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Surgeon Testimonial Dominick Artuso, M.D. My first impression of Dr. Artuso was that he was a calm, brilliant person who listened to his patients concerns and addressed them accordingly. He did not gloss over anything. he was very realistic about what I should expect from the surgery and that it was not a cure, but a tool. He spent a good 30-45 minutes with me at the first meeting.He asked me if I wanted the lap-band or the gastric bypass & explained the pros & cons of both.. Explaining the risks, even death...I wanted the GB. He gave me the scripts for all I needed to get the process going and told me I could not gain any more weight. He also said if I managed to get my appts done inthe next month or so, I could expect to have my surgery in July. (this was the end of may). Only thing I didnt like was that Dr. Artuso was a bit of a hike for me, over 1.5 hours south, but came highly recommended from another surgeon. But this is my problem, not his...I wanted someone not in my area as I am an RN and work at the local major hospital where this surgery is performed. afterccare is very important to Dr. Artuso & siince I am so far, he did give me permission to find clinicians up here to do my pre op work ups. I also agreed to do all follow ups in Poughkeepsie & my support groups here in Albany. He felt that was approriate. His office staff was fanitastic. The only complaint I have about the office is a minor one, my file took some time to get off to the insurance company, and this could be more the fault of my insurance and stall tactics that they are famous for. When i did finally get approval, my date was set right away for2/5 @ St. Francis hospital and then i found out from hi office staff that the hospital does not participate with my insurance. They offered to work out a contract deal or I could drive another hour south to Dobbs Ferry & do my surgery there on MOnday 2/4. I agreed to not wait & just make the drive.. His surgical compitence is second to none. he was a brilliant surgeon and I can say this because there was a suprise & I had a lot of adhesions, which was completely unexpected since i've never had adb surgery. He took his time addressing this issue. His bedside manner was fantastic. I can't say enough wonderful things about this Surgeon. If you choose him, you are in the hands of an expert. Member Interests
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michelle K.'s Blog
bump in the road
Thursday it began.. some intense but brief pain in my abdomen,,, i couldn't really pinpoint where, but it would come & go throughout the day & into fri & sat., thought is was gas & ourhcased some gas x & took it without much relief ...... By saturday, what ever i ate set it off, including drinking,,, so by sat night , I wasn't drinking muchof anything, nor eating too much... I just didn't feel right... So sunday AM I was awakend by sickening pain in my abdomen & though "oh god" I called my PMD who sent me to er.. Got there at ~6:50- 7:00 change of shift, was interviewed in triage & taken right to a bed in the A wing (goes in priority- A= high, B= med, C= children who are stable & d= non emergent...I was interviewed over & over agian... finally, they got a plan together after I drank some ghastly cocktail of lidocain & mylanta EHHHOO!! Yuck! I recieved Dilaudid IV which didn't do too much to take away the pain, just make me dizzy....The docs though I had an ulcer, which at the time didn't seem likely, i was convinced I had adhesions forming.. so the decided to do a CT scan of my abd & pelvis... which there was nothing but a whole mess of well, stuff that fills the colon!! They still though I had ulcer, but not able to scope me at the time... due to no evidence of bleeding... SO at this point they put in bed request & wanted to keep me over night, mostly cause I couldn't really eat & was at high risk for going downhill fast.... I BEGGED them no to keep me... that I lived down the street & could get back if I started puking again...14 hours later & a gallbladder ultrasound later, I was let free, & told to f/u with MD next day... yeah right!! HOw can you get into see your doc the very next day when they don't hold office hours??? Please!! What I need is an upper GI/endoscopy to see if I do have an ulcer & go from there... So far, my Doc hasn't called me back... Im a bit annoyed with it... I've called twice & still nothing! I will try back tomorrow on my lunch break...At this time, I am doing well... I've had BM's , am able to drink & eat, so i am in no real danger... I do still get some stomach pains... but I am now taking prilosec & ranitadine to help protect my belly in the interim... Oh, I got 3 liters of IVF & my weight is up to 162... go FIGURE! 1 Comment(s)
Comment by TCL on Sep 17, 2008 at 09:48am
When they found I had ulcers (along with the kidney stones) the other week I think that was the worse I have ever felt in my life. The nausea fr/the ulcers were actually worse for me to deal with than the pain~of course the kidney stone pain I had been dealing with for a whole week when the ulcer issue came up. Hope you feel better soon.
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