"I am postop and now at my goal weight, 128 lbs and size 8. Dr. Tillquist is a competent surgeon and very nice. I cannot say the same for every member of his staff. This is what happened to me; My experience is mine, yours may hopefuly be better.
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In Oct 2001 I had laparoscopic roux-n-y gastric bypass surgery at Swedish Hospital. I gave the hospital a list of my meds (you can't bring in your own from home) and the doses, but they never gave me any of them while I was in hospital !!!! Consequently my BP went way up. And without my HRT, had to deal with hot flashes/cramps, in addition to the surgical pain. Nurses at this hospital are understaffed, so plan on a family member being there for you. Really.
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There are certain postop. pain meds I don't tolerate. I told Dr. T what WOULD work for me. Instead he gave me something that made me sick. He finally gave me what I'd TOLD him had worked for me at a prior surgery, but only after I was made sick as a dog on the stuff I asked NOT be given to me.
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By 8 weeks after my surgery, the new opening between my stomach and intestines scarred virtually completely shut. I vomited everything I ate for 27 days in a row !!! Toward the end, even water came back up. Despite many phone calls to Dr. Tillquist's office, I didn't hear from him. I got to leave messages for one of his nurses instead. When I called the nurse, it was often 24-48 hours before I was called back. Depending on which nurse it was, I was told: "Try eliminating dairy". "You must be eating too fast", "Go back to just liquids", etc.
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I finally got so weak and dehydrated that I passed out, landing on my face on my (fortunately carpeted) living room floor. Drove myself to the hospital. By then I was 12 POUNDS dehydrated.
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An upper GI showed I was scarred nearly completely shut. Because this wasn't caught by Dr. T's office soon enough, it was too late to do a balloon dilatation. This is where they thread a balloon down your throat in the strictured area, then inflate the balooon and stretch the scarring out. The GI surgeon at the hospital tried to do this and could not; he said it was too late. If the nurses had provided good postop care, this WOULD have been caught in time and that dilation procedure likely would have succeeded.
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Instead, I got to have a SECOND operation just eight (8) weeks after the first, which could absolutely have been avoided !!! It was just as painful to go through a second operation and another 5-6 day hospital stay. Even so, I made no fuss about this at the time, trying to be a "good patient". My husband was very angry about the care I received that caused me to have a second surgery unnecessarily.
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Fortunately I have been well since then.
Here's my impression of follow-up care I got through Dr. Tillquist's office. They tell you they have this great one year follow-up plan? Here's what I got. I made appts, then waited for a half hour or more in the exam room before Dr. T saw me. The nurse weighed me first. Then he asked "Any problems?" If the answer is "No", he's gone. Maybe 3 minutes with him tops. No examination, after a long wait. And believe me, they charge plenty for this "office visit".
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Here's where it got strange. I lost my job after 16 years, due to being replaced by a computer program. I called the office and told Eileen that I'd lost my job and was flat broke, and still looking for another job. Now by this time their office had collected about $30,000 (THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) from my insurance company for my TWO surgeries, plus approximately another $80,000 (EIGHTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) for the SIX surgery patient referrals I'd sent to them !!! So, I asked Eileen if they could write off whatever balance was left over after my insurance company paid for my next office visit? She said, "Yes! I'm doing it now in the computer." Based on this, I went to that next appointment.
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I waited 40 mins in the exam room for Dr. T, he breezed in, 3 minutes max, again no exam,
and he left. He's very personable and nice, but this office seems to me to be all about the money. Next I got a bill for $20 balance after my insurance company had paid for most of this expensive office visit. I called Eileen and told her their office had billed me for the remaining $20 and reminded her of the agreement that she'd entered into her computer. She said she'd take care of it right away and I wouldn't be billed for it again. I believed her. Eileen is very nice and I have no problem with her, Gini or most of the other fine staff members there.
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However, I then got an unpleasant phone call from a creature called Diane/Diana in Dr. Tillquist's billing department. The sort of person who smirks, is condescending and rude to you? You know the type. Try to avoid this evil troll if you can. (Just my opinion...)
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She informed me in a nasty tone that that there was no way they were going to write off this $20, even though I had lost my job and made this agreement with Eileen. Now remember, this office was already about $110,000 (ONE HUNDRED TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS)ahead because of my TWO surgeries and SIX referrals to them who had surgery....
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I told Diana that they needed to honor the agreement made with me, not change it AFTER I'd already kept the appointment. It is the principle here, and I would not accept having been flat out lied to, on top of everything else I'd been put through already !!! Her response? Was to send me a cruddy form letter demanding immediate payment or face a collection agency for this whopping $20 balance. Incredible. My impression was and still is that she's a self-important, mean-spirited and vindictive woman who will go to great lengths to prove herself "right". I certainly didn't find an ounce of compassion in her. And her attitude was certainly unprofessional, in my estimation. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, as they say....my dealings with this awful creature. I was done.
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Well, you may say, $20 isn't much? No, I agree, it really isn't. But when you have no job for 4 months, that is a tankful of gas for me....or a sack of groceries. Money is very tight now, and in the depressed job market here, I'm not finding work in my field. I job-hunt every week. Ethically, a deal is a deal, not to be changed by one side after the fact. It was just shoddy.
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I really feel that I deserved to be treated better by this office. I am currently sending them $3 a month until this $20 balance is paid off, because that is all I can scrape up just now. Beware anything this office tells you - get it in writing. Because, bottom line, my experience has been that this office is less about patient care than it is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, ALL THE TIME.
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I now see my internist twice a year for my follow-up care. There, at least when I pay for an office visit I am seen promptly, actually examined, have lab work done. I feel that I am now treated like a valued patient, not merely like a cash cow.
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Oh, by the way. I asked Dr. Tillquist once about some of the negative reviews I saw here on this website about his office? He brushed it off, making it sound like some people are just nuts or unreasonable. Well, everyone who knows me says I am the MOST laid-back, easy to get along with person they know. I didn't even raise a fuss when their incompetence caused me to have a second operation that could have been avoided !!! But when they started adding insult to injury, yeah, I finally got the picture of what they are about. Money......Period.
Good luck to you, and I hope your own subjective impressions of your surgical and postop care experience are more positive than mine. Lisa Dobson
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