Hello,

For those whom have used Dr. Nicholson...which clinic did you go through? The Nicholson Clinic or True Results?

I am going the HH self pay route, how long did it take you to get a date and have surgery? I was asked to complete a sleep study, now I am awaiting the results and scheduling of my EGD. Anyone else experience the same?

Since I am self pay, I do not have to complete nutrition, evaluations etc...

Thank you in advance!

I did not use Dr. Nick but had a friend who did with same route as you. He is an excellent surgeon; HOWEVER, just because you do not HAVE to go through nutrition and therapy, you really should do it. My friend did not - successfully lost about 30 pounds in the first 4 or 5 months and then that was it and she has been eating normal foods since then and of course no loss (and she is about 13 months out). I strongly encourage you to seek out all the resources that go with the surgery. This isn't like getting your gallbladder (or other body part) removed. It is something that helps you but is only a tool (as you will read here many times) and without the other tools, you are less likely to succeed. Just my 2 cents....

Agree strongly with Daisee.

Dr. Nick did my surgery back in November. I had my first consult with him in September, my EGD in October, and my surgery in November. I, too, went the self-pay hiatal hernia route. Because I was initially going to do the surgery through another surgeon using my insurance, I went through the pre-op nutrition programs, psych eval, etc. In retrospect, I am really glad that I did because, when the surgery came, I was pretty well prepared for it and had a decent idea of what I was supposed to do. I had a very good experience with Dr. Nick. I liked him a lot and have had zero complications. I have also had good success in getting the weight off, but I have had to work hard at it by disciplining myself to eat according to plan and to get a good bit of exercise in. I'm 6 months out now, so far so good.

Best of luck with your surgery, you will be amazed at how quickly you will start to see results.

I asked this question because I wanted to see what others opinion of the doctor and to see the time frame others have had with respect to having their surgeries.

I'm not sure where I stated that I was not going to have or haven't already had nutrition counseling etc... I simply stated that it isn't required of me as a self-pay patient. i.e. not holding me back from receiving my surgery.

I exercise 6 days a week, I have had nutrition counseling and do all of the things that are required to lose weight. I am using this surgery as a tool to help AID me in my weight loss journey.

Thank you all for the advice.

@@Thucydides thank you! you're response is what I was looking for. 3 months isn't too bad. How was his office staff with following up? I am having a hard time getting them to follow up with me, but if they want or need something, I'm called/emailed several times a week. Kind of annoying.

How was your after surgery experience with him?

@@transmformme - All due respect, nutrition after WLS is different than your typical nutritional counseling generally done to lose weight before WLS. I am not saying Dr. Nick's office doesn't provide this (in fact, the NUT I use is a phone consult and also does same for Dr. Nick's office so I know it is available). BUT I also know there are many who do not consult a NUT for post-WLS surgery eating plan and are not successful. Apologies if you took offense to my response. Only trying fill you in on my friend and why she failed going through this office....

@@transmformme - All due respect, nutrition after WLS is different than your typical nutritional counseling generally done to lose weight before WLS. I am not saying Dr. Nick's office doesn't provide this (in fact, the NUT I use is a phone consult and also does same for Dr. Nick's office so I know it is available). BUT I also know there are many who do not consult a NUT for post-WLS surgery eating plan and are not successful. Apologies if you took offense to my response. Only trying fill you in on my friend and why she failed going through this office....

I didn't take your comment or anyone else's offensively as this is the internet, all of this is public and you can't post to a public forum expecting people to stay on topic and/or not to give their "2 cents". lol I'm just saying, this is a group of adults (hopefully) lets not assume that everyone is ignorant with respect to what is going on and what we are choosing to do to our bodies. I'm sorry your friend failed. Maybe she will start to do the things she needs to do to take care of herself. Either way, that's her choice. You're friend and I are in completely different categories. The nutrition counseling I have had was unrelated to wls, the 45 pounds I've lost over the past 4 months or so is completely due to clean eating and exercise. Again, this surgery is an added tool for me.

I am aware of what I need to do after surgery as I have been reading up and studying this topic for well over 3 years now. I also have close friends who have had this procedure done. I can reach out to them if I have any personal questions. Furthermore, if I feel like I need more resources, they're available to me.

This is why I didn't come to the forum asking questions about nutrition, exercise, loose skin or other related topics. Again, thank you for the advice as it was very much appreciated.

Edited May 17, 201610 yr by transmformme

@@transmformme To be honest, I have found the office staff to be very hit or miss. The surgeons are great. Dr. Roshek did my EGD, Dr. Nick my sleeve, and Dr. Carlton checked in on my during a follow up. All were very positive, helpful, and high energy. I have found some of the office staff difficult to get follow-through. My first group of post-op labs, for example, took about 3 weeks to get results and those were delivered to me over the phone. Some staff have not been great about returning calls. Others, are amazingly responsive. I emailed one of the nurses with a post-op diet question. I got a long, very thorough response within 30 minutes. It is really a mixed bag.

Because I have a great family physician, I have decided to navigate some of these issues with the office staff with my doctor's help. Before my follow-up appointments, I have Nicholson Clinic send me a lab order via email. I then do the labs through my family doctor a week or so before my follow-up appointment with the Nicholson Clinic. I then send my results to them. This gets me my results much more quickly, much more cheaply, and, since my dr. delivers lab results online, I can easily look them over myself and coordinate things with my family doctor. I am pretty happy with how that has worked so far and I have not had any resistance from the Nicholson Clinic in doing things this way.

The only place where I was genuinely disappointed was with the post-op phone nutritionist consult. I know a lot of others have had a very good experience doing it this way, but I was pretty underwhelmed. The nutritionist that I spoke with was not too helpful and, frankly, did not seem very knowledgeable about bariatric patients. Between reading on my own, talking to the nurse educator and Nicholson, and talking to my family physician, I seem to be doing fine developing a plan that is working for me. I consistently hit my Water and Protein targets without a problem, get lots of exercise, and am seeing the weight come off at a solid pace.

Were I to do it again, I would still do my surgery with Dr. Nicholson. Since I am enough of a control freak that I want to directly manage my own care and ask my own questions, the hiccups with the office staff does not bother me that much. In the end, my priority was the skill of the surgeon. There, I feel like I made a good choice. My recovery went very well, I had no complications, and my incision scars are even pretty small.

@@transmformme To be honest, I have found the office staff to be very hit or miss. The surgeons are great. Dr. Roshek did my EGD, Dr. Nick my sleeve, and Dr. Carlton checked in on my during a follow up. All were very positive, helpful, and high energy. I have found some of the office staff difficult to get follow-through. My first group of post-op labs, for example, took about 3 weeks to get results and those were delivered to me over the phone. Some staff have not been great about returning calls. Others, are amazingly responsive. I emailed one of the nurses with a post-op diet question. I got a long, very thorough response within 30 minutes. It is really a mixed bag.

Because I have a great family physician, I have decided to navigate some of these issues with the office staff with my doctor's help. Before my follow-up appointments, I have Nicholson Clinic send me a lab order via email. I then do the labs through my family doctor a week or so before my follow-up appointment with the Nicholson Clinic. I then send my results to them. This gets me my results much more quickly, much more cheaply, and, since my dr. delivers lab results online, I can easily look them over myself and coordinate things with my family doctor. I am pretty happy with how that has worked so far and I have not had any resistance from the Nicholson Clinic in doing things this way.

The only place where I was genuinely disappointed was with the post-op phone nutritionist consult. I know a lot of others have had a very good experience doing it this way, but I was pretty underwhelmed. The nutritionist that I spoke with was not too helpful and, frankly, did not seem very knowledgeable about bariatric patients. Between reading on my own, talking to the nurse educator and Nicholson, and talking to my family physician, I seem to be doing fine developing a plan that is working for me. I consistently hit my Water and Protein targets without a problem, get lots of exercise, and am seeing the weight come off at a solid pace.

Were I to do it again, I would still do my surgery with Dr. Nicholson. Since I am enough of a control freak that I want to directly manage my own care and ask my own questions, the hiccups with the office staff does not bother me that much. In the end, my priority was the skill of the surgeon. There, I feel like I made a good choice. My recovery went very well, I had no complications, and my incision scars are even pretty small.

GREAT! I am very happy for you and your wl success.

I am the exact same way. I need to be in control as much as possible when it comes to my heath and care. I was planning to navigate through my family doctor, personal trainer and nutritionist to help take care of me after surgery. I don't want to have to rely on Nicholson and his staff to "handle" me.

I'm hoping that I can have this taken care of by the end of June or early July. fingers crossed.

Thank you!

@@transmformme - Congrats for losing so much pre-op. And this is the last thing I will say on the subject, but my personal trainer (post-op) told me I should be consuming 1800 calories. Ummmm.... no. I had a nutritionist who was pushing high carb, low Protein, low fat post-op. Again... no. Just realize that there are a lot of folks out there that mean well but are not educated on the matters of WLS and how it affects our bodies. Best of luck to you

@@transmformme - Congrats for losing so much pre-op. And this is the last thing I will say on the subject, but my personal trainer (post-op) told me I should be consuming 1800 calories. Ummmm.... no. I had a nutritionist who was pushing high carb, low Protein, low fat post-op. Again... no. Just realize that there are a lot of folks out there that mean well but are not educated on the matters of WLS and how it affects our bodies. Best of luck to you

That's why it pays to do your own research and become knowledgeable before doing something like this. Open any reputable literature addressing post-op diet and it tells you in plain English what you should and shouldn't be eating/doing. I don't know everything but the things you're mentioning are common sense. They're things people should already know before they have this surgery. JMO

LOL. Again, thanks for your opinion/tips.

Edited May 17, 201610 yr by transmformme