QUESTION

I'm looking into having the LapBand. I have my 1st consultation scheduled for Feb 2006. I know long way away. But my surgeon is booked. So my question is: Is there anyone here who has Dr. Schweitzer as their surgeon? And how did you like him? Is he worth the wait? This and any other info would be great. Thanks

I can't help you with information about Dr. S, but I will encourage you to keep doing your homework. Do anything that is required before your consult and then call the office and ask if you could have a cancelled appointment. My surgeon was also booked. On March 4th I called and was given a consult appt of Sept. 30th... I did all my homework, started the Aetna required 6 month supervised diet and requested a cancelled appointment to get an earlier consult. To make a long story short - my surgery was August 17th... almost 6 weeks before my original consultation appointment. I was very blessed for it to go so smoothly, but I was also very determined. Good luck in your journey! Genna

Bayview Bariatric Center is very busy but they are worth the wait. The support group meeting is the second Tuesday of every month in the conference room of the Pavillion Building. I had a lady sitting next to me Tuesday night who had just had the lapband the day before and she was up and moving and very happy with Dr. S. In the meantime you can call the main number and get an appt with the nutritionist and physc.evaluation with Varsha Vaidya. If you already have these two appointments complete when you meet with Dr. S. it will speed up your date. Good Luck.

Thank youboth for your replies. Both very helpful. I was wondering what other things i could be doing in the meantime. I have already started my 6 mo. supervised diet. But now I will look into the support meetings there and the psych eval. Great feedback both of you.

Hi Christina - I started out with Dr. Schweitzer but had to switch surgeons because BC/BS would not cover him. Are you 100% sure that he is in your insurance plan? If not you might be paying a lofty sum up front for his surgeon fees. The support groups they run at Bayview are very good. I have a friend that did her lab band with him and she seems to be doing very well last time I checked. I've heard he is just very busy and you don't get a lot of face time with him but in the OR he is a star! I work with some OR staff that has worked with him before and they say his technique is top notch. He was the first in our area to do the lap procedures for weight loss surgery so hes got plenty of them under his belt. Is he worth the wait? - I think if you plan to do the lab band the answer is yes but you need to make that decision. I'd suggest shopping around and going to a few seminars for surgeons in our area. They are free and it can't hurt to shop around while you are waiting for Feb. Did they tell you how far he is booked up on OR dates after your consultation? You may want to look into that as well first. Also find out an estimate for how long it usually takes for your insurance to get approval. Sometimes that can take 2 days and sometimes that can take weeks or months.

I have Dr. Schweitzer. My RNY is scheduled for November 8th. So far I have been very happy. Debbie, his office manager is awesome and on the ball. I had my first consult with him August 29th. What is so great about him is that you can email him directly and he is great with answering any questions you may have. I first learned about him from a friend you had RNY done by him 5 years ago and she was very pleased. His website is www.smallscar.com. It gives you tons of great info. Email me if you have anymore questions, Robin [email protected]