The ball is moving

Okay folks .. i'm in the last month of my 3 month multi-disclipanary program for insurance purposes.  I go see  Dr. Smith on Wednesday for my first appointment on the 19th.  For those that have gone through his office,  what was the first meeting like? What's his turn around with scheduling surgery?  My insurance benefits are going up next year and I've already met my deductible for this year so if I could get my DS before the end of the year I will save a great deal of $$.  Thanks in advance for your response.

I had to travel out of state for my surgery. Dr. Smith was my top pick though, but didn't take my insurance.

His seminar was very informative, and lasted about an hour with some time for questions afterward. Be sure to be on time, because they're strict about it and I have heard they will  lock the doors after the video starts.

I am not sure about Dr. Smith's consult, but I had a consukt w/ Houston and Voellinger. Both lasted only about 15-30 minutes. They went over pictures of the procedure, to explain what I would be having done, went over diet and weight history, my ideal bmi, health problems, surgery history, went over all the surgery type options and asked why I chose the DS, etc.  Both were pretty simple and nothing to be worried about.

Make sure you write any questions down to take with you because once you get in there you'll be so nervous your mind will go blank.  You may want to take a support person too, so they can understand what he will be doing to you and will know what to expect at the hospital and post op.


I am not sure how quickly they process papers at Smith's office, but I have not heard complaints about his office being slow like some of the other surgeons out there??  The best thing for you to do is to gather all your papers, and keep them with you at all times in case you need to fax something in a pinch.  All your pre-op tests, labs,  diet visits, etc... keep copies of EVERYTHING for your own records and don't trust the doctor to keep up with it for you.  Even the best offices misplace stuff.

Good luck with everything and keep us posted on your progress.  Hope to see you Saturday.

Thanks girl for the info...  I'm looking forward to this.  I'm 110% about my business and yes, I will have copies of everything.  I'll keep everyone posted.

 Congrats on the progress!  The first meeting for me going in to the room with him, discussing my health, issues and surgery options.  I was kinda on the fence with the RNY and the DS, and wanted to pick whichever one would support a pregnancy better.  We talked about that for a while, and he left the decision totally up to me.  Of course I chose DS once I learned it didn't have any great risk than the RNY.  I had my consult at the beginning of the process.  He does have a program fee of $400 if I'm not mistaken that will need to be paid at the consult.  Turnaround time on surgery...I got approved and could have had surgery like 10 days later but chose to wait.  It wasn't like it was months or anything like that so assuming you've done your program right and it gets approved I bet you could have it this year.  Hope this helps!