Dr. Heffel
Hi-
We are in the same boat. My first appt was actually with Dr schlesinger then he laeft the practice. I was freaked out then met with Dr Heffel, who seems great. I know he worked on serious bariatric cases when he was at UCLA but he does admit it has been 4 years since he has done a solo bariatric procedure. I am actually having a revision and I asked him to be brutally honest on whether he could handle it, and he said absolutely but that he would also respect my decision to follow Dr S. I thought that was a great response (not ****y) so I am toughing it out with him. I got approved last week from BCBS and should be having surgery in about 3 1/2 weeks. I bet I will be his first........I will post ASAP so you know I made it out ok....lol. Also, I am looking forward to using him as my plastic surgery for a tummy tuck in about a year!
Good Luck!
Liz
We are in the same boat. My first appt was actually with Dr schlesinger then he laeft the practice. I was freaked out then met with Dr Heffel, who seems great. I know he worked on serious bariatric cases when he was at UCLA but he does admit it has been 4 years since he has done a solo bariatric procedure. I am actually having a revision and I asked him to be brutally honest on whether he could handle it, and he said absolutely but that he would also respect my decision to follow Dr S. I thought that was a great response (not ****y) so I am toughing it out with him. I got approved last week from BCBS and should be having surgery in about 3 1/2 weeks. I bet I will be his first........I will post ASAP so you know I made it out ok....lol. Also, I am looking forward to using him as my plastic surgery for a tummy tuck in about a year!
Good Luck!
Liz
Hey there PhatKat!
Just as a p.s. to my previous post......I would highly recommend to everyone that "if" they have the slightest hesitation regarding any surgeon, that they have other consultations. I went to EIGHT consultations before I had my first procedures. Of course after working in the biz a little bit now; I would look in a different way. I'd check out medical boards, pending lawsuits, ask on forums and at support groups, etc. Plastic surgery is an expensive and often MAJOR surgery and consistent successful outcomes without complications are things that everyone should hunt for in a plastic surgeon.
Good luck to you! I"m on deck for some more sometime this year myself. It's such a great finish to a successful weight loss journey!
Hugggzzz,
Joyce
Just as a p.s. to my previous post......I would highly recommend to everyone that "if" they have the slightest hesitation regarding any surgeon, that they have other consultations. I went to EIGHT consultations before I had my first procedures. Of course after working in the biz a little bit now; I would look in a different way. I'd check out medical boards, pending lawsuits, ask on forums and at support groups, etc. Plastic surgery is an expensive and often MAJOR surgery and consistent successful outcomes without complications are things that everyone should hunt for in a plastic surgeon.
Good luck to you! I"m on deck for some more sometime this year myself. It's such a great finish to a successful weight loss journey!
Hugggzzz,
Joyce