They've only done FOUR???

I was my surgeons second and I sailed through it.  I have had no complications and he took care of my reflux too.  Remember they trained as General Surgeons and they have used this surgery for years to treat cancer of the stomach.  Yes a skilled surgeon is great but I think a good surgeon is great too.  My surgeon has taken extra time with me and my case since I was second patient.  I was up and walking 2 miles by the second day.  I would worry more about your care on the floor and follow all the information here.  I have shared every thing that i have learned to help them build their model for future patients.  You will do great.

#2
that's right i was his second sleeve.   my surgeon is a highly skilled general surgeon now specializing in wls.   totally knows his stuff.
i had no issues at all with being one of his first.

Chiming in a little late.

Similar situation here. My surgeon had done hundreds and hundreds of RNY and I was his first sleeve. I was nervous but I had no complications other than throwing up some old blood clots on the second day but after that I was golden and actually went back to work on the 5th day post op. I didn't even bruise at the incisions sites or anywhere else. After the second day it just felt like I did a thousand sit ups. I didn't even have gas pains, not sure why. Maybe it was his experience, I dunno. But it's been great since and that was back in July.

I hope this helps.

I didn't want to be someone's learning curve so I picked a surgeon who had done over a thousand of the things. But my criteria was that they had to have done at least 250.

I think it's a personal decision if you want to be the one your surgeon learns his technique on.

And RnY is really not that much like a VSG. Now, if you surgeon had done a couple hundred DS operations, then I wouldn't worry about how many stand-alone sleeves he'd done. And I'd want my surgeon to be good enough to do RnY. I wouldn't go to someone who had only done lap bands and was now doing sleeves thinking they were "easy." But I would be nervous if he hadn't done a lot of sleeves and had never done a VSG no matter how many RnYs he'd done.

Your surgeon had to start somewhere too, ya know? I would have gone to him too if i were on that coast. He has a greatly earned reputation, that's for sure.

There was a proctor for my surgery, it wasn't like he went in blind. I was happy with the planning to ensure a successful surgery. I would not have had it otherwise. He is now doing quite a few each week including friend of mine back in February who is doing great also. I am happy to be the first one for his practice and very glad he is helping more and more people get the sleeve.

There's no need to get defensive. Everyone has their own criteria and that was mine. I wanted someone EXTREMELY experienced. The most experienced possible. Apparently other factors were more important to you and that's fine. We're the ones going under the knife and so we have to be comfortable with our decision.

Now, my surgeon had done hundreds of DSes at the time he started doing the VSG. For some people, that would be enough. However, when he and his partner started doing the VSG, they did it much differently than they do it now. And now it's much more effective. So, again, *I* don't want to be the guinea pig. I want the advantage of all that experience and experimentation.

Though I do want to say to all the people who say "my surgeon/center/hospital is a Center of Excellence" as if that means "they are terrific", have you actually read the criteria for being a Center of Excellence? Because it's pretty basic. I would question a surgeon/program/hospital that wasn't one to find out why, but I would consider being a CoE to be a basic, bare-bones criteria and not the be-all and end-all of what it takes to be a good program.