Hi Everyone,

I had my appointment with the surgeon again today. Before that, I had the nurse practitioner and radiologist look at my band, do the flouro and barium swallow and both came to the same conclusion. My pouch looks a little better, but not a lot better considering my liquid diet. They sent me upstairs to my new surgeon and he looked at the photos and felt that the situation would not improve. He started talking about concentric slippage and also prolapse. Started talking about the options:

He was willing to wait one more month, but he didnt think the result would change. Since my insurance with Humana will run out at the beginning of November (my hubby was laid off by Motorola after 8 years) I will have to move quickly if I want my insurance to pay.

When the doc suggested I go on liquids only again for another month, I told him that I didnt think I would make it another full month without some kind of appetite suppressant. IT was at this time that he voiced his opinion on the matter and said that he knew about my inquiry to his office earlier about this topic and did not support my decision to use a suppressant to get through another month of liquids. He had planned to tell me that he was going to "fire me", but that he felt he would give me another chance. I asked him what he meant by that. I did not feel that it was an unreasonable request to ask for this and that other bariatric practices offer this support. At this stage, he suggested I go somewhere else if I did not agree with his policy. I didnt say anything else, but I was totally floored. He is obviously not the right surgeon for me and I am in the process of finding another. The big problem is that most surgeons dont want to touch another surgeons patient. I felt that was part of the problem. Many of them are in a position to turn away patients since they have a long line of cash pay patients. At least thats the way I feel today.

I called my insurance company to see who was in my plan. THere are actually quite a few, but when I called a couple, they did not want to take on a patient of another local doctor. Two already said no over the phone. I did contact my original surgeon's office and they think I can get an exception from my insurance company to operate again, however, I dont think that the hospital he now operates under is in network. I will explore all my options and then see what to do.

I am crying a lot. I know I shouldnt, but after today, I really feel like a loser.

(I did lose more than 8 pounds on the liquid diet last month.....) but thats not what I mean....

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

nana is right, Move on and find another surgeon. If he gave you the original chart- make copies, and take the copy with you or dont- just go and see them as a new pt.You dont need to give a reason for changing doctors. The only reason you should provide is insurance change. Dont drudge up the whole story- just give them your symptoms and allow them to fix you. Dont give the other guy a second thought- just find another. There are 100's in this area!! Being "good or great" is a matter of personal opinion and how they meet YOUR needs. If I think dr X is great yet he didnt meet your needs hes not so great for you. We all need and get different things from our helath providers. Your might be taking this too personal- he never gave you a second thought so dont waste your energy thinking of what coulod have been. Check online with your insurance company and they will list everyone on your plan. Heck Id even switch cities and drive a little further just not to let that jerk get me down!!

Hi again,

Thanks for all the support. I am grabbing the bull by the horns and not letting this other surgeon get to me. I just want my band to work properly again. So next week, I have an appointment with another surgeon and lets see what he has to say.

Babs in TX

Hi Babs, I'm sorry you have to go through all this. I'm wondering if the doctor who fired you wasn't comfortable enough with his skills/experience to fix you correctly. Many doctors won't do procedures if they don't know with reasonable certainty that they will be successful (they are often worried about lawsuits if things don't go well). If that's that case, he may have done you a favor, BUT he should have referred you to someone who had the experience.

Doctors don't want to take on a procedure, especially a revison of someone else's procedure that may be problematic. They do not want to "inherit" another doctor's problems. Unless a condition is immediatly life threatening, a doctor does not have to perform surgery on you. Large, experienced, bariatric practices decline to perform GB or Lap-band on a significant percentage of prospective patients when their medical conditions are too severe to feel that they can perfom the surgery with reasonable risks, patients who appear to be unstable, or who they feel will not be compliant. Many of these patients are the ones who need surgery most, but surgeons CAN select who they want to operate on if it is an elective procedure.

I'm always concerned that if I move out of the area or experience a band problem when travelling, if I will be able to obtain appropriate care. The vast majority of hopsitals/surgeons are not doing the procedure. It's a lot different then needing a surgeon to get your appendix out.

You deserve to get your very successful band back to working for you and to be able to live with out the daily anxiety of how to get it fixed. I hope you can find a way to get this done, so you can continue on your successful journey.

Lucky

Hi Lucky,

I don't think that the surgeon in question had any confidence problems or felt he couldn't take on a slip. He made it clear that he thought I would be a problem patient just because I actually had an opinion based on fact and discussion with other competent medical professionals.He expected me to just take the abuse he doled out at me about the "firing" without any confrontation. There was never a conversation here. That requires two people to listen and he wasn't listening. He took advantage of my moment of weakness. I was scared, feeling really low about the weight gain and band problems and then he dumped me based on the fact that I had an opinion that contradicted his. I am not that strong. I cannot live on liquids for several months without some kind of appetitie suppresant. I have an empty band and the hunger is raging. If he did not want me to take a suppressant, he should have done something about it when I called a month ago and asked him about it. I was not offered the possibility of compromise. Its possible he had a bad experience with someone else that he felt compelled to dump in my lap.

Anyway, time to move on. Why can't a reasonably intelligent business woman find a doc who will actually listen??? I have had problems with my band that are documented as early as December 2004.

Babs in TX

He then got irate with me and said that when he heard that I asked for them, he almost fired me then (whatever that means). ...he went off on a tangent, got up and left the office and said he thought that I would be trouble and he did not want to take care of me.

Babs,

He sounds like he's off his freakin' rocker! I don't think your request was unreasonable at all, but his reaction was. He sounds to me like a controlling, pompous, bipolar, abusive A$$hole. It's good you're rid of him. Who wants to have to gear up mentally to deal with that kind of attitude at every visit.

And . . . when you're resettled with your new surgeon, find out how you can report him. I would also go out to www.obesityhelp.com and post under his name as previous patient. That way, newbies will know what kind of A$$hole he can be after he's done the implant surgery.

Babs

You should know the rules about God docs...lol

Who's life is it anyhow? It is your journey, and you are paying the dear doc to help you with a specific problem. I would have fired him. (although I understand the difficulties in changing docs, I came close to this myself, but the doc decided to come around to my way of thinking and really workes with me now and understands it is my life)

There are to many doctors who forget that they are being paid to provide a service, they are not in charge of my life, I am. No one cares more about the outcome than I do, you can bet on that. They all need to be reminded of that. IMHO I say it often I AM IN CHARGE OF ME. (silly lady)

If the doc does not have what you want, move on. Do what is best for you. I wish you all the best with this. (I am almost 3 yrs out and have always been impressed by your success) Trish