Dr. Theodore Khalili - Love Dr. Khalili and the whole staff at Cedars

[gdf18 2]

Cannot say more good things. The staff and Dr. K are wonderful, caring people. If they move a little too fast, it's because there are so many patients, but if you need them, they will slow down and give you whatever time you need. My strongest recommendation.

[Headhunter 6]

I, on the other hand, had an entirely different experience with "Dr" Khalili and his Staff.

I have nothing but disdain and contempt for Kahlili and the hack job he did on me. He installed the band INCORRECTLY, and when the problems surfaced he wouldn't even talk to me without the threat of a lawsuit. I would have been better off having my Gardener install my Lap Band. I have suffered enormously for several years as a result of Kahili's incompetance and arrogance.

He is NOT a good choice.

[gdf18 2]

WOW, sorry to hear that. I see so many people in the office who are very happy, but I'm sure that unfortunately, there are people who are unhappy with every surgeon. Hope you find a better solution and are in good health.

For me, it's been a great success, limited only by my own food issues, and I continue to work on those.

[gdf18 2]

I'm writing a further reply, having just come from Dr. Khalili's office. Although I know that every doctor has patients who are neutral of unhappy about their care, I find him so terrific, so caring and interested, that I have to reiterate what a fine doctor and person I find him to be- and I consider myself to be very tough on things like this. Again, I feel bad that you didn't have a great experience, but hope you'll find the right doctor for you and go on to have a band again. It's helped my so much that I can only wish this success for others. Good luck.

[Headhunter 6]

Hi, Gwenn;

First, I’d like to say that I am delighted and so very happy for you, that your experience with the Lap Band has been a positive one. I know what a wonderful feeling it is to finally feel success in what has been, for most of us, a lifelong struggle with Obesity. I congratulate you on your success, and I look forward to watching your “weight ticker” as it continues its slide downward.

I understand how you feel about Khalili and the Cedars staff. You had a good experience there. It was easy for you, and you came through it with no problems, and you are enjoying the benefits of a successful Lap-Band experience. I do not mean, in any way, to discount YOUR experience.

I, too, have seen Khalili’s “charming side”. He uses it when he’s selling you his services. He uses it during the couple of moments he sees you before the surgery. He uses it when he checks in on you for a couple of minutes after the surgery. He uses it in the Post-op check-up. And, he uses it during your fills, if he is the one performing it.

However, when something goes wrong with HIS “handiwork”, his charm disappears. And so does he.

I do not entirely measure a person by his/her actions when things are going well…..I see a person’s TRUE character during times of adversity. When something goes wrong, when there is a crisis, what an individual does at THAT point defines their character. We can all act pretty decently when times are good. It is how we act when times are bad that defines us.

I’m not going to go into a long, detailed explanation about my experience with Khalili here. I’ve written about it elsewhere, and because you have already had the Band installed by him, I’m certainly not going to dissuade you from using his services at this point. It was a long tangled mess, and it’s still going on, actually.

The highlights are that he installed my band a few years ago. I began to have problems right away. A port infection came about pretty quickly. He would not return my calls. MANY times. Eventually, I was able to see another Dr. in their office, and he said I would need to see Dr. Khalili….who would not return my calls. The port popped out of my stomach while on a business trip out of state, Requiring a trip to the Emergency Room. Kahlili still would not return my calls.

For several months I had a gaping, oozing, painful open hole in my stomach. I went to other Drs, who had not seen anything like this before, including the mayo Hospital Wound Clinic, who told me I HAD to see the original surgeon. After many phone calls and correspondence with Cedars where I threatened a lawsuit, Khalili agreed to see me. When I met with him, he was rude, nasty, and belligerent. He did agree that I needed additional surgery, and although I was reluctant to have HIM do it, I scheduled it. After all, he was the one who put it in.

I had the surgery, in which he attempted to clean out the “hole” so that it would heal.

THAT was a long ordeal (surgery, recovery, re-admittance to hospital with severe stomach pains, in hospital for a nearly a week, month-long recovery at home, etc, etc), and I am going to skip over that part of the story,,,,too long. The hole did NOT heal for another 8 or 9 months, and it healed only because I changed to an alkaline-oriented diet(Read “the PH Miracle”…it will change your life…).

During those months, I still had a very painful, oozing hole in my gut. Over the next couple of years, my health declined, and I suffered LOT of abdominal pain. Finally, I went to my new health care provider because of my health and the pain. They ran a long series of tests and found that the tube from the lap band THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY KHALILI had burrowed its way down through and INSIDE of my Colon.

Fast Forward; again, too much info. Last year I had surgery to take care of all these problems. My surgery was performed by a Surgeon who specializes in Lap-Band-Surgery-Gone Wrong. He removed the Band, and extracted the Tube from my Colon. He stated, unequivocally, that the BAND HAD BEEN INSTALLED INCORRECTLY. I spent several months in a very, very difficult recovery. My surgery was a year ago last May…..I did not fully recover until the middle of November. They had to cut me wide open to get all the junk out.

So, Kahili put it in wrong. He couldn’t close the hole he had made in me. He left a tube in me that he SHOULD have removed. He refused to communicate with me for a long time, and when he did, he was a pompous ass. And whatever he did in the second surgery landed me BACK in the hospital for a third time as well. His “work” created several situations that were life-threatening for me.

Again….I don’t wish to discount the experience that you had. But, MY experience was every bit as real. You saw the charming side. I saw the charming side AND the ugly side. And I liked neither one.

As far as your best wishes for me and hope that I find a Dr who can help me get another Band, well, I’m pretty well DONE with the Band. My NEW surgeon (NOT Kahlili or ANYONE associated with Cedars-Cyanide, as they have become known in my family) provided me with a Gastric Bypass, and as I write this I sit here healthy, happy, and at a PERFECT WEIGHT for my height and build. I lost several years of health thanks to Kahlili. But, with the exception of some legal action, I’m trying to put it behind me and simply enjoy my new body. I hope to be able to help others avoid what I went through by encouraging them to RESEARCH their Surgeon TOTALLY, make SURE he/she has TONS of LAP-BAND experience Khalili did NOT), and get a commitment for the aftercare that you may need.

I do wish YOU the best, Gwenn. I’m glad things are going well. You have done very, very well, and I am certain you will be a “Band Success Story!

HH

[gdf18 2]

Sounds like a terrible experience and it's so awful that you had to go through it.

I do want to point out that I did all my research and that's how I ended up with Dr. Khalili. Unfortunately, I don't know a doctor of surgeon who doesn't have an unsucessful surgery at some point. That's why I seldom recommend doctors- not everyone has the same experience. I've had a wonderful OBGYN for many, many years. A young girl in my communityused him when she had triplets, and long and awful story short, ended up in a persistent vegetative state- everyone went wrong. When my dad died because of a less than perfect surgery, we considered going after the surgeon and the hospital, but realized that most people did well with the surgery. So yes, people need to know the good and bad. I'm happy your end result is good and that you're in excellent health. For me, Dr. Khalili has been a rock who has helped me through every good or bad day since my surgery- especially emotionally. He sits and talks to me for as long as I need, etc.

I hope you continue with good health. Bye.

[Brian-LA 0]

Hi GDF,

My sister had a gastric bypass w/ Dr. K. You seemed to have been a big Dr. K. cheerleader but then I see on your tag you got banded BUT then you had to have it repaired after you wrote these posts.

Do you still have a great opinion of Dr. K. ???? I am curious because although I have another surgeon my sister would like me to see Dr. K.

Just curious.

[gdf18 2]

Amazing that this came at this moment. Yes, I had significant repairs - just this Friday- home from Cedars last night. Khalili is no longer with the office at Cedars, which means you'd be on your own in terms of payment. Dr. Scott Cunneen just helped me- truly helped me- and he recently did bands and bypass on friends of mine- I would give Dr. Cunneen my highest recommendation.

[Brian-LA 0]

Hi Gwen,

What happened ? And as my post asked ... would you still give Dr. K. a good recommendation ? Your reply didn't really say.

-Brian

[gdf18 2]

Let's say that I'd recommend Dr. Cunneen.