Blessing in disguise

Last week when Elizabeth posted that Dr. AC was no longer doing the surgery- I went in to panic mode. My 1st consult got pushed back from Nov to mid Dec with his partner,Dr. Myrie. The office had no idea how long it would take to get surgeries scheduled, etc... I decided that I needed to come up with an alternative to IMMC. I called to several places (Grinnell, Boone) and ended up talking to a woman at the Mercy Capitol group (in DSM). I didn't think Mercy accepted my insuranc, so I had never given them much thought- turns out I was wrong. My insurance does cover them and the hosp. Anyway- Barb was very nice and excited to talk to me (something that never happened to me at AC's office). She told me they were having next info mtg this past Saturday- so I went and was absolutely impressed with their team (surgeon, nurses, ins. people and nutrionist all where there). I left there feeling more certain of my decision to have the surgery than ever. The surgeons and staff have all trained with the Dr. in Cal who did Carnie Wilson's surgery. That Dr.'s mortality rate is 1%- which is less than the nat'l avg of 3%. The Mercy group is modeling their program after his and being very cautious about prospective srugery candidates. I have already turned in my packet to them and should hear about ins. approval within the next 3 weeks- which is further than i ever got with AC's office in the last 6 months!!!!! I am not trying to bash the IMMC program here- but anyone who is on their rather extensive waiting list should call Mercy Center for Weight Reduction and at least talk to them. Also, I have heard that Dr. AC has lost several patients in the last few years and has 3 in intensive care right now with serious complications- I am not sure how true that statement is, so please take it with a grain of salt!!! I know many of you have had great success with him as your surgeon. Ok- I guess I have rambled more than enough now- but thought i would share my recent experience. Hopefully soon I will be posting with insurance approval!!!!

On one of my lists, we received word from his nurse that Dr. A.C. had too much on his plate and there was a family crisis. He will continue follow-up of his patients and will continue as a general and trauma surgeon. I am so glad you have found a new team for you to work with. Isn't it exciting! 6 more days to 10/14 for me.