor I want... I'm in the Saginaw, Michigan area does anyone have any suggestions? What experiences did you have etc....

Hi - none of the long-time "regulars" on here are from the Saginaw area, although there may be some lurkers or new folks who can clue you in. Otherwise, I'd make a list of the bariatric surgeons in the area and google them to see if you can find any reviews. I have a cousin who lives in Bay City - I can ask her if she's heard of anyone (she's not a bariatric patient, but maybe she knows some? I can ask)

The closest that I can suggest is Paul Kemmeter, who is over in Grand Rapids (at least it's the same state!) as he seems to be well regarded in the DS (duodenal switch) world. I like to use the DS as a proxy for sleeve experience, as it uses the sleeve as its basis, so DS surgeons tend to be more experienced with the sleeve than "normal" bariatric surgeons. This is not as big of a deal as it used to be as most bariatric surgeons now have enough experience with it to be functionally competent, but when I had mine done almost ten years ago, most were just learning it and there were more complications and needed revisions as a result. I travelled from LA to SF to get mine done by a practice that had been doing them for close to twenty years at the time, so it was well worth the trip as even in a large market such as LA no one had that level of experience at the time.

The travelling may not be worth the trouble at this time (if you can find any good local recommendations) but it is something to consider in the rare case that a revision is needed in the future, as the DS docs are more likely to be able to correct a problem with a sleeve while many others prefer to revise such cases to a bypass as they may not be that confident enough to repair the sleeve.