Dr. Greene patients

My wife has decided to go ahead with the surgery and with Dr. Greene - *my* surgeon from a year and a half ago. But here's the thing - she decided largely because, she is currently out of work and has all the time in the world - BUT - if she gets a job offer, that's gone. So she wants to get moving AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Here's the problem - if you've gone to Dr. Greene, he has a set procedure - go to support group, learn about WLS, sign up for an appointment, they tell you all about WLS, give you a packet of stuff to have checked out - and so on. The NEXT support group meeting is in about two weeks, meaning, no chance of seeing Dr. Greene for at least 3 weeks. If she gets a job offer even AFTER that, chances are slim she'll be able to get enough time off for surgery. So - she'd like to have tests done BEFORE she meets with him. What tests do you know need to be done? Who did you see? I plan to call them later today, but his website really wasn't terribly helpful.

Testing wise, just based on what I had to do prior to surgery, I would suggest making an appt. to see her PCP, get her PCP to do standard blood work, refer her for a sleep study, refer her to a cardiologist for surgery clearance (they may request a stress test), and she can start looking into a psych eval for WLS (most insurances and doctors require it). Also, it might be a good idea to go ahead and request copies of medical records from all obesity related visits to take with you for your consultation. Lasty, find out about your insurance requirements for approval, there may be other requirements from them that she can start working on. Good luck.

Jeffrey, I'm not certain if you're the person I replied to earlier today on the Yahoo listserv for Dr. Greene. Your wife definitely should move out with a sleep study to determine if she has sleep apnea and needs a CPAP machine. Dr. Greene's office should be able to give you information about where to go for the sleep study if your wife's physician doesn't have a preference; the sleep study will be required if she isn't already using a CPAP machine. Dr. Greene now has a "program" and a program fee that covers some of the pre-op requirements. If that's not in his packet of information on line, you can e-mail his new bariatric coordinator, Laura Lamotte, at [email protected]. He also has a new nutritionist working through his office, Mandy Merzai (I know I spelled her last name incorrectly); your wife may want to contact her to see about making an appointment. The new program also includes an exercise component. Starting at the support group meeting last Sunday (May 28), Dr. Greene has started permitting the new pre-op patients to sign up then and there for their initial appointments. I believe that the people were able to start signing up for appointments as soon as Thursday, June 1. I also believe that Dr. Greene still sees new patients on Thursdays (and, maybe, also on Tuesday mornings), as he has surgeries scheduled the other days. Since Dr. Greene does his surgeries at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, you should identify the pulmonologists that Dr. Greene works with at Shady Grove, and make an appointment for a pulmonology evaluation, which will be required before the surgery. As you may recall from your own experience, Dr. Greene wants to have a pulmonologist familiar with your personal history who, in an emergency, will be available and have privileges at the hospital where the surgery will be performed. Your wife also will need an endoscopy. If your physician doesn't have a specific gastro-intestinal specialist to recommend, I'm sure Dr. Greene's office can provide you with names. Hope this helps. If you and your wife are at the next support group meeting on June 12, please be sure to introduce yourselves to me. I'm the person that usually gets the meetings started. Leesa 07/25/03 Dr. Barry Greene

Yeah, I'm the guy. We both plan to be at the meeting on the 12th. She is seeing her PCP physician as I write this regarding testing. Thanks for your help.

Jeff - I'm a Dr. Greene patient too! and Leesa gave you a GREAT summary of what's needed! I just wanted to chime in and tell you that I'll be there on Monday night...so make sure you stop me so I can say hi and meet your wife!!