heathercross

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Had my 1^st appt with Dr. Stiles today for the 3 month weight mgmt period. Apparently, when you use their doctor, you only have to wait 3 mos, when you use your own, 6 months. Happy to report, I only waited 20 min this time but I was also there at 8am. Got weighed and got the condescending “you haven’t lost any weight since your last visits”. I wasn’t in the mood. I reminded her that I haven’t had the revision yet and I was JUST here last week for my 1^st appt. She apologized. I don’t think she even reviewed the chart prior to my arrival. Dr. Stiles came in, I gave her my background, explained my situation we chatted for about 15 mins. I asked her the “point” of these sessions. She said it was to document attempts at weight loss but “you don’t necessarily have to lose weight”. This was odd to me. In fact, she told me NOT TO LOSE WEIGHT as my bmi was borderline approvable (40.1). Scheduled next appt for May.

Attended Lap Band Support Group at NYU. Very small gathering, not what I’m used to. Lenox Hill’s group used to be about 50+ people monthly. Apparently, according to the others, the small #s were due to Passover. There were maybe 8 people total. A girl who had just started her liquid diet was in attendance, she was very scared. The other 3-4 were in various staged of post-op –ness. One of the gals had used Dr. Kurian. Learned a lot about some habits and issues. Hope to attend the next one as I know have even more questions and hope to connect with more people, live, in person in addition to using OH.

Decided to go back to the beginning and see Dr. Marina Kurian at NYU. Not thrilled with NYU or the other doctors in the practice, nor am I thrilled with the level of service and the daily runaround when calling that office. All the bad press about Dr. Ren and Dr. Fielding is troubling. Plus, the ex-nurse who called patients and warned them about NYU.    However, Dr. Kurian is a gem and I’m going to overlook it. I waited for 2 hours before I was even able to see the nurse. I swear the “factory” comments I’ve heard about NYU seem to ring true. Finally, 2 hours after my arrival, I was able to see the nurse. Appt was about 15 minutes and then I was left alone again. Dr. Kurian walked by, saw me, came in hugged me, kissed me on the cheek and told me she’d be right in. I’ve known her since 2001 when she was at Lenox Hill. I not only respect her as a surgeon but like her as a person. We discussed my case, told her what “Mitchell” had said and looked at my endoscopy results and ct scan video. She said my pouch was HUGE but my stoma is still intact. I told her about wanting a revision but that I was too scared. She said the complication rate is 3X that of a virgin client. I was at an increased risk bc of scar tissue, etc. We talked about the BOB and she said she has has banded many RNYs and they’ve been successful. She anticipates doing it lap but there is always a possibility that it may need to go open. She expects that I can lose 50-75 lbs which would put me back in the 195 – 170 range, would be be wonderful. She told me her banders are near and dear to her and she spends much more time with them. She also said I had a hernia, that may need to be repaired, as it may lead to acid reflux with the bad. At this point, she introduced me to Nilsa who handles the insurance. Nilsa called Aetna, they set my dates for 3 mos from now as I need to go thru the 3 mos of supervised weight mgmt. I set up appts for the next 3 mos.

Apparently Lenox Hill is not a Center of Excellance for Bariatric Surgery so I cannot use Dr. Roslin. I am appealing to Aetna as well as appealing the wording in my rider at my job.  However, in the interium, I am exploring a new doctor.