Do Your Research, and then Do it Again!!!

When I finally made the decision to get weight loss surgery (WLS), it was so important to me to find the right surgeon for me. I spent literally hours and hours on the Internet researching surgeons, hospitals and WLS centers. I hated the idea of having to attend a seminar, but I didn't find one office where attending a seminar was not a requirement. After weeks of searching, I still didn't feel good about any one office, and I was feeling pretty defeated. Then I realized I needed to start talking to people to who had the surgery done. Luckily I knew several people who had either the Lap Band or Gastric Bypass, so I started making phone calls.

I finally ended up calling one of my husband's cousins who had a Gastric Bypass. She had successfully lost all of her weight, but had complication after complication. Her surgeon was no longer practicing (for obvious reasons) but she had worked in a general surgeon's office and had heard really good reviews about a Dr. Sherman Smith. She didn't know where he was practicing, but I was able to find him fairly easy. He practiced out of an office called Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians, and for some reason that office never came up in any of my research. I spent a few days sifting through reviews of the office and Dr. Smith and was very pleased with what I had read. The office did half a dozen types of WLS, and had been practicing since 1979. I liked the idea of having several WLS options to choose from because the centers that only did Lap Band for example, pushed it so hard I didn't really feel like I was being lead to the surgery that would work best for me.

Needless to say, I decided to attend the seminar at Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians. It was a week before I could attend the seminar, and the whole time I didn't stop researching. Before I even set foot in the office, I knew exactly what price range was reasonable, what red flags to look for, and I had a list a page long of questions that I needed answered. Let's face it - WLS is not cheap! And even though WLS is considered relatively safe, it IS still surgery, and I was not going to put my life into the hands of just anybody! Besides, what I had gleaned from talking to all the people I did was that the surgeon really was a huge factor in WLS being either a success or a failure. So, if you learn anything from this post, I hope it is research, research, research!!!