Patients of Duncan I need support and some ideas please!

To make a long story short I had surgery 11/15/04, have been doing wonderful. No problems except I can eat way more than what most post ops say they can eat. I spoke with Susan Cali at Peachtree Surgical and she said I needed to come in and be seen. I am worried I may have a stoma outlet that is too large. I never get full or the feeling like I have a knot in my chest to let me know I'm full or when to stop eating. So I went in today saw Dr. Scott who came in and said "so you're here for gallbladder problems"? I said no guess again. I had to tell him that I was a gastric bypass patient and that I was concerned I had a problem. We discussed the issue and he said that if I did have an enlarged stoma that there was nothing that they could do for it!!! I said what?!!!!! It was a non issue as far as other patients had not had this problem. I said I don't care about other patients but I do care if I have this issue and they say there is nothing to be done. I had a earlier post from Tonya L and she had told me that Duncan came to their support group in February and said that he said that he and other surgeons were doing a procedure that can fix the problem. Of course Dr. Scott had no clue - I let him see the post I printed off the website and of course he could not speak for Duncan. He did call Duncan and he said Duncan said the "procedue" was not FDA approved & that is why they can not do it there. So I go in for a upper GI to see if I have a problem they can't fix?!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so mad and upset. First the appointment was not handled professionally at all second because of the answer I was given. Debbie

I am so sorry Debbie!! That just plains SUXS!!! I JUST saw Dr Duncan at the Atl. OH convention and Laura C. was talking to him about the same thing. I was involved in the same conversation with him about enlarged stomas. He once again spoke about how the procedure was done and told Larura to come see him. He was saying that they inject a irritant around the perimeter of the stoma which causes scar tissue to form so that the outlet is made smaller. Now if the FDA hasn't approved it and if he is not doing the surgery than DR Duncan needs to stop telling patients to come see him so that he can fix it. He needs to refer his patients to a Dr that is doing it. I like Dr Duncan but he needs to stop giving his patients false hopes. If I had that problem and he told me to come see him then I would most definately hold his feet to the fire by conffronting him first and then filing a complaint with the medical board. HUgs to you gal! Tonya

I am so sorry Debbie!! That just plains SUXS!!! I JUST saw Dr Duncan at the Atl. OH convention and Laura C. was talking to him about the same thing. I was involved in the same conversation with him about enlarged stomas. He once again spoke about how the procedure was done and told Larura to come see him. He was saying that they inject a irritant around the perimeter of the stoma which causes scar tissue to form so that the outlet is made smaller. Now if the FDA hasn't approved it and if he is not doing the surgery than DR Duncan needs to stop telling patients to come see him so that he can fix it. He needs to refer his patients to a Dr that is doing it. I like Dr Duncan but he needs to stop giving his patients false hopes. If I had that problem and he told me to come see him then I would most definately hold his feet to the fire by conffronting him first and then filing a complaint with the medical board. HUgs to you gal! Tonya

Why would he be spreading the word if it is FALSE?!! It makes me really mad once they get you in the office they just say "oh, sorry". That is really lame. They have not heard the last from me. Thanks for responding Tonya. Debbie

Sometimes they tell you what you want to hear as a pre-op to get you on the table! Something to think about.........

Debbie OMG is all i can say right now ...now there is a soemthing they can do for inlarged Stomas ....I know cause when i went for my 3 month check up the nurse was saying how Duncan was going to get certified to do it soon ...And he also was tellmeing that if your pouch or stoma is big they have to scoop you to see what the deal is first and then they can go in and fix it ...now the follow up proceduer is probley not covered by your insurance and is a out of pocket cost ( that is what i am assuming ) but i am not sure ....my problem was alittle different but i can tell you this also ....I dont feel full alot at all really unless i take that one extra bit and then i feel sick .....but i have been loseing and i am on target i have lost 80 so far .....but i totally know were you are coming from casue i was sooo mad when he told me to come in and be scoped before asking me anything else ....ughhhhhhhhhh Let me know what happeneds Laura

Hi Laura, After dealing with numerous insurances over the last many, many years I can tell you that they will not re-cover making your stomas smaller. Most of the BIG insurance companies are trying to get out of wls all together. So you may be stuck with what you have. Now on the other hand, if you can prove to the insurance company that your doctor didn't do what he was suppose to do on the original procedure then and only then you may have an argument. May I ask who your surgeon is or was? Crece

Crece My surger was Dr johnson who is on Duncans team ...I have heard thru the grapevine that he is not the best at what he does like Duncan is ...So i just wonder if he did something ....But to be honest i am still loseing and i am content that i am not going to go back to them if i dont have too .....so as long as i dont gain i am happr right now LOL LOL Laura

Laura, As long as you seem to be happy with your weight loss at this time, Be happy. As to the other issues at hand that everybody alse are discussing I can not get involved in because I have an active pending malpractice suit filed against Peachtree Surgical which is Duncan/Hobson and at the advice of my attorneys I can not go into details at this time. On the other hand sweetheart, I DO wish you well along your wls journey. Respectfully, Crece

Debbie, I'm so sorry that you are not getting the help that you deserve.. I feel your pain. After spending 3 months in the hospital following my gastric bypass surgery. I had to go into Duncan's office to have a tube removed. I came into the office using a walker to help me walk, because at this point I was still unable to walk on my own. After waiting for hours in the waiting room, one of the staff doctor's had the nerve to ask me "why are you here?" Didn't bother to read my chart, guess there was nothing noted that "their" patient had been in the hospital for 3 months fighting for her life. I thought my husband's head was going to explode...........I was still very, very sick at this point and asked my husband not to make a scene........I was still not healthy enough to deal with it. Had the tube removed, made my way out the door with the help of my husband and my walker and have never been back. Do not let them push you aside...........demand better care. Good Luck Debbie J Duncan patient 01-14-02 lap-rny 01-15-02 leak repair surgery (non smoker, non steroid taker) 01-29-02 surgery to see if I had another leak, NO thank goodness SEVERE COMPLICATIONS!!! 45 days in ICU, 33 days kept alive via ventilator 30 days in a rehab hospital, had to learn to walk again Now, one happy girl..........LUCKY to be alive!!