Just a little something on my mind

It is just my opinion, but when I look for a surgeon I am seeking skill. When my mother had cancer we sought out the best surgeon to remove her lung, not one that was going to hold her hand afterwards. And that is what we got. She does all her follow up with his staff and her regular physician. Because he is where he should be, the operating room. When my boyfriends father needed a new heart valve they sought out the best surgeon in the area, and they didn't get to see him afterwards either. Because he was where he was needed the most, the operating room. I have had 4 different surgeries and outside of the initial follow up I have no life time commitment with those surgeons. That is why I have a general practitioner. I also think it needs to be said in the case of Dr. B's office you are seeing the nurse practitioner. They have a Masters degree it's not like they are the girl/guy doing the filing. Her office also has a lifetime program. And if you pay out of pocket it is free for a year. She also has a punch card with several free seminars, exercise programs, or what ever it is that you need on top of the regular office visits. Dr. B's a straight shooter and she doesn't hold punches. If you can't handle some tough love and her telling you how it is then she is not the surgeon for you. However if you are dedicated and really ready to make that step then she is a fantastic woman to work with. I'm not saying she is perfect. We have butted heads, and we have also shared hugs. And she she is certainly a skilled surgeon. When the national average is 10% of patients having complications, and her patients are at 7% she is obviously doing something right. When she decided to start doing these surgeries she advised the hospital the only way she would is if they gave her her own floor dedicated to the comfort of the bariatric patients. They recognizing her skill said absolutely and gave her her own floor. And she has worked hard to ensure it is a place of comfort for her patients. Although all doctors work for money like we all do. She actually came out of early retirement to pursue this. So obviously it had some meaning to her and wasn't just that she wanted more money. To suggest that she lacks of skill or compassion for her patients is wrong. She has an excellent program set up for her patients, and tons of aftercare set up. Whether patients take advantage of that or follow the program is up to them. Unfortunately I have known some people who did not do well on her program. They were doing self destructive things and then blaming Dr B for their complications. Unfair, but of course they are going to blame their Doctor for everything when they are not willing to admit they are failing themselves. I think we all know people like that. I just got tired of reading all the negative about doctors. Although I do appreciate and respect the opinions and honesty of those who say what they mean and feel straight out instead of hiding it between the lines in little innuendos. I am just speaking of first hand experience with Dr B. I don't have any experience with the others so I really can't comment. I have read over their websites, but didn't meet them in person. Everyone here is going to say their doctor is the best. So I think it is crucial to take all comments here with a grain of salt and do your own research and go with your gut on who you think is best for you.

Melissa, I agree with you. I have Dr. B as well and I was one that wasn't completely successful. I didn't completely follow the program. When I saw her in January she was very blunt and up front with me and means well for all her patients. Yes, we all have had problems with her office. They are trying to work on their problems and she is now aware of what is going on in her office as those of us from Tucson had an open forum with her office and was able to voice our concerns with them. If you have concerns you need to contact Diane and let her know. Dr. Blackstone did know that I was at the forum and did commend me for speaking up and letting her know what the problems were. I still have a lot of respect for her and her program. Yes, I was looking to leave her practice, but I won't do that unless I am forced to do that with my insurance. No Dr.'s office is ever perfect. I work for a clinic here in Tucson and we have our problems as well. Deanne Dr. Blackstone 11/9/04 RNY Pending lap band revision

Deanne. Thank you and I commend you on your honesty. I love that she doesn't hold back and she tells it like it is. That is the kind of support I need. There are enough people in my life that enable me. And she certainly isn't an enabler. I hope everything works out with your insurance. Keep us posted!

I'm happy you were happy with your doctor, that's very important being that she was your choice. I had Juarez, he was excellent! I've read a lot about the doctors, I did my research for 2 years and it included Blackstone. I think the surgeon a person finally ends up with should be the one they are the most comfortable with. I think most of the doctors in the Arizona area are straight shooters and don't hold punches, they have to if they want their patients to succeed. But, if she has a 7% success rate, what is the state average? That would be the comparison to use. I haven't read negative things like you have so, I'm not sure what you are specifically referring to. I picked my doctor because of his skill, his ability to answer my questions, the number of RNY surgeries he had done in a short amount of time and his success rate according to him. I met with him twice and went to 2 seminars to make sure I knew what I wanted. Overall, I think Juarez is rated a good 10. I highly recommend him, as far as his complication rate, what is the state average and what level of complication is Dr. B basing the 7% on? I would be very interested in knowing so I can add it to my information.

Web Medic. The information didn't come from Dr. B. It was published in the newspaper in November and it was based on a National average. It is a 7% rate of complications versus the 10% on a national average. You can probably look it up on an article search if your looking for what the other local doctors were rated. It was read to me while I was in the hospital so I didn't read what the other local doctors were rated. You did two years of research?? Seriously? Are you writing an aritcle for the medical journal? You should be able to with all that research you've done. Wow. I researched it for a month and my doctor was amazed at my knowledge of the process and the questions I asked. There was a great video online at one point. It was a doctor lecturing for other doctors while doing the surgery. I think it was like 1 1/2 hours long. It was like a training video. I watched that prior and it had great information on it. If anyone knows where that is if it is still available they should post it on here for new people to watch. Anyways.. she answered all of my questions completely and honestly. If felt a good connection with her, and that based on what I already knew of her from people who worked at Shea Hospital, I didn't need to search further. Again it all goes back to what I said in my last post about following your gut instinct and choosing a doctor that is right for you. Everyone here is going to have a bias opionion of their Doctor. That is why I said everyone should take what all of us say with a grain of salt and do their own research.

I did research for 2 years but why would you ask such an odd question? As I'm assuming you know, it takes more than just research to obtain entrance into a medical journal - I am familiar with medical journals, I have a subscription to the New England Journal of Medicine which I used for much of my research on gastric bypass among other types of surgeries. Again, I am happy that you are happy with the choices you have made. That is the important thing here. Thank you for the information, I will see what I can find.

Webmedic. I tried to do search on the tribune for you for that ariticle, but it will only let you search present stories if you are a not a member. Other then that you have to pay to do the search. So if you are a member you can see if you can search it. I am assuming it was in the tribune, but I might be wrong. I didn't ask what newspaper it was.

Thank you, If I find anything at all on this topic I will post for everyone. Thanks again for the lead.

Your welcome. And yes please do that would be great.

Melissa... I understand what you are saying regarding Dr. Blackstone but I'm coming from a different point of view. I've never met the woman, I'm quite sure she is very nice. But I'm coming from the point of view as someone in medicine. I am aware of her mistakes and I am aware of the outcome of how it was handled. I think if you talk to others in medicine you might get similar opinions. If things go well then everyone is happy. That isn't the true test of a doc. It's when things don't go well and how THAT is handled that is key. Sometimes when things don't go well it is the patient's fault, but sometimes it is the doc's fault. We are all human we all mess up. That includes docs. It's how they handle an error that is a true test of a human being. The 7% vs. 10% stuff... I don't put a lot of stock into that and you know why? Because it is misleading. All complications are equal in such a statistic. If a patient can no longer absorb food because too much intestine was removed and they go on AHCCCS and live on TPN for the rest of their lives that counts as one complication. If someone has a minor suture infection that does not go below the incision and a little topical antibiotic ointment clears it up, that is considered one complication. Is that really fair? Is that an accurate picture of complications? Also, those stats depend on the doc being honest and coming clean with all complications. Human natures dictates that we want to look good professionally and personally and we don't always include everything that should be included. It's like pharmacy in a hospital. If an RPh makes an error they are supposed to self report, do you think they do? I'm here to tell you, they don't. Same with nursing and every other aspect of medicine. If you like Dr. B ... kewl beans! We all have to trust our surgeon. But I don't trust her skills and I think she needs a little more practice under her belt and some changes in the way she handles "issues" before I could ever suggest someone go to her. However, you are correct. People swear by their surgery and their surgeon just like they do their religion. I swear by my surgeon but I don't push people to go to him because he's in Mexico. Not everyone is brave enough or educated enough in the Mexican health care system to venture to another country for surgery. It's the best thing I ever did and if I had it all to do over again I'd do it the same way. But not everyone wants that. That's the only reason I don't push folks in the direction of my doc.