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I am happy that you are having a good experience.  I think they are excellent surgeons, but seeing the doctor is extremely unusual in this office after surgery.  They may be listening to their paitents that are leaving and make some changes.  I hope for all the patients they do.  I have nothing against the doctors other than the way aftercare is handled.  I will always stand by my statement that it should not have taken seven months to find a leak though and that for me the after care was bad due to that.  I think had an MD been doing that and seeing a patient in tears because they are not losing they would have figured something else out.  Also, when I was 4 months out the ARNP told me I probably needed to consider another surgery.  Funny thing is I am losing now, not fast but losing for sure. 

Jacqueline

Hey Jacqueline,

I think what you are doing now is simply paying it forward. Someone else on this thread mentioned asking other patients about their aftercare w/ this particular surgeon. Now when asked you can give an honest answer about their aftercare. You are just being honest and you're simply telling your story. No one has to believe what you say but I bet you've helped at least one person out there.
Glad you're back on the losing side. I wish you good luck!

Katrina

 Maybe with more research you might not have had this kind of an experience. 

Lee Ann at the time I had my surgery I did lots of research and everything I found on here and elsewhere said that BBSA was the best in the area.  I did want to stay within a four hour driving period so that I could make my trips back and forth in one day plus for my insurance to pay they had to be a Center of Excellence.  I also compared it with doctors in Knoxville, TN, Johnson City, TN and Abbington, VA. They were still on top.  Not one time was I told or did anyone say that you would never see the doctor again, until after I had my surgery.  Actually it was after my first appointment that I found this out. 

Also, if you are suggesting that if I had mentioned that I thought I had a leak that it might have been different.  I told them the day it happened that something was wrong and each time I went I said, I just cannot get restriction.  I am now experiencing true restriction for the first time since I had surgery.  There were times that I thought I might have had some at first but after 4 months I knew I didn't have any.  I went to that appointment the day my por****ured and had some mild restriction and only wanted a small fill because I did not want to be too tight, I didn't have to worry about being tight again, because it didn't happen after that day. 
Jacqueline

 What I said said is that perhaps with more research you might not have had the experience you had. There is no suggestions in that. I am sure you were thorough in your mind. I am sure you would have talked to some of his patients and been informed that he did not do the follow up care himself. What better source of reference than his own patients. As with a restaurant, if you want to know of a good place to eat that is bari friendly you ask the patrons.  I had alot of complications with my band as well but I learned quickly you have to be very proactive in your care...before and after....in order to have success. My goodness if you think about all the patients these Dr's have and see each day it is unbelievable. They cannot keep track of each and every ones details but when I spoke with mine about my concerns he was very proactive in a game plan to get to the center of the problem and get it resolved.  Things happen and that is how statistics come about.  But you have to be your own voice and speak up until you are heard. If your not losing...don't blame it on the band...You have to work the band and modify until you do start losing. It is not a cure..its a tool. And if you are having issues with the Dr or staff....speak up...but speak up to someone who will get the issue resolved. If you have someone posts a request wanting an opinion on your surgeon or group...send them a pm about your experience if you want to get into the details. Your proof is heresay..nothing in black and white. Her phone call is heresay...not proof. The actual puncture is your only proof and that is only minimal at that. So yes...you are opening up a big chance for slander in your posts. Thats why I warned you about doing it pm...that shows you used discretion and did not say these things on a public open forum. Yes it sucks we have to be so careful but it is the way it is. 

If there is a hole (or several) in the tubing to the band, it will fail, regardless of what one does.  It becomes a faulty system.

I don't know what more I could have done.  I had been to dinner with his patients.  Actually, several of them.  No one mentioned that they didn't do aftercare.  I was even to dinner with the nurse that was over the program for G-town at the time.  I realize she couldn't say anything but with as many patients as we had at the two get togethers I went to prior to having surgery you would have though I would have heard.  Now most of  these same people will speak up and say they are not happy with them either, but at that time, no one talked.  Several of them have gone on and changed doctors even before I did, most changed to Dr. Husted or the folks that are with him in Somerset.

BTW, you did not warn me in PM about slander, it was on the board.  I am fine with what I say I checked with our lawyer to see if I could be charged with slander and was told NO not as long as I tell that it is my feelings due to what happened to me plus the fact that I do say they are good surgeons. 

Just went back and checked my in box to see if I had over looked a message from you and there is not one there and I have  not deleted anything since at least July.  I don't get a lot of PMs here on OH, so I leave them in my mail box until I think I need to delete them.

Jacqueline

Hi Jacqueline, if you know me by now you would know that I hate negative stuff on the boards so on a personal note, I don't like to see any doc or practice get slammed...
BUT>>>>> putting that aside I wanted to get into this slander thing...
I worked in the law field for many, many years. Have associates in criminal justice and bachelors in business.  I have good friends that are atty's...FBI agents,.and judges.  ...I am married to a now retired police officer, my daughter is a police officer working on her masters in criminal justice...even my son works for the Secretary of Homeland Security and had to attend law school for his job previous to that...so I guess it's safe to say law is every where I turn..Could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it...lol
Anyway, I wanted you to know where I am coming from in saying this… “ Slander" is when you give false info..spread untrue rumors or even information that may be true but cannot be proven..  You are not happy with the after care you received..And tell it like it is. I read back on some of your post and I don't see anything that you falsely stated.  You are correct, you gave your opinion and stated that it is YOUR opinion..Now from what I remember in that law class I took the constitution does protect you and your freedom of speech..( But if this were a case I would need to investigate further to find out if, the statements are true or false and cannot go with hearsay on either side.
The port having a leak was a proven fact that, according to you, was admitted by your doctor at that time..(This would be documented in his dictations from your test results or the OR report)....not to mention several visits, and or phone calls stating you felt there was a problem). The end result was the port was removed so the question in court would be why was it replaced?
If it were true that you could be or would be liable for slander on a message board, the courts would be backed up for years..
While I was out today I passed an RV dealership...parked in front of the place was a truck and camper with a huge sign stating..This dealership sales lemons and doesn't stand by their promises or contracts.  AND their maintenance stinks...this is on a main street!!!!  We see this type of thing in protest, strikes and political advertisements during elections continuously (did you even watch the presidential campaign..OIY!!) Dr’s don’t want law suits. Most don’t even like lawyers..lol … Within that privacy act, we now have HIPPA which makes it very difficult for even a patient to receive his or her own test results or charts...Hospital employees have been fired for pulling up their own records or records on patients when they had no medical reason to do so…my point in this is that between the constitution and the HIPPA it takes a lot of money, court time and investigation to sue a patient for stating a personal opinion..there would have to be proof that your statements were detrimental to his practice in the way of lost income or interference with the care patients.etc..etc.. With all of the above being said, on line message boards and chat rooms are difficult to monitor. Companies like OH are protected allowing people to state their opinions and expressions. Even when they are offensive to others, the law is very black and white; depending on what side of the fence you are standing on this could be good or bad as no professional wants to see negativity in the public eye…so we hope people use discretion and good ole common sense when speaking out...
OH MY GOD I JUST TURNED INTO MY FORMER SELF..lol..I thought I had left that career behind..shewwww lol    

Opinions are one thing...stating that someone actually said something in a phone conversation is another.  I currently work in the legal field for several attorneys...not just have family employed in it. I am pretty much like you Brenda and have all employed in the same fields with the exception og adding in a couple judges and a stse senator and congressman. But because these people do this for a living is not what gives me the education and knowledge that I have. I got that in my schooling...much like you  but moreso in my everyday dealing in this in the court room. Do they want to spend the time and money...no not really. But if it is someone that has lost their job due to it...vengence can rear its ugly head and be the cause to it going that far. Drs do in fact like the lawyer's because they are the ones that cover their asses in the legal situations that they sometimes find themselves in. Their are the ones that in fact protect their livelihood. So you assumptions on that is not necessarily point on in that. I think that perhaps this is a subject where the end or decision will never be reached. So I guess we just sit back and either wait or move on.  

I am a firm believer in free speech Jacqueline...there are just some ways that things have to sometimes be said or handled to protect oneself...as I have stated from the beginning of all this. 

(ie...I do know, personally,  of someone who  threatened to take an AK47 into a local hospital and harm the employees there and the police were sent to her door regarding this and very firm with the fact that they would be involved in her prosecution on her remarks she posted on the OH forum. I have also taken legal steps to file a protective order against this person as well as some other memebers of OH)

If you have someone posts a request wanting an opinion on your surgeon or group...send them a pm about your experience if you want to get into the details. Your proof is heresay..nothing in black and white. Her phone call is heresay...not proof. The actual puncture is your only proof and that is only minimal at that. So yes...you are opening up a big chance for slander in your posts. Thats why I warned you about doing it pm...that shows you used discretion and did not say these things on a public open forum


I was not stating that I sent you a pm...I was saying if you have anything derrogitory to say do so in a pm.  Does that help clarify it better? As for what you may have conveyed to your atorney...perhaps if you print it all out and let him read over it he can come to a more informed decision on the possibility of slander. Your opinion is one thing...the facts that you stated and the repetition of what was said to you is another.  Slander pro se possibly. Also...this was just a warning to you of what could possibly happen...not that it would. The consequences of your words and actions are ultimately yours to deal with. I was merely trying to be helpful since someone else in the past made remarks that resulted in a slander suit on here.  Your methods of research are your own as far as your surgeon but because you were not volunteered information is no more their fault than your not asking about the follow up care and who does what. I for one asked everything...sometimes two or three times. I guess it all just falls into the summary of you are only as informed as you make yourself be.