any patients of Dr. Fang?
Michelle,
I had some complications afterwards...turned out to be adhesions, scar tissue, and an ulcer in my new pouch. Dr. Fang was ok...said something during my first hospital visit that ticked me off, but when i called him on it a month later, he didn't even realize what he said, so now we're ok again. His office is bad though...most don't really care. St. Luke's..well, I would not recommend it to anyone..not even my enemies. You can look at my profile for a synopsis of my 2 hospital stays there...if you do go, and if you are allergic to anything...QUESTION EVERY SINGLE THING they give you....they almost put a friend into anaphylactic shock (sp?) knowing full well that she was allergic to the medication they were about to give her. If she hadn't yelled at the nurse and told her to get out, i'm scared to think what might have happened. They gave me a med that I was allergic to...thank god the anesthesiologist caught it before surgery, otherwise, I might not be here today! there were other horror stories...just be very careful, have someone else there with you as much as possible, and question everything...and speak up!!
Katie
Hi Sandy,
When are you having your surgery? I have one more month of medically supervised weight loss and then will wait for approval, but HAVE to have surgery by the end of the year, because I have AETNA insurance, and they won't cover WLS as of 1/1/05.
P.S. I'm from Wisconsin.. born in Racine, grew up in Caledonia, moved here in 74 when I was 12--how bout you?
Michelle
I am a patient of Dr. Fang . I alreay finished my 6 month's supervised weight loss my insurance is AETNA HMO I live in Arizona. Unless you get a letter from AETNA that as of 1/1/05 WLS will not be coved you can not assume that mean's every AETNA MEMBERS. Cause i started this process 7/6/03 the same crap was said as of 1/1/04 that WLS will not be covered ( NOT TRUE EITHER ) I sent my papers as of 7/16/04 still waiting. I meet Dr. Fang once i was very inpressed with him he made me feel more at ease about the surgery. Sandy if you need more info call Beth she takes care of our insurance paper's she also had this surgey she is alway's pleasent and sensitive of what we are going through.
GOOD LUCK !!!!!!!
Barbara
I just had my surgery done by Dr Fang..Post op 3 day and very gassy. A lot of pressure after I eat. As far as St Lukes...What a Dump. Make sure you have someone there with you. The hospital is old, on the sixth floor where the By Pass people are is cluttered with old wheelchairs, beds and just equipment every where. The ladie was next to me, rang for a nurse and 45 minutes passed and she finally got out of bed herself and unplugged the IV machine from the wall so she can go pee. How pathitic is that. I am hoping this goes will for you and I am just sittting here passing along some info. Good Luck
Dr. Fang did my RNY on 7-12-04. Everything went well. He is a good surgeon and extremely dedicated. He is not as young as he looks, so don't be fooled into thinking he just started his practice. Do whatever he says, it is hard at first, especially, to follow the strict eating guidelines, but do it anyway.
Now, I didn't think St. Luke's was so bad. Yes, it is old and not real pretty, but I was treated well, and the staff answered my calls promptly. Whenever I needed pain meds, they came right away. If you can't get around on your own very well, then be sure someone is there with you I don't know if there will be enough staff to help you. I was able to get up and around and do things for myself, walking an hour after surgery, etc.
I will say that even though I had a LAP RNY and a LAP big hiatal hernia repair, it felt like I had a C-section. I didn't have a baby to play with, though. The pain, well, soreness, was more than I thought it would be. More than the gall bladder removal I had a few years back. But the liquid Lortab is wonderful. It kills the pain almost instantly.
Be sure and bring a little pillow for coughing. I got a little lacy one at Bealls that I now use as a bed accent pillow. Coughing was the hardest part for me.
Lisa W.