???'s for Dr. Schweitzer's / JH patients from a Newbie

While waiting for Dr. Schweitzer's office to call and schedule my first consult, I have a couple of questions for those of you who went through his office for WLS. 1) Does he have a supervised diet requirement? (My ins is TriCare at JH / USFHP). 2) Is there a smoking requirement? Cigarettes have been my constant companion for the last 40 years; but, I started Chantix last week and tomorrow is my scheduled quite date. 3) How long does it usually take to get to a surgery date? Tomorrow is also 15 working days since I e-mail my request for consult, so I'll call if they don't. Thanks in advance for all your responses. Also,  anyone else down here in South Anne Arundel?

Hi MiniWannabee, I cannot answer most of your questions, but I wanted you to know that I chose Dr. Schweitzer to do my surgery, but I am still waiting for approval and guess what? we have the same Insurance. I could hardly believe it when I read what you wrote. How cool is this ?  Somewhere I read you have to quit smoking 1 month before your surgery, but this is what I read. Have you gone to his web site ? I do have a friend who had him do surgery, but she has another Ins. Co., however, she loved him as a surgeon and her husband had Dr. S. do his surgery too. I live in Hagerstown, Maryland.  I would love to keep in touch with you if you do not mind. Go to this web site: www.hopkinsbayview.org/bios/schweitzer.html. Let me know if that works. How long did you wait to get your approval from the Ins. Co. ? My info was faxed Tuesday, July 1, 2008. My husband is retired military, so that is why we have this Ins. I hope to hear from you soon and would love to keep in touch, who knows, maybe we will have surgery at the same time??  my e-mail is: [email protected] Take care, Ellen

Hello there, Dr. Schweitzer is going to my surgeon as well, I'm just waiting for insurance to make a decision at this point.  The 6-month medically supervised diet is usually something imposed by the insurance company.  Dr. S's office did not require anything further as far as a pre-op diet, for myself anyway.  He will tell you that you have to quit smoking.  I don't smoke but my husband does and he told my husband that he cannot smoke around me.  Pretty much the timetable from consult to getting a surgery date is dictated by the insurance company in terms of what needs to be done prior to approval and then how long it takes for them to make a decision. Good Luck with everything! Heather

Thanks for the info Ellen & Heather.  I don't have insurance approval yet; when I called USFHP in Glen Burnie they told me that Dr. S's office would tell me the requirements. I e-mailed the request for consult on 6/23/08. His web site says I have to quit smoking 30 days prior, but it doesn't mention anything about a supervised diet required for USFHP, only some of the other companies.

I spent the last 30 years at Military Treatment Facilities, and was getting no help with my weight at NNMC. Just comments that I need to lose and it will be even harder since menopause. Gee thanks! So, when I saw that I could switch to TriCare at Johns Hopkins I attended one of their seminars, liked what I heard, and switched. Love it so far; I've gotten to see the SAME PCM three times in a row!! He had no qualms about giving me a referral and we talked about other patients of his that have had WLS. I have a new Cardiologist that he recommended that is putting me through a thorough workup; 48 hour monitor, echogram scheduled for this Friday, and treadmill stress in two weeks. WOW, I'll get to see the SAME Cardiologist too!

I'll keep you posted on what I find out. Thanks again!

I had Dr S for two surgeries.... He is fabulous, but his office staff support leaves something to be desired. If I were you,. I would email again, or call tomorrow. THey sometimes need watching. Dr S does not have a required pre-op diet, nor does he require a certain weight loss before he'll operate.   Smoking is a real deterrent to healing: I dont smoke, so I dont know if he requires stopping, but I suspect he might. Best wishes to you! Barbara

Hi. I am a Dr S patient also. I have Aetna so not sure what your insurance requires. I have 2 weeks left in my 3 mo diet so haven't gone through all the steps yet. This was an Aetna requirement. But I know I did call prob 2 days after submitting the email and I think it's like prompt 3 and Monique usually picks up. I had to wait another 3 weeks for an appointment and was so impatient. I'm a social smoker so giving it up isn't so hard. I was told 3 months of quitting so that your lungs can be prepared for the surgery is a good rule of thumb. I know someone else that had surgery recently and they were scheduled about a month after approval. Hopefully mine will be in late Sept/early Oct. Good Luck

I am a patient of Dr. S, and I had my RNY surgery with him almost a month ago. My primary insurance is Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Federal), but I have secondary insurance with TriCare.   I haven't yet submitted anything to TriCare yet, but plan to when the fall-out from BC/BS is finished. I made my initial contact with Dr. S's office the first week of January, and because of a few delays (JHU had a staff shortage of nutritionists, so it took a while to get an appointment with one of theirs).  But by the time my insurance approval was granted, and I was able to get on the surgical schedule, it took me in to the second week of June. I've had good success with dealing with the doctor's staff, particularly through e-mail.  And several people had commented that Dr. S can sometimes be a little "cold" or offputting, but I did not experience that at all.  I had a couple of set-backs in the hospital, and the good doctor was right there, reassuring me and informing me, and making me feel better about my situation.  He was anything but "cold" to me; I thought he was great. I did not have a pre-surgical diet requirement.    I am a non-smoker. I go and see him tomorrow for my first follow-up appointment.  Good luck to you! Tracey

Dr. S. is great. His office staff, not so much. They have never followed thru on anything I requested from them without multiple phone calls. I did email Dr. Schweitzer directly once from his website and he answered within a day.  Insurance is who decides about the supervised weight loss and smoking is just plain bad for you anyway...so just stop! Good luck!

Hi. I am a patient of Dr. Schweitzer's. You need to be persistant and call. It is a very busy office. He does not  have a supervised diet requirment but your insurance company might. Dr. S did not require me to lose weight and I was 367 when he operated on me lap. He will want you not to smoke so try to stop. I know it must be hard as heck to do but please try you will heal better.

Thanks for your replies girls! I've quit smoking as many times as I've lost 50 pounds at a time! LOL  I started taking Chantix last week; haven't noticed any decrease in Nicotine cravings yet. We'll see...........Penny