Some of you may have seen my earlier post about my experience with Smartshape. To cut a long story short they have cancelled my lapband surgery on Wednesday because the surgeon is no longer working that day. 48hrs notice. Considering I'm paying $16k, I'm furious. Among other things I have scheduled time off work, as has my boyfriend. This is the latest in a long line of smartshape fuck ups where nobody seems to know what's going on.

That said, I'm now incredibly nervous to have the surgery at smartshape at all and have lost all confidence in them. I've paid them such a chunk of money and I doubt I could get it back without suing (my contract with them includes the stipulated date).

Has anyone else used smartshape? Can I be confident that actually, despite the horrible admin experiences the surgeon will (eventually) look after me? Will they even care about proper aftercare?

Everything is screaming no right now and I'm really really nervous.

Thank you for your help

I always believe follow your gut, so sorry you have had such a bad experience!

Definitely follow your gut

I would not recommend ever having surgery with someone you don't trust. Sounds like they changed the date, so maybe they broke the contract? Either way, no amount of money is worth letting someone you don't trust operate on you.

Relax. Dates change all the time. Doctors have emergencies, issues with other patients, hospital coordination issues, overlaps etc. etc. . I'm sure your contract has clauses for date changes. Don't let it get your down or rush to make rash judgements. You've waited years......whats a couple of more days or weeks in the big picture. Take you time and evaluate things clearly and calmly and don't over react. If you still feel uncomfortable or unsure, then check into your alternatives.

If you have not yet paid them money, why not find a doctor in Mexico? You can easily find someone who will provide top notch surgical and customer service for something like a quarter of the price. I think you would be very impressed with the quality of the experience there.

Even if everything had gone smoothly up until now, you would probably still be worried. It's normal to be worried about a major operation. So, try to keep some perspective. I definitely think this is not the time to trust your gut because mine said, "get the heck out of this bed before they cut you wide open".

If you have concerns about the doctor, check his history. How many of these procedures has he performed? What is the rate of complications?

Best of luck to you!

Its funny to read "trust your gut" on these forums

Thank you all for your replies. I think I am feeling all of your different advice at once, but yes, I will try to evaluate everything calmly today and see what they say.

I guess it's not the day itself that matters, it could have been scheduled for any day, it's just having that confidence in them that they care about your procedure.

Anyway, setting a positive mental attitude for the day and we'll see how it goes!

Thanks again for your support when I need it

At the end of the day, you will make the best decision for YOU. I am also the type of person who when I am making a big decision, and then things happen like this, I conclude it must be an omen that I shouldn't be doing it anyway. Typically, that is just my indecisiveness, fear, or my ambivalence speaking. I think like someone else said, fear and ambivalence is pretty normal for those of us headed down the path of WLS. Being here is really helping me understand how normal I am. Yesterday I read a few things that Eric Brecher (he is good) has written for us on this site, and Dr. Sowemimo which helped me tremendously. Keep talking and reading. Regarding this issue, get as much information as you need (ask questions) from the clinic and then decide. The only right answer is your right answer, the one that you arrive to on your own. It is too big a decision for anyone to decide for you. We are with you though, whatever your decision is in the end.

Good luck to you!

Don't let administrative incompetence undo years of mental preparation you have invested in this, not to mention your pre-op, whichever variety you were asked to do (did they properly manage this part? if not, it would give me pause as well).

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to send a quick update. Surgery (eventually) went ahead yesterday afternoon and I'm back home now, in some discomfort but generally feeling good.

On reflection, now that it's done, I would say sleevy wonder was right - although admin was a complete mess from day 1, my surgeons skill was never in question and in fact both surgeons came in to apologize to me for all of the errors and said that it should never have happened.

So, now it's time to heal and get on with the next chapter of my life!

As always, thank you for your replies. Having these forums is a godsend!!

What a great capper to this story and thread.

Very best to you, @@BritAbroad . Go get 'em.