I have gone to the seminar for Dr. Spivak and had an office visit and he requested that I have tests done. I had the tests done and had the results sent to Dr. Spivak's office. I called to confirm they got them, but

now I'm just waiting for someone to contact me to set up a time. How long should this process take? I don't want to bug them, but I'm anxious to get my surgery scheduled? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am paying for the operation on my own, not insurance.

Thanks

I don't think it's rude to call & ask for another appointment. You could even say, "I don't know what the next step was, but I didn't want to fall through the cracks. What should I be doing now? What's my next step or appointment?"

Our doctor never lets us leave without another appointment scheduled -- good marketing skills! :confused:

Good luck!

When I called to confirm that they had received my test results I asked them what was the next step and they said someone would be contacting me to set up an appointment. I guess I'll wait this week and contact them if noone contacts me.

Thanks

I wouldn't let it go longer then a week, heh. But then again, I'm impatient! :confused:

I'm impatient as well. I'm fretting over this and I'm anxious to at least get it scheduled.

hi darkwing and janet,

if you don't mind me asking, what kind of tests did you have to do? i will also be a self-pay patient of dr. spivak's.

thanks,

cutiern

try and write down a log, it's best with any situation or doctor etc to keep a log and progress chart of who you spoke with on what date.

This way when you call back you can say, I had these tests done on this day and I spoke with this person on this day - what always works too is to say to them: I don't mean to bug you again, I'm just excited to get my surgery done.

Reply to cutiern -

I had to have an upper GI test/x-ray done to make sure that I didn't have an ulcer.

Sorry I'm new to this process and I don't know if I replied to the right person or not, if so this message is a duplicate and ignore it.

Reply to cutiern -

I had to have an upper GI test/x-ray done to make sure that I didn't have an ulcer.

I just thought that the process would be much quicker since I wasn't having to go through insurance and that I also figured that they would want to get you scheduled as quick as possible. I guess there are lots of folks having this process done right now and they may be overloaded.

Thanks for the encouraging words.

I called on Jan 2 for our first appointment. We were self-pay & it took 6 weeks. I could have pulled my hair out! By the time we finally made the decision to do it, I was READY!!

Looking back it wasn't that long, lol, but it seemed like FOREVER! Hang in there! You'll make it!

I am also new to all this. I plan to go through my insurance and I was wondering what the average time period was from the first Dr's vist until the surgery day?

Amanda

Hi Darkwing, I was banded with Dr.Spivak too. I was also a self-pay patient. The person I enjoy speaking to the most at Dr. Spivak's office is a bander named "Bea". She has lost 115lb.s and stopped to have a baby in the middle of the process. I would wait until Friday morning and then call, those ladies are used to people wanting to get it done yesterday. They might even call you before then. The best to you almost-bander! See ya!

It was my experience that because I was cash pay, things went lightening fast. No insurance companies to coddle, required tests because of good practice, not satisfaction of jots and tiddles.

I am a young, healthy (except I weighed 242 at 5 feet 5 inches) and these were the tests I had done to be able to get surgery as a cash pay:

Endoscopy

Pulmonary Function Tests

EKG

Chest X Ray

Labs

Psych Testing

Interist Visit

So, get ready for some more tests, and be patient. You are lucky if insurance covers you, but they have all sorts of strings attached to the amounts that they give physicians - in order to be paid, the physicians have to make sure that they satisfy the insurance companies. That has been my experience.

Darkwing------The women at Dr. Spivak's office are so helpful...Do not hesitate to call them again...They understand...It took a few days after they recieved my results before I got a date for my surgery...Once I got it in my head that I was actually going to go through with the surgery I got a little anxious too...It's natural...At least you don't have to deal with the insurance company.

My daughter and I went to the seminar. Scheduled an appointment to see Dr. Collier the following Friday. He said we were both good candidates for the surgery. We talked about insurance and what was needed.

I don't understand the wait! Dr. Richard Collier does his surgery at the same surgicenter the Dr. Spivak uses. I was private pay because my bmi was under 40 (impossible to get through on my insurance.) When I decided to have it done, I called his office he does the surgeries on Tuesday. They scheduled it for 2 weeks later and gave me the info for the preop diet for 2 weeks. I also had a paper to take to my primary care doctor for blood work, chest xray, and physical. I did this one week before surgery.

My daughter decided to private pay yesterday rather then waiting on insurance. She called Capital One for financing, 2 hours later she had her approval, she then called Dr. Collier's office and told them she wanted her surgery on May 16th (3 weeks from yesterday). They said fine come in Friday to get your paper work for testing from primary care doctor.