Surgery in California

[Brianhh 0]

Hi, is there anyone here who had the surgery done in California in general, and specifically in the San Francisco area?

[Kodamom 0]

I'm having mine done on Tuesday, but I'm in Santa Cruz County. Is that close enough to help with whatever question you might have?

[Brianhh 0]

Hi, thanks for your quick response. I was wondering who are the doctors that are considered best in California. I don't know anyone who has undergone the surgery in my area and am looking for recommendations from patients.

[Brianhh 0]

And good luck! I am new to this. Are you having the gastric sleeve or bypass? What are the pros and cons of each?

[Kodamom 0]

I honestly don't know. My doctor is the only one in my area that does the sleeve and I didn't really see any negative comments on him directly. As much as you have to go to see your doctor during this process, I really didn't want to have to travel over the hill every month or the drive back after surgery. The closer the better.

If I hear anything I will be sure to share.

[Kodamom 0]

Thank you. I'm having the sleeve. I honestly didn't want my organs all rearranged. I also didn't like the idea of "dumping" syndrome or possibly having to have another surgery for gallbladder removal.

Be sure to do your research before making any solid decisions.

[Lisa Gilkison 7]

On 12/6/2024 at 12:56 PM, Brianhh said:

Hi There! I had my surgery in Walnut Creek. BASS Bariatric. The surgery was done at John Muir in Concord. Is there a specific bay area you are looking for?

Hi, is there anyone here who had the surgery done in California in general, and specifically in the San Francisco area?

Hi

[Brianhh 0]

Thanks a lot

[AmberFL 801]

I had mine in San Francisco at the Kaiser!

[RickM 1,747]

I had my sleeve done by Dr. John Rabkin at St. Mary's (he also works out of California Pacific.) I was in LA at the time, but the Rabkins had more experience with the sleeve than anyone down there (they had been doing them as part of the DS for around twenty years then.) Other names to look into are Dr. Gregg Jossart and Dr. Paul Cirangle. Jossart did his DS residency with the Rabkins and Cirangle seems to have specialized with the sleeve.

I like that all three are DS qualified, even if one is not particularly interested in that procedure, since owing to its technical challenges, only the better qualified surgeons perform it routinely. And, as it is based upon the sleeve, it means that the DS guys tend to have more sleeve experience than others. Also, while they are all fully capable of doing bypasses, they generally don't do them as a default, reserving them only for those patients have a particular need for it.

If one has any liver related comorbidities (not uncommon in the obese population,) Rabkin would be the choice as he is also a liver guy, doing biliopancreatic transplants in his "spare" time.

The other thing that I liked with the Rabkins is that their whole process is pretty straightforward - no extensive pre-op diets (other than the usual day before thing,) and a fairly rapid post op progression, as tolerated.

Good luck in getting through all of this!