any advice on how chose a Dr to start your WLS journey?
HI! i am new and looking though the forums and trying to find answers to some of the questions i have, so far it has been SOOO helpful, however i was wondering if any one in the high desert, in california, or places close to that have had good experiences with the local Doctors, i am currently going to one where the staff seems under experienced and unacknowledged in my quest to get answers on making sure i am on the right path for WLS. my doctor doesn't seem interested in it one way or another, she will send in a request for me after the 6 months of documented gym time and weigh****chers...but there have been bumps in the road to accomplishing that so far and trying to get answers from her staff is like trying to talk to a broken record....a broken record that talks over you and assumes that you do not know what you are talking about even though you have spent a good amount of your time researching WLS and the trying to follow the rules. any help with personal tips on how you went about finding a Dr you like will help also because it looks like i might have to get a new one.
... apprently,also, IEHP has stopped working with curves from what my insurence told me.
... apprently,also, IEHP has stopped working with curves from what my insurence told me.
My advice would be to choose what surgery you want before consulting with a surgeon. The 2 best surgeries are the duodenal switch and vertical sleeve gastrectomy.
Please go to this site www.dsfacts.com
Please go to this site www.dsfacts.com
I'm not from California, so I can't help you out there, but I wanted to chime in with my experience.
When I first started looking in to the surgery, I first chose the type of surgery I wanted. I won't go so far as to tell you which I think is the best, because this decision is different for everyone and each person needs to decide that for themselves. I did a lot of research and decided on the type that was right for me. Once I had done that, I looked around online to try to find out which surgeons offered the procedure I wanted. Since I'm VSG I was a bit more limited than an RNY or Band patient, but I found a few surgeons within a few hours drive that do the surgery and I worked from that list. You should go to the information meetings that most surgery centers hold at least once a month. At that meeting you'll meet some of their staff and they'll cover the way they do things. You can see if you are comfortable with them. The meetings are also good because if you've done your research, you can see if what they are saying lines up with the research you've done so you know if they are one of the groups that say they offer X surgery but then don't actually ever perform them. Most centers also have a patient coordinator who you can email with questions, which is very helpful.
There are also doctor reviews on OH, so those might be helpful!
When I first started looking in to the surgery, I first chose the type of surgery I wanted. I won't go so far as to tell you which I think is the best, because this decision is different for everyone and each person needs to decide that for themselves. I did a lot of research and decided on the type that was right for me. Once I had done that, I looked around online to try to find out which surgeons offered the procedure I wanted. Since I'm VSG I was a bit more limited than an RNY or Band patient, but I found a few surgeons within a few hours drive that do the surgery and I worked from that list. You should go to the information meetings that most surgery centers hold at least once a month. At that meeting you'll meet some of their staff and they'll cover the way they do things. You can see if you are comfortable with them. The meetings are also good because if you've done your research, you can see if what they are saying lines up with the research you've done so you know if they are one of the groups that say they offer X surgery but then don't actually ever perform them. Most centers also have a patient coordinator who you can email with questions, which is very helpful.
There are also doctor reviews on OH, so those might be helpful!
I think i should have mentioned that i am on medical and so i have to go through IEHP and so there are hurdles i have to jump thorough, i don't think i can just pick a surgery or a surgeon...i am definitely looking into the ones that i would *like* to have but i am not sure if the coverage only offers one or the other of if it is strictly lap band? I am new to all this but i have been reading about the effects and each surgery and learning as much as i can about the different procedures and the aftermath of it all, i would like to start attending class's or whatever is offered to prepare myself for it better then just trying to figure it out on my own, but like i said my PCP isn't very helpful and neither is her snobby staff. I just read in some one's blog that in CA you are not required to have the 6 months of recorded exercise history if you have multiple co morbidity's, i am not sure how true that is but *IF* it is then shouldn't my PCP know that?...I think you all might be right about looking into nearby surgeons however, maybe i could call up and see what Drs have worked the best with them and have a higher rate of referral success?
I LIVE IN SAN FERNANDO VALLEY. I WENT TO 3 OTHER SURGEONS BEFORE I FOUND MY SURGEON DR. JEREMY KORMAN (HTTP://WWW.LABARIATRICS.COM). HE IS OUT OF MARINA DEL REY, CA. HIS STAFF IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM. I WOULD ALSO SUGGEST START WITH OBESITY HELP. THEY HAVE A CUSTOMER SERVICE PHONE NUMBER YOU CAN CALL. I SPOKE WITH KATHY AND SHE IS WONDERFUL. SHE HELPED ME WITH FINDING DR. KORMAN. ALSO CALL YOUR INSURANCE OR GO ON THEIR WEBSITE (MAKE SURE IT IS SPECIFIC TO YOU PLAN) AND FIND OUT IF THERE IS A 3 OR 6 MONTH PRE-OP REQUIREMENT, WHAT DOCTORS ARE COVERED NEAR YOU, HOW MUCH (IF ANY AMOUNT) YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR, WHAT WILL YOU NEED TO QUALIFY, ETC. ALSO, YOUTUBE AND GOOGLE THE DOCTORS AND PROCEDURES. ON YOUTUBE THERE IS AN ABUNDANT AMOUNT OF VIDEOS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD WLS. THAT HELPED ME DECIDE. I HOPE THAT HELPS.
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