Surgeon retireing

Alright guys I need some advice. I received a letter in the mail last night that effective 11/30/07 my surgeon (who has been performing WL surgeries for a gazillion years) is retiring. My surgeon was pretty specific in his instructions that for the first year or two after surgery all medical issues are to go through him. Now that he's retiring I'm a bit concerned. I called another surgeon in the area and was told that his office will follow up on surgical needs, but regular post op follow up care needs to be done through an MD rather than by his office. So what now? How many of you are seeing regular MD's for your follow up care? Do you find that they are just as aware of your needs as the surgeon?

Well, that just sucks now doesn't it? I don't see my PCP for my post-op stuff, but he seems to know some of what is important. Unfortunately, we tend to educate them on our needs...not the other way around. I would get a list of the lab tests that would be performed by your surgeon at different stages so that you can take that at each PCP visit. That way they know what to test for...the high/low values are usually right on the lab reports, so it will be easy for them to see if you are deficient or not in any areas. Other than that, at least the surgical stuff is covered by another surgeon. ~Suz

At my 9 month follow up, my surgeon basically said that I should receive all of my follow up care/lab testing, etc from my PCP now. I haven't been back in to see her, but she already knows exactly what tests to run and is pretty familiar with the surgery, etc. I do go back for an annual check with the surgeon, but I believe after that it will pretty much be working with the PCP on any issues that are not surgery specific. I have been going to my PCP now for about 5 years and she completely knowledgable about my whole treatment plan with all dr's that I just feel comfortable sticking with her. I guess you could just contact your PCP's office and ask them how many patients they have that are WL patients and how comfortable they feel providing advice/care in this area. If you don't feel 100% satisfied, then find look for other dr's in the area that might be more WL caring and knowledgable to handle your care. Best of luck! Lindy

Lori - that really stinks. Have you talked to your surgeon? You would think that he would be refering his patients to another WLS. How familiar is your PCP with WLS? Before he retires I would try to get all the info out of him that you need, as far as what tests to have moving forward and if you have any problems, do you call your PCP or who? Gosh, that stinks. I'm sorry

Lori- since i had my WLS abroad all of my follow-up has been through my PCP or his colleagues... and let me tell you that when it comes to post-RNY not all PCP's are created equal... one was clueless and after explaining to him that I couldn't take Naproxen (anti-inflammatory) he just nodded and prescribed a different anti-inflammatory... I went to the board for my state- Colorado- and posted there that I needed a PCP that was familiar with WLS and I got a bunch of recommendations of Docs that see post RNY patients. One of the Docs even has a family member that had an RNY... much better- Holly

Lori, All my labs are going thru my PCP, but I am also doing follow up visits (10 minute how are you feeling, do you have this symptom reviews lol) with my surgeon. Most doctors when they retire farm their patients out to other doctors. I would contact your surgeons office and see if they are a) bringing in a new doctor or b) referring their patients out to a specific surgeon. Sorry to hear he's retiring, that sucks! Michele

Wow Lori, that really stinks. My PCP has been very open to WLS and learning but I do all my followups with Dr. McDaniel, my WLS surgeon. After my year followup he expects me to follow up every year with him at least. Have you tried calling other WLS docs to see if they will take you on as a patient? Hugs, Caters