Surgery in Mexico - How to get good post -op care?

My GP is on board with WLS but can't get his head around me not doing it within his medical group.  How did everyone who did surgery out of the country get their post-op care arranged and what are some good hints for educating my GP - or should I look for a different kind of doc for post-op?

Hi again, Susan!

I already answered your support group question on the CA forum. Regarding this very important question, you will need to be your own advocate with your DS. Whether or not you can educate your present pcp regarding the DS, only you can say. You can certainly provide him with some good articles about it. Some docs are open to learning about bariatric surgery other than what "their group" offers. Others are not.

I think it will also be even more important for you to join a support group with people who are well informed about the DS. If you don't know how to take care of yourself, and your doc doesn't either, you're in trouble. You can't control the doc, but you can make yourself the most well informed and proative patient possible, and the support group will help you with this.

And again, who is your DS surgeon?

Larra

I am having surgery with Dr. Aceves On Oct 23. 

San Jose is pretty far for me on a weeknight and traffic is awful.   Do you ever meet on Saturdays?

 If your having the DS... Dr Ungson is the only vetted DS doc in Mexico.. No others ! 

Have you read http://www.dsfacts.com/North-American-Duodenal-Switch-Surgeo ns.html#mexicohttp://www.dsfacts.com/North-American-Duodenal-Switch-Surgeons.html#mexico


Please choose your doc carefully. 

Gak's info on Mexico is slightly out of date (though technically correct). Dr. Aceves has an excellent reputation in general, and has been doing the DS with Dr. Ungson working with him, so I would say that you have chosen well.

I understand about getting to San Jose on a weeknight. It ain't easy. On the positive side, though, we don't get upset if people arrive late. The meetings start at 6 pm and run til 8, and are very casual. We have never met on a Saturday. I agree that a week night isn't perfect, but then, I don't think the perfect time exists.

The "big" meeting of Dr. Rabkin's groups in San Francisco is also on Wednesday evenings, but I suspect that would be even worse for you to try to get to on time.

You can pm me for all the details, and we would be happy to have you come, even if you do arrive late.

Larra

Thanks Larra. 

I have gotten those responses about Dr. A before, but I spent a lot of time in communication with his office and with others who have had surgery with him this year.  I feel very secure in my decision. 

Aside from that, Dr. Ungson's office takes weeks to respond and his fee went way up- beyond my budget. I also talked with the DSfacts people and they agree that it is time for them to take another look at Dr. A.  They may be out of date with their "approvals."

 Yeah, this is good to read and sorry if I judged to quickly. I know there were problems in the past with him. It is good to hear that has been corrected and resolved. 

Wishing you the best of luck. I will try to be more careful. Life is busy ! 

 My PCP knew nothing about the DS.  I brought her some articles that I'd printed from the net, along with diagrams so she knew what she was working with and more websites so she can learn more later.  She was very enthusiastic to learn more, and after a year, she started recommending the DS to patients who were considering wls.  She orders my labs without blinking an eye, and when we get results, we discuss together what I think I should do to adjust my vitamins, and she usually agrees with me, but occasionally has some recommendations of her own, especially when it comes to how some are absorbed better with strategic pairing.

Now, I had my DS locally, but my PCP handles my aftercare just like your GP will.  I'm sure Dr. Aceves is the same, but I've heard that Dr. Ungson is very good at partnering with the local docs to coordinate the after care, and he makes himself available to them if they have any questions.  I'll bet with Dr. Aceves being trained by Ungson, that he is the same way.  Just reach out to his staff and ask, and ask your GP if they feel comfortable with it.  If they don't - then it's time to find another GP

Wow, you have a DS surgeon in your Dr's medical group?   I know people who would KILL for that! 

She said her GP is on board with WLS, but not necessarily the DS.  His medical group probably does not do the DS.

My regular doctor, an osteopath, does my labs.  I took in all my data about the DS, she read it, it took several appointments to clarify things, but now she is totally on board.  I copied one of my WLS surgeon's lab slips and kept it on file so we make sure we are billing my insurance optimally to get everything covered.  That's half the battle when dealing with a non-WLS doctor, getting everything coded properly so your insurance will pay.

The other important thing to make sure your regular doctor understands is that the "normal range" on the lab slip results does not always apply to us.  We have different needs, and our readings on some items need to be higher for optimal health.  Vitamin D, for example, needs to be higher, along with your calcium; that's what will keep your parathyroid hormone nice and low. 
Your ferritin needs to be higher than the highest setting for normies.  Likewise your iron, hemoglobin & hematocrit need to be high.  Ferritin is your iron "savings account".  That cannot be depleted, or you will end up with iron infusions.  There's no other way to get it back up again.