Now to find a place in CT

I am seriously thinking about having surgery and I had found a place in Ohio where I wanted to go. The hubby vetoed it since it was too far and we would be apart for too long. ANYWAY, since I have had the Ohio place vetoed I now need to find someone in CT and I was wondering if you nice people could give suggestions on how to start the process. I know what hospital I want to go to so should I start there and call them? The reason I am at a loss when I had it planned for Ohio is because I was going to a WLS clinic and that is all they did.

Hi Winnie If you have already decided on the hospital you want to go to, then I would advise you call them and find out what surgeons their Bariatric Center uses. Even thought you have decided on a hospital, I would still make certain that the hospital is a Center of Excellence and what type of aftercare programs if offers as your journey only begins with the surgery and being given that "tool". All the best Carol D.

Norwalk Hospital is a Center for Excellence. I think St. Vincent's is as well. FCB does their surgery there and at St. Vincents in Bridgeport. There are 3 surgeons in the group. St. V's bariatric link: http://www.myweightisover.com/index/index.aspx Give either of the offices a call. Here is the forum site here on OH with the seminar schedule. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/forums/events.phtml?ID=TR-1030384751 Towanda

Looks like you need to start researching a few different programs and choose who you think is best. Quite a few CT surgeons have been doing RNY and Lap Band for a long time and have excellent records for success and great programs. I don't know where you're located or what type of surgery you're interested in, but- you really should NOT have any trouble at all finding a good program. Insurance is probably your biggest factor- you need to find out who participates in your plan and then visit a few of them. Of course, I'd personally recommend you check out Dr. Jonathan Aranow out of Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT. They are a center of excellence and Dr. Aranow has an impeccable reputation. His program is very good as well. Best of luck to you. I realize that you had your heart set on going to Ohio, but, I'm sure you can find the resources you need here.

You say that you have your hospital picked out already, but, are they a registered/appointed "Center of Excellence"? It is to your benefit to go to a hospital and a doctor that has been granted this title. Why? Because they have been through the scrutiny of review of patient's files and follow through, inspections of their offices, files, the OR and post surgical floor, nurses,etc. to make sure they are adhering to the stringent guidelines put forth before them. Here is a link to tell you of all of the hospitals in CT that are "centers of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery" along with the surgeons involved.: http://www.surgicalreview.org/locate.aspx?state=CT#srchResults You will find a lot of good information at: www.asbs.org also. There is no need to travel out of state for this surgery. There are many very good (in my opinion excellent and top of the line) bariatric surgeons in CT. Dr Aranow, in my opinion, is the best of the best in this area, if not all of New England. His next seminar in on Jan 16th at 5:30pm at the North 1 Conference Room at Middlesex Hospital. You can call his office to sign up at: 860-347-9167. He gives an awesome presentation covering everything you could imagine about all forms of bariatric surgery. Good luck, paula

Thanks for that link Deb. The hospital I wanted to go to wasn't on it. I was leaning towards The Dr. you suggested and Mddlesex hospital also. The reason I wanted to go to Ohio is because I am from there originally and that is where my family still is. I think I would get better care from them than from the hubby's side of the family. But alas, I am stuck here with them and I will have to suck it up.

Hi Kathy Please remember that the hospital PAYS for the "Center of Excellence" title--they have to have certain percentages of success and fail rates to show to the examiners, but we all know statistics can say whatever you want them to say--or not say! It works just like JACHO and any other certification--they pay for it and are given chances to correct what the board needs to certify them. Obviously, the fact that I almost died at one of these hospitals after a failed attempted WLS does not stop them from being listed as a center for excellence. Just be careful.......................

I would research this in a certain order. 1. Figure out which WLS you want as there are basically 4 being done now and you need to know which is best for you. Seminars are helpful for this step and are held throughout the state. You can and should spend some time doing research here at OH in the different forums, there is a forum for each type of surgery. This way you can find out the pros and cons to each surgery. 2. Once you know which surgery you want done then you need to choose the Dr. you want to use and that determines which hospital you go to. This is just my opinion as i found that if a Doctor only does the RNY for instance i doubt he would tell you to go down the road for a Lap-Band or Vertical sleeve(he would lose money) so they would definitely be biased by the type they perform. I have only been able to find one Group that does 3 of the 4 WLSurgery types and they are at Saint Raphael's in New Haven. Good luck on your journey.