Re: San Francisco Surgeon Search

[Guest guest]

Hi -

I live in Oakland and am self-paying. I investigated Dr. Rabkin at Pacific

Bariatric who you wrote about. At the time I called him, his office was in

disarray and they didn't return any of my five telephone calls. I then

checked out Ara Keshishian in Delano (about a four hour drive for me) and

really like him, his staff and the hospital. His fee is $25,000 all in. The

only other doctor in California presently doing the DS is Anthone at USC.

He's supposed to be wonderful. I understand from others on this list that

his fee is in the $40,000 range. I've decided to go with Keshishian - partly

because of his reputation among other doctors, partly because of what other

DSers have said and mostly because my husband and I really felt we were in

good hands. As soon as I accepted the fact that I would be self-paying a

whole world of choices opened - I wasn't constrained by in-network, type of

surgery covered - or whether they'd even cover it at all. It was both easier

AND harder. There was so much more to decide on.

Anyway, good luck with your search. Let me know how it goes.

Regards,

Jacqui

[Guest guest]

That number seems right for that office. Dr. K in Delano, CA charges somewhere around 20-25K, but if I were paying cash, which may happen, I would rather pay Dr. Baltasar in Spain the $11,000. There are a few other charges, but not enough to add up to 20K.

Carla nearly pre-op

Dr. Rabkin - Consult June 27th, 2001

300 # & BMI 47

5 ft 7

[Guest guest]

I looked at Dr. Baltasar's website a couple of days

ago. Has anyone had surgery with him? How would you

check on his license, etc.?

Thanks in advance,

Laurie

--- RiponSoap@... wrote:

if I were paying cash,

> which may happen, I would

> rather pay Dr. Baltasar in Spain the $11,000. There

> are a few other charges,

> but not enough to add up to 20K.

>

> Carla

[Guest guest]

Advise you to go to his list and talk to folks there. Also he published an

article in the

Obes. Surg. 2001, February issue, Vol. 11 (1) a paper entitled " Duodenal

Switch: An Effective Therapy for Morbid Obesity. Intermediate results " .

He is very well respected by other DS surgeons.

His website to join his list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrBaltasar-DuodenalSwitch

in Seattle

Re: San Francisco Surgeon Search

> I looked at Dr. Baltasar's website a couple of days

> ago. Has anyone had surgery with him? How would you

> check on his license, etc.?

>

> Thanks in advance,

> Laurie

>

> --- RiponSoap@... wrote:

> if I were paying cash,

> > which may happen, I would

> > rather pay Dr. Baltasar in Spain the $11,000. There

> > are a few other charges,

> > but not enough to add up to 20K.

> >

> > Carla

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/21/01 2:32:32 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

hillsmith2000@... writes:

<< There are exactly 3 surgeons in the state of California who do the DS:

Dr. Rabkin in San Francisco

Dr. Keshishian in Delano (near Bakersfield)

Dr. Anthone in LA >>

Thanks. I'm in San Francisco and it was Rabkin's office that quoted a total

of approx. $30K. I know that they are very well thought of, I just wish that

Kaiser would cover them. Oh, well...

[Guest guest]

- I hadn't reach your other post yet. I too am on the DS list! Debbie, at this surgery center, sending me an info packet.

gail

[Guest guest]

I found this inf on the WLS site April 2000:

Pre-Op Insurer Research: Kaiser Approval for the DS

Question:

Any Kaiser members getting approval for DS rather than RNY?

" Recently, I was advised by Barbara Metcalf R.N. Clinical Coordinator

for the WLS department at Delano Regional Medical Arts Building that

they recently got approval from Kaiser to perform GRDS (Gastric

Reduction/Duodenal Switch)and the formal letter of approval from

Kaiser is on it's way. (Hey, is GRDS the same as BPD w/DS?) Anyhow, I

was wondering if any Kaiser members out there have been approved by

Kaiser for the DS rather than the RNY - this would help me in my

effort to get approval. ... "

" GR/DS would be the same as the BPD/DS, DBG/DS, and LG/DS. "

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/question.phtml?

N=a954650262&Search_Word=kaiser

Good news is...Barbara Metacalf RN now works with Dr Rabkin again!

mary bmi 68

corona, ca

pre op 6/27/01 dr rabkin

cigna ppo