Disappointment - Surgeon's Waiting List is LOOONNNGGG

Went to the surgeon's information seminar (mandatory) last night and it was great...I left there totally comfortable with my decision and ready to move forward. Then I hit the brick wall.  I called the office today for my initial consult - THEY CAN'T SEE ME UNTIL NOV. 7th...that is just the initial consult with the nutritionist, psychologist, and exercise expert.  So that is the BEGINNING of the process.  From there my waiting starts.   So now, I've got to wait 2 months before I can even begin waiting for surgery.  I'm so disappointed.  I thought I'd be having surgery sometime in December or January (I've met some of the supervised diet requirements already) ... now it looks like not til at least February.  I am tempted to try another surgeon.   I don't mind the actual waiting for the surgery date because I'll be doing things - having tests, working on the diet program they assign me...but now I'm just waiting, not doing anything proactive.

I had the same thing happen, but the time really flies by. I will have my consult on the 24th of this month and I have already scheduled all of the other appointments I need and done so much research. Hang in there! I am actually glad my surgeon was booked, I took that to mean he is really good! Amy

Don't get discouraged about having to wait until November.  I made my appointment for my June 25th consult the end of March. Called EVERY week to see if there was a cancellation, there wasn't but still didn't hurt to check.  Then by the first week of July I had surgery scheduled for August 24th.  The time really flies by and before you know it...SURGERY DAY IS HERE!!!  Besides doesn't make you feel good to know that your doc is "busy".  Look at it like everyone goes to him b/c he is good.  Don't look at it as a negative.  Good luck to you.  Keep your head up and focus on the stuff you can control in the meantime.  Call for cancellations!!!! 

Whoa...you had a consult in June and surgery in August?  That's great!  That gives me some hope.  I guess I just assumed I could count on a 4 - 6 month wait AFTER the consult, but maybe not. I tend to be not the most patient person on earth (to put it mildly) anyway but I guess I feel like I've already been waiting for a long time, you know?  I started my research two years ago... It does make me feel good that my doctor is busy...I would have probalby been just as perplexed if they wanted me to come in the next day :-) I'm not a good waiter :-) but I don't give up either so I'll be grumpy as can be but I'll stick it out :-)

Hello Jennifer k.  I am ssheppard and am happy to finally speak with someone who has had gastric sleeve.  I am working with Dr. Steele at Bayview to hopefully get set up for surgery soon.  I am interested in knowing what type of down time you had -- from the date of surgery to when you can go back to work.  And by the way how long were you in the hospital if you don't mind my asking thanks for any input you can give. sheila

Hi Sheila,
I had my 2 week post-op visit today.  I was hoping to get back to work tomorrow, but Dr. Schweitzer thinks it best that I be off for another 2 weeks so that is a total of 4 weeks since my surgery date.  I am not going to lie...but the first week is the hardest. The end of the first week was better and now I am in the middle of my third week and feel great.  Not the eating part but the pain was difficult. (I had strep throat and bilateral ear infections 2 days after I was d/c'd.  I do recommend to walk, walk, walk and walk some more when you are in the hospital.  it definately helps with the gas.  I was home the very next day after surgery.  Diet wise...first week is liquids (full liquids) which is not too bad.  The second week is pureed foods and this gets a little hairy b/c I have a problem with the look of food that has been pureed.  It looks disgusting. And the texture I cannot get over, but I am finding some things that work really well.  Last night I had LOW FAT corn-beef hash and an egg cooked over easy then I mixed all of that together for 30 g of protein.  Getting protein in is the difficult part.  But I am down 20 pounds from the morning of surgery.  I hope you get scheduled soon.  Any more ?'s just ask.

Jen
p.s.  my e-mail is [email protected]

Wow that would drive me crazy! I'm going to the John's Hopkins Bariatric Clinic and it  took me one week to get an appointment with the sugeon, Dr. Magnuson. Within two 1/2 weeks of my app. with him I have my phsyc and nutrition consultations. They told me I could be having the WLS in October if the insurance approves. It is all going so fast. I wouldn't hurt to look into switching. Good Luck keep us posted!

Wow...that's a great timeline! The practice I'm going to is set up a little differently than some I've seen...I will see the nutritionist and phsyc. person at my Nov. consult but won't see the surgeon himself til the week before surgery.   I knew it wouldn't be an overnight process to get to surgery but thought at least I'd be able to BEGIN the process immediately.  I didn't want to wait 2 months to START things, you know?   I'm so impatient, it really is ridiculous :-)  I've been heavy for a very long time...a few extra months isn't the biggest deal in the world but I'm still considering maybe checking other practices.  This one was good for me as the hospital is 20 minutes away...

That's because Dr. M isn't the only surgeon who does their work at Bayview..... Dr. Schweitzer is there too but not as closely paired with the bariatric center part.  He is a very good surgeon and it does take a few months to get in to see him. I think his new consults are only 1 day a week. I think i waited 3 months for my initial visit. (but then i had to wait another 3 months but that was because of the whole insurance 6 months blah/blah.) 2 months is not long at all..... 

I guess I knew it would be a long process so I just went with the flow. When it was meant to happen it would, and it did! Keep the faith.