I shopped around for bariatric surgeons prior to deciding to go with Dr. Chad Carlton of Lonestar Bariatrics.
Here are the reasons I chose to go with Dr Carlton...
Price: My health insurance doesn't cover any bariatric procedures, so what I was going to have done was going to be completely out of my pocket. I therefore used price as the first filtering criteria as I examined my options out there. Lonestar Bariatrics provided one of the very lowest cost estimates, thus I chose to take a closer look at them.
Service: Making contact with staff was easier with Lonestar bariatrics than any of the other providers I called. Furthermore, they are much more dependable in returning calls and follow up on questions asked. One time I called to ask a question and it was Dr Carlton himself that answered the phone. He spent 20 minutes talking with me and was very friendly as well as professional. I was a little confused, having the actual Dr/Surgeon take my call and spend time with me like this. Was he desperate? Was he weird? Or could it be that he was really that invested in the welfare of others? Long story, but he proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was entirely the latter.
Commitment: After I had determined that it would be Lonestar Bariatrics for me, I was amazed at how much attention was given to me after making my commitment to using them. Dr Carlton himself spent much time working as my advocate to get the best pricing worked out with both, the facility where the procedure would be, as well as the anesthesiologist.
It has been two weeks since I had my procedure and I have been awed at how well things have gone. Let me share some highlights:
First, I elected to have a Duodenal Switch, which was something another bariatric surgeon refused to perform for me based on my health history. Dr Carlton stated he would attempt to perform it, but could not commit because of the potential scar tissue he might encounter because of a previous surgery I had had. He stated that if he got in and found he could not do it, he would at least do a sleeve. I therefore went into the surgery without knowing just what the outcome would be. The surgery was supposed to be about 90 minutes. I woke up after surgery to find out that I had been in surgery for 4 hours. The primary reason was that I had extensive damage due to a hiatal hernia that no one was aware of. Dr Carlton spent the time required to rectify what he found. In addition he went on to successfully complete the full duodenal switch. He did all that extra work without charging me a single additional penny! To date, I am down 30 lbs, and I'm looking forward to continued success that will result in my reaching my optimum weight by the end of the year. I can attest first hand to the tremendous competence that Dr Carlton has in his field. However, he is not just expert - he is also trust worthy - to the nth degree. This is a man that cares about others, cares about what he does, inspires those that work with him to run a great practice, and is eligible for the Michael Scheller Friend of the Year award.