RCassety
WE STARTED WITH 1 SURGEON AND THEN CHANGED TO DR. KIRKLAND
Ross and i have our 1st consultation with Dr. Manigat on 9/19/05 -- our 1st appt which was supposed to be 8/15/05 was cancelled due to a Dr. emergency -- we both have different insurance companies -- I have Aetna and he had BC/BS Horizon, so we will have to see what that brings
9/17/05
wife - 5'4" 248 lbs
husband - 6'0" 345 lbs
this is a good guess -- i'll post the actual weights after the dr appt
9/19/05
wife - 5'4" 239 lbs BMI 41
husband - 6'0" 345 lbs BMI 46
this was as far as we got during our appointment -- there were 2 other ladies there with us -- i'm guessing the Dr. does an information meeting with a few people and then he talks one on one to each of us -- again the Dr. had to cancel on us due to an emergency -- i must say that i am a bit frustrated at this point -- we both have to take time off from work -- the appointment was at 2pm and we left there at 3:30pm -- the next possible appointment for us is next monday 9/26/05 -- we'll see............
9/21/05
Dr. Manigat saw us for the consultation after i complained a bit about missing 2 appointments already!! he was very informative and told us the good and the bad about the surgery -- he specializes in Lap RNY and said the both of us are candidates -- Ross has BC/BS Horizon HMO so all he has to do is the Psych Eval -- Lucky me has Aetna so i have to do a 6 month Dr. supervised diet -- BUT..... aetna will accept a 3 month diet/exercise program that is Dr. supervised -- that's for me!!! i also have to schedule an Echocardiogram since i did Phen/Fen before and an Upper GI
series due to chest pains after i eat to rule out GERD and also the psych eval and a dietician appointment to start the 3 month diet/exercise program
9/22/05
started calling to make all our appointments today -- the Upper GI
Series is TOMORROW!!!! i have NEVER made an appointment for a procedure soooooooooooo fast!!! the person from the bariatric office will call me back about the dietician/psych evals and the Echocardiogram is TODAY!!! can you imagine!!!!
Echocardiogram was fine :) no damage from the Phen/Fen (which i already knew years ago when i was firsted tested) that i took in 1997
9/23/05
Upper GI Series was today :) i found out that i DO NOT like Barium
Liquid!!! the people at South Jersey Radiology were very nice :) and the staff from Dr. Manigat's have not called me back yet about the dietician or the psych evals yet -- also signed us up for the gym to start the 3 month exercise program
9/26/05
called Dr. Manigat's office again to schedule the appt's we need and we still have to wait for a call back
9/27/05
called Dr. Manigat's office again to schedule the appt's we need and we still have to wait for a call back -- is this a repeat???
9/28/05
repeat repeat -- called Dr. Manigat's office again to schedule the
appt's we need and the person who handles all appt's will be in the office after 2pm and i can call back then -- i asked if i could just come to the office on my way home from work instead of calling again -- i was told that was not a problem -- so when i got there at 4pm i was greeted by the person who does the scheduling --she is the reason i am changing surgeons!!! needless to say, we got into a screaming match about her not calling me back in what i would consider an appropriate amount of
time -- her answer was 'i just called your house and left a message' -- i think 6 days for a call back is inappropriate --she also told me that i couldn't make any appt's until i paid the fees -- i kept asking what fees and she told me it was in the packet -- well i haven't recieved the packet yet which was supposed to have been mailed out on 9/23/05 -- then she proceded to tell me that 'i am busy and you are only here for bariatric and i have patients with cancer' -- well!!!! if that comment didn't blow me away!!! and i left the office --there were 2 other office workers there and they both repeatedly kept telling us to lower our voices -- not a pretty picture -- when i got home there was a packet there from the Dr. office -- we opened it and went looking for the 'fees' --
we found a page about the blood thinning medicine and that it had to paid for before surgery and that insurance might not cover it -- so we called our insurance companies and got the prices (both are covered) -- there was nothing else in the packet about fees -- so i'm on my way
9/30/05
called Dr. Manigat's office and spoke with Janice -- she was very very nice -- i asked for the number of the dietician and the psychologist -- she asked who i was and that they don't give out their numbers -- i gave her my name and apologized for my behavior (she was on the phone with another patient at the time of the screaming match) -- she asked me about the fees and i told her we called about the medicine and it's covered -- she asked me about the 'checklist' and i told her i didn't have that -- then she asked about other paperwork and i told her i didn't have that either -- so she said she would get it into the mail for me and
to call back on Monday to make the appointments -- they were having an office meeting at 2pm and they would have all the schedules for the dietician and psychologist after the meeting
10/1/05
recieved the packet in the mail from Janice -- MAN OH MAN were we missing paperwork!!! the total amount for fees was $1,650.00 per person to cover the nutrition consult, monthly nutrition prior to surgery, follow up 1 yr post surgery, psych eval pre and post op, support group, continuing education, product samples and nutrional suppliments and also to cover all paperwork for disability and employment -- talk about making a person CHOKE!!!
10/2/05
researched other surgeons on the OH page and came up with Dr. Matt Kirkland in Philadelphia -- close to home -- and i searched some more and emailed some people from OH who are planning on using Dr. Kirkland or who already have and recieved some really nice responses :)
10/4/05
called Dr. Kirkland's office to make appointments and we are going to an informational meeting on 11/1/05 from 6pm - 8pm -- sounds like a good start to me -- and our initial appointment will be on 11/17/05 at 1pm!! on the right track (again) i know i will need a 6 month Dr. supervised diet or a 3 month Dr. supervised diet/exercise plan -- i am already signed up for a gym (cheap
little place) and the other day at my PCP office i asked about a diet plan and she gave me an 1800 cal diet to follow :) so the 3 month plan will be finished on 1/4/06
10/7/05
just sitting back and waiting now -- searching the web on how to make this 1800 cal diet work haha they always sound easier on paper :)
11/1/05
1st support meeting for Dr. Kirkland -- we must complete 2 support meetings -- this was really informative!! it's nice to talk to the pre-ops who are going thru the same as you and then to talk to post - ops who are willing to help a new person -- this meeting is set up with Dr. Schuricht in an informational setting and then Q & A after that
11/17/06
1pm meeting with Dr. Kirkland -- room full of people with the same
dream -- he is a very informative person when explaining the surgery and why we can't lose weight now -- he's realistic in goals -- after the meeting we go into seperate rooms to meet with Jim the nutritionist and he explains a little of what kind of diet we will follow
11/29/06
2nd support meeting -- this one was set up differently -- more of a
round table discussion with pre and post ops present -- it's nice to see the post ops show off their new bodies and clothes and talking about what they can do now -- they also talk about how their thinking can go backwards and how they have to readjust their thinking
12/15/06
still doing the 6 month diet plan -- Ross has to do a 3 month diet plan for BC/BS
1/15/06
still doing our diets for the insurance companies
4/6/06
it's been a LONG while since i updated this -- Ross got his approval on 4/4/06 -- he goes for Pulmonary on 4/28 and i'm trying to find a
cardiologist who takes bc/bs for that clearance -- i finish my 6 month diet on 4/14 -- was in a car accident back on 9/29 so i wasn't able to go to the gym and do the 3 month diet/exercise --
5/2/06
Well this is Ross, wifey takin a lil break. but anywhos, i saw all the
docs, and they all passed me for the op., so on May 22, I'm in and get cut, yaaaaaaaaaaaahooooooooo!!!! lol good thing surgury doesn't scare me huh lol. more later
