Using an out-of-town doctor...........

I've giving some consideration to possibly choosing an out-of-town doctor for my surgery. For instance, there is one doctor in Ocala that I would like to consider, but that is probably about a 7 hour drive for me. Has anybody else here done that...used an out-of-town physician? I'm thinking maybe you would have to travel there for surgery and plan to stay in town at least until after the first postop checkup. I'm wondering how hard it would be to find a physician at home who would agree to take over care from that point forward in regards to regular follow-up care and handle any complications that arise. Tks, Betti (Going bonkers trying to decide )

I live in Port St Joe and I traveled 5 1/2 hours to jacksonville, fl to have my surgery. I researched a lot because my insurance wasn't accepted by everyone (even though I was automatically approved). ANyways, I travel back every 3 months for the first year. When I go, he gives my a order for blood work for the next trip that I have done at a local hospital. Even my pcp is over there but I also have one here that I can use if an emergency arises. I am glad I did. Dr. Webb did great for me and I haven't had any complications. Good luck on your journey. Research and then find someone that you are comfortable with. Driving is just a small obstacle when we are talking about the rest of your life being healthy. Carol -73# 285/212/??

Betti, A gal here in Tallahassee just had her surgery with Dr. Jawad in Ocala a little over a week ago. She did not stay in Ocala after she was released from the hospital. Obviously, someone had to drive her back home. She went back to Ocala this week to have her JP drain & staples removed. Again, someone else drove her back & forth but she was able to make the trip to & from Ocala in the same day. So using an out of town doc is certainly do-able. As for follow up - I would think you'd want to bite the bullet and travel to your surgeon for all check-ups for the first year but you don't have to if your local PCP is willing to do whatever tests your surgeon requires. Another friend had her surgery near Washington, DC. She did stay in that area for about 2 weeks but has done all her follow-ups via e-mail and phone calls. Her local PCP orders the tests and forwards the results to her surgeon. After the first year, barring any complications, about the only follow up you'll need are blood tests and any doc can order those for you. Just be sure to have the results sent to your surgeon as well as the ordering physician. I, too, thought about going to Dr. Jawad, but we have a great surgeon right here in Tallahasse who does Lap RNY. Unfortunately, he does not take my insurance. But after weighing the pros and cons, I decided I'd rather pay the difference between his fee and what the ins. co. will reimburse me for using and "out of network" surgeon, than go out of town to have an open RNY. The biggest factor for me was that I really wanted to avoid an open incision if I possibly could b/c I've already had 3 open abdominal surgeries! Keep doing your research and make your decision based on what is best for YOU! Good luck in your journey! Vickie J.

Hi Betti, Mu husband and I live in Orlando and our surgeon is Dr. Rosenthal in Ft. Lauderdale.(Actually the town is Weston) After our surgeries we stayed intown for a few days and then traveled back and forth for post-op appointments and such. Our PCP in Orlando has been great as far as letting us teach him about WLS and the things that we need from him. Also, the staff at our surgeon's office gave us access to their private emails so if we needed anything we could contact them. Be sure to think it through though. Sometimes, it's a pain to have to travel but for us the sacrifice has been worth it. Oh, by the way we get our lab scripts from our surgeon and then we go to a lab in Orlando and they fax the results to the surgeon's office. Good luck. Sincerely, Dawn Post-Op 9/23/04 399/264/200

Thank you Carol, Vickie and Dawn for taking the time to respond. It is good to know that others have managed to use out of town doctors successfully. I have heard wonderful things about Dr Jawad and Dr. Rosenthal too. Dr. Rosenthal was recommended to my by a Physician Assistant here who went to Rosenthal for WLS herself. She said she researched for months to decide on who she wanted to do her surgery and decided upon Rosenthal after much time spent researching in the medical community. Thanks again, gals, for the info. I'm going to leave that option open. Betti