I am  less than two weeks out from my surgery, I chose Dr. Averbach. I am very happy with my choice. I had an initial consult back before Dr. Cynthia Long moved and frankly I kind of feel I got scammed by her practice. I paid a $600 consult fee before I got the letter she was moving. Dr. Averbach's office did not have that kind of fee. I paid for my co-pays and the appointments, but not an initial out of pocket payment like that. 

The St. Agnes Hospital team has center of excellence certification. They have a great team that is very familiar with WLS. I would recommend signing up for one of their seminars. 

Hi Linda,

I am sorry to hear that you had gall bladder surgery.  I am so sorry I am just seeing this message. I sat down today with a massive amount of emails.  A total of 1,047 emails and I am going through them all. I feel so bad that I missed your message.  I hope you are now feeling great from recovering from your surgery.  I am so glad to hear that you didn't gain any weight. You are truly blessed. I gained a few pounds a few times and had to fight to get the weight back down.   

Wow 5 years time sure flies.   As for me I am 4 1 /2 years out but I have been feeling sick for a few months just recently I got worse.  Doctor thought I was having a major vitamin deficiency by the symptoms. I am still waiting on 2 vitamin results and tomorrow I should have them when I go to my follow up appointment.  But yesterday I found out that I have Peripheral Neuropathy from having Vitamin B6 toxicity.  Nice huh?   I have been so diligent in taking all of my vitamins because I didn't want to be deficient.  I am have some major symptoms and I don't know if all of it is from the B6 toxicity. I just pray they figure everything out asap so I can get my life back.  

I wish all the best Linda.  (Please forgive me about just seeing your message) I am looking forward to hearing from you. 

Cira

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I am so glad I found this post!  I have been to see several surgeons and was getting frustrated at the additional costs the surgeons were imposing on patients.  Dr. Schweitzer's practice requires you to see a nutritionist. This is not covered by insurance and they require you to only see a nutritionist associated with them.  This costs several hundred dollars.  Then I saw Dr. von Ruden (sp?) and they require you to purchase a $1,000 program to use their dietitian, exercise specialist, ect.  They will not perform the surgery unless you make this purchase.  This has been so frustrating.  I have satisfied the requirements of my insurance company and just want to have the surgery already!

Yay for Dr. Kligman and his group for not trying to squeeze more money out of you in addition to what he will make off the surgery alone!  I went to a seminar last night for Dr. Kligman and have an appointment set up at the end of the month.  I'm so excited, finally I can move forward with my surgery plans.

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

 I see Dr. Piyush Patel in Germantown; he also has an office in Silver Spring. He is a really caring dr, listens well, and was EXTREMELY supportive of my decision for surgery. His nurses are great, and while scheduling can sometimes be a *****allenging since he's also teaching at Georgetown, he has a female NP who you can also see.

I have a great female PCP who is VERY supportive of WLS... and knowlegeable about it as well.  Sadly she is in the Owings MIlls/Greenspring area but if you are interested her name is  Holly Dahlman.