Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has any recomendation for good colorectal surgeons. I know few like Dr Welton & Dr Shelton @ Standord & Dr Varma @ UCSF. I'm considering a surgery & would appreciate the feedback.

It seems there are not many good surgeons in Northern California does anyone have any suggestions for surgeons anywhere in California??

In southern California the top 3 are Dr. Sack (UCLA), Dr. Fleshner (Cedars), and Dr. Beart (Glendale Memorial). Of the 3 Dr. Beart has the most experience.

Sue

I've heard wonderful things about Dr. Varma but have no first hand experience. Good luck. Having this surgery closer to home is bettr for follow-up reasons. Interview more than one surgeon.

As CeCe mentioned, Dr. Varma at UCSF.

kathy

I had my surgeries done by Dr. Oommen out of walnut creek, ca. I have been satisfied with my results and the care I receieved from him and his team.

I had my surgery done by Dr Shelton. Dr Welton visited me once when I was there and I was not impressed.
I have also heard good things about Dr Varma in UCSF.
Please do not go to Nalini Raju!!

I was under the care of Dr Sam Oommen of Concord/Walnut Creek and highly recommended. His top-notch one of the best in Norcal. I see him having the same caliber as Dr Garcia before leaving UCSF.

I had my laparoscopic colectomy with creation of J-pouch with Dr. Samuel Oomen in Concord also in 2003. I would recommend him. He is very good. I had some major postop complications though, not necessarily relating to his surgical ability. He took good care of me, he is a wonderful man.

Since we're on the topic of doctors in northern CA, does anyone recommend a good gastroenterologist? I have been to a couple and I haven't really found one that I like that much who is experienced with pouchitis. Is there a really good GI at UCSF or the East Bay Area who will take the time to talk about treating pouchitis?

Barbara,
Send Jilly a PM; I think she has a good doctor in the San Jose area and Jilly is a pouchitis patient too.

Sue

I have had UC for three years before I had surgery 10 days back. I explored all GI's in US & abroad. What I have learned is that you should avoid seeing GIs at private clinics who usually run high cost of operation & might not be able to give you proper attention & care. They have to & will be always racing against time. You should always go for bigger institutions funded by state, NGO's, which are not for profit. You should also look how much an institute is investing in research & clinical trials. I was surprised to find some doctors at Stanford were not aware of next line of treatment for UC, which I would have assumed to be very basic info a dr would know at an institute like Stanford. They consulted UCSF, which I discovered later was on a cutting edge of IBD.
I would strongly recommend UCSF, all GI's are very efficient. I have been seeing Dr Uma Mahadevan & she is extremely good & on top of things. I hope this helps. Send me a pm, if u have more questions.

Hi There -

I highly recommend UCSF facilities for both GI and Colorectal surgery.

For GI - I recommend Dr. Mahadevan. She is very approachable and extremely knowledgeble. I especially recommend her for any female patients concerned with fertility.

I had my surgeries done by Dr. Varma at UCSF and i am very pleased with the results! She has great bedside manner and her and her team provide great care. Plus, she has an amazing nurse practioner who will always respond to phone calls / emails / work you in to get seen when you are having stoma problems etc. Also, the nurses at UCSF Mt Zion 5th floor are very familiar with all types of ostomies and jpouches.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

I am probably going to a permanent ileostomy and Kaiser will only cover UCSF if I can prove that Kaiser doesn't offer the same services. I've always heard outstanding things about UCSF and would feel so much more confident having my surgery there, but that isn't a good enough reason for Kaiser to cover it. UCSF, on the other hand, says that they do see some Kaiser patients and it's covered. I don't know how that works.

Does anyone know of GI surgeons at Kaiser in Northern California who are good or any who I should avoid? I'm scared about the surgery and want to do everything I can to have a good doctor and medical support team.

Switching insurance isn't an option at this point because my child was recently diagnosed with CD and is getting exceptionally good care at Kaiser. It's the adult medicine part of Kaiser that troubles me.

Thanks,
Lynne

Lynne,

You can PM Jan Dollar. She is a Kaiser patient in NorCal and can probably recommend a good Kaiser surgeon for you.

Sue