I missed the support group at GBMC last night

I was unable to attend the support group last night due to getting caught up at the office until 6:30 pm.  Did any of you attend and if so, how was it  and who facilitated the group now that Dr. Von Reuden and Sloane are both leaving GBMC? 

Sloane is leaving too?  Jeezzzzzz!

Yes she is.  They told me this past Monday when she was out of the office.  I asked whether she was going with DVR and Barbie said she did not know. 

I heard Kathy Storm maybe leaving as well?

HI Darla, Wow, this is getting a bit scary.  Have you heard where anyone will be going? 

While I think Kathy is an important part of their team, I have had very little interaction with her. I signed my consent forms with her, but otherwise, I haven't had anything to do with her. Barbie has been my Nurse each visit, and I absolutely adore her. I am very disappointed to hear that Sloan is leaving. I don't deal well with change, and being newly post-op, I will still be needing a lot of nutritional counseling. I think Dr. Moein is a doll, and everyone seems to really like working with him. I guess Sloan feels the need to follow DVR, and I'm sure he's aggressively trying to recruit. But, I just wish things would stay the same for awhile. As far as last nights support group meeting, I also got stuck at work. I tried to call the office to make sure they were going to hold the meeting, and they had already put the phones to voicemail before 6pm. They are open late on Wednedays, so they must have closed early because of the weather. They don't put up recordings when they close early or cancel meetings, so I have no idea if they even held the meeting.

I'd be surprised to hear that Kathy is leaving.  The day of  my first fill (under fluoro)-January 17- Dr. Moein was training her to do fills.  He did a good job training her on me, the guinea pig, and she did a good job on me.  I go back on March 17th.  Guess the office will be quite different, but I hope to get the scoop then.

Jen, how are you making out with your approval process...and have you decided on a surgeon? Terri

Hi Terri, I have open enrollment at my new job april 1, and since my surgery with Dr. Moein got denied and i would have to appeal, I'm glad I'll be leaving the old cobra insurance behind come april 1 and going with aetna.  It's like a fresh start, like the denial never happenned, and this way, no appeal needed.   In the meantime I have had more time to read research  and think about the type of surgery i want to get.  I have decided to get the DS and Drs Moein and Von Reuden don't do it.  Well, DVR says he does do them but only on people with BMI like 80. (!?) I hear of plenty of people getting the DS with a 50 BMI, and so I have decided to see Dr Schweitzer at Johns Hopkins for a consult to discuss whether he thinks I am a candidate for DS.  I still have an appt with GBMC in March and I hope to get the Johns Hopkins appt before then so I'll know what I'm doing.  I'm a bit conflicted about switching surgeons.  But at this point I haven't had much interaction with any of the surgeons, just nurses and the nutritionist so far, really.  I cannot get attached.  I have to do what's best for me long term.    I really need to eb able to continue my arthritis meds.  If I don't I will be in constant pain and have stiffness and difficulty maneuvering.  I'm rambling.  There's more in my blog.  How are you doing? 

I think I'm doing great. I've lost 33 of the 80 pounds I need to lose.  The research is the key to deciding what surgery, surgeon and hospital is right for you.  I started out wanting the band, then thought I wanted RNY, then the sleeve, then back to RNY.  My surgeon and I ultimately decided on the band, and I couldn't be happier...but that's a personal decision each one of us has to make.  What is right for ME? It's interesting that you're thinking of switching from Dr. M to Schweitzer as I did the direct opposite.  I thought I wanted Hopkins then went to the GMBC program and liked them better.  I have a friend who is employed by Hopkins and who had the sleeve by Dr. S at the end of August.  She had a very bad experience both post-op in the hospital and subsequent follow ups with Dr. S.   As soon as she got in her room, they settled her in, left, then let her lay there for six hours with her hitting the nursecall button and her husband going out to the nurses station telling them she was getting no pain relief, and still no one coming in, only to find out the pump was BROKEN!  She was getting NOTHING for pain immediately post-surgery.  As I mentioned, she had her surgery in August.  At that time, they didn't have any specific bariatric treatment rooms, recovery area, etc., but I remember Christine Walsh mentioning that was something they were trying to do.  Whether it is done yet, I don't know.  My friend was also upset that since she had to self-pay $20,000.00 because the sleeve is not a covered surgery yet, even for a Hopkins employee, you'd think she'd get a private room for that price, or even because she's an employee.  Nope!  She was put in a room with a woman who'd had some kind of abdominal surgery, not WLS, who yelled all night long.   She thought she didn't care about Dr. S's lack of bedside manner, etc., that everyone mentions.  But, at her follow up appointment in early December, just a few days over her 3-month out mark, she said he never looked at her, never touched her, just stared at the computer asking her monotone questions.  Then said, I see you've ONLY lost 69 pounds.  She said his tone was so hurtful, and she corrected him saying, No, it's more like 81 pounds!  His response was just a "humph" and he kept on typing into the computer.  She lost 81 pounds in just over three months!!!!  That's not enough?  She weighted 272 when she started!  Her husband walked her out of that room with tears streaming down her face.  They decided before they reached the parking lot that they weren't going back.  She called me that day and asked for Dr. M's phone number. I am NOT saying that this will happen to you, and many people have been completely satisfied with the treatment they receive from him.  But if you are a person who will get hurt, depressed or defeated by the type of experience she had, and/or someone who takes that "good job" boost they get from their doc and walks away with tons of renewed motivation, then I encourage you to weigh all of your options when making your decision on a surgeon. I hope you have good luck with Aetna.  It depends on the policy you have.  My Aetna policy specifically excluded any form of weight loss surgery, and my PCP said I should be able to get around it with a letter from him and the surgeon deeming it medically necessary.  There was no getting around it.  Luckily, I was in a position to be able to scrape up the money for the surgery. Jen, you know there are pros and cons to all of the surgeries, the surgeons that do them, the programs they are in and the insurance you have.  I know you will look at the overall picture and go with what is important to you and disregard what is not.  Making those decisions always seems to be the hardest part for everyone. Whatever you decide, your friends on the OH Forums are behind you!  Hope you have a great weekend. Terri