ANYONE SEEING DR BELL

If so how long do you have to wait to see him?? I have done all my pre op stuff and I am just waiting to hear from his office. Is this part usually a long wait?? What am I in store for???? Any advice?? Thanks Melissa

Melissa: You remind me of me a month or two ago. I was done with my pre-op appointments by early Feb. It took about 1 month from the time all my paperwork was submitted (psych eval, nutrition eval, my workbook from Dr.Bell's office and my PCP's letter) for them to call me. When Maureen called me to tell me my group meeting was set for June 10th I jumped for joy. Well....as well as a 230 pound woman can jump!!! LOL. I am thinking I will probibly have surgery by the end of August. My birthday is August 29th so I am curious to see when my surgery date will be. Dr.Bell has group meetings the 1st tuesday of every month at Yale at 6PM. The meetings are great. There is a good mix of pre & post ops. It is nice because Dr.Bell is usually there. He is a great guy. You should try to go to the meetings. If you are nervous about going you can always come with me. If you have ANY questions just let me know. There are GREAT people on the CT board and several of Dr.B's patients. Best wishes, Chryssie

Welcome Melissa, As Chryssie said you are just like the rest of us!! The waiting is the most difficult part but unfortunately it is part and parcel of the whole process. I would suggest checking with Dr. Bell's office to make sure that everything is in your folder that they need. If it is they should be giving it to Lynda the nurse to review. Once she has reviewed it she may send you back something to re do or may call you with something else that is needed. That will depend on what insurance company you have and what their requirements are. Once she has reviewed it they will call you with a date for the group session. It is looking like that won't be until August or so (the group session), then you wait again about two weeks for a call with your surgery date and that should be in about two months from then. I know it is totally frustrating, all the waiting, but in the end you will be glad that you had time to meet more people and learn more about what you are getting yourself into. I would totally reccommend going to the support group meetings. It is really worth the time and effort. You will get a ton of information from people who are living it and we are trying to have some speakers and different topics. There is always a dietician at the meetings and Dr. Bell usually comes for part of the meeting. As Chryssie said it is on the first Tuesday of every month at Yale, Max Taffell Room from 6-8pm. We are a great group!! If you have any other questions or just need to vent we are here for you..... Linda