i'm lost.

I have received a referral for Dr. Zahn. I am scheduled to attend his seminar on September 19th, and I don't know where to go from here. I have the packet filled out, but I don't know what to mail to the Dr, what to mail to the hospital, and what I need to get from my family doctor. Please someone who's had this done with Dr. Zahn respond and tell me where to go from here. I'm not in any hurry, but I know there's something I need to mail before the seminar. Thanks in advance! Chad Bendel

I am 4 weeks post op, and Dr. Zahn was my surgeon. If you have the packette they gave you filled out and a copy of your insurance card, you can turn the questionaire in at the seminar. If you do not have the questionaire, you will get it at the seminar, and you need to fill it out and get it mailed ASAP. The next thing Dr. Zahn requires is the psch eval tests and a visit with the Pshcologist. So once they recieve the questionaire and they have you in the computer, you will get the phone number to call and set that appt up for your testing. You will need to get medical records from any doctors for the last year, and also depending on your insurance a history of weight loss atempts, or any supervised diets, the length of time depends on your insurance. Before you can even get a appt with Dr. Zahn you will need to have all of the above, once everything is in, you will get a pre-op appt. You want to get all of your medical records and everything in, and your visit with the pschologist as soon as you can, because it takes about 3 months to get to the pre-op appt and after the pre-op, if Dr. Zahn agrees to do the surgery they send for approval for WLS with your insurance, how long that takes is up to your insurance, once they have the approval, they will schedule your surgery date, and it is about 5 or 6 months wait. On a personal note, Dr. Zahn seemed cold and rushed when I had my first visit, but he turned out to be a very kind and gentle man. His surgery skills are fantastic, and I thank God everyday that he was my surgeon.

I turned in all the information with my PCP letter when I went to the siminar. It took about 2 weeks and Nicole called me with an appointment. Don't be discouraged as I heard the appointments are already into March 2004. You can request to be on a cancelation list where you would call and see if there are any last minute openings. You do need to have all current info from your PCP in your file. Everything else that Cindy said was correct. However I did hear that you have to attend what is called an ABC classes as well. I don't think Cindy and I did this becuase it is brand new. I wish you the best of luck. Dr. Zahn is a wonderful person, I have NO complaints. He has answered all my questions and took the time to make sure I understood everything. You can see my remarks on my profile. Tina