Tell me about Dr. Toder

Hi everyone, I had my appt with Dr. Toder and of course forgot to ask some questions. Does she give a pre-op sedative to calm you down. Does she put any drains in for a lap ? How many days in the hospital ? Any other pertinent info appreciated. Looks like I will be having surgery in September.

Hi Maria: I haven't met Dr. Toder yet, but I did request her as my surgeon. I wish I had some info to answer your questions at this moment, but I don't, sorry. Are you having open or Laproscopic? I was wondering if you could answer a question or two of mine. How long was it from your educational session(one we all have to attend) and support group until you actually met Dr. Toder? I have 2 appts this month (both on Aug 30) and was suppose to have 2 next month, one being the psychologist appt. Well, to my surprise, the psych appt got moved up because the doc wouldn't be avail on my original appt on Sept 12. Well, it wasn't a terrible appointment like I thought it might be since I haven't been to any other required appt yet. Dr. Fritzler (handsome guy by the way, lol)was quite surprised to find this was my first required appt not my last, (he thought I had already been to the dietitian, PT, and nutritionist appts), and I was quite educated on the surgery. I will say, Obesityhelp.com has helped me with a lot with answering questions and I continue to research online. I look forward to hearing from you and I will keep my ears open for the questions you have posted. 2 women from where I work had the surgery but it was with Dr. Clough, so I can't pump them for info, haha. --Diane

Hi Diane, I went to my first education meeting and support group in early May. I have completed everything at this point and am waiting for insurance approval My nutrition and pt sessions were scheduled for the same day where I live so far away. The one on one nutrition appt was scheduled about a month later. They give you a short quiz at that appt and want an essay and food diary. It was not that difficult at all. A lot of people say they have to wait the longest for the psych eval so it's good you got it out of the way. The wait from start to finish seems to average from 4-6 months. I think they arrange it so you have a lot of time to consider whether you really want this surgery. Although I have heard of some people getting done more quickly. I am hoping to have laparascopic. Good luck and keep in touch.

I was required to have `12 mos of supervised diet and exercise for my insurance...but....in the meantime....I went through all the appointments at EMMC starting in October and finally saw Dr. Toder by March. Seems like a long time but I live a couple of hours from Bangor and throughout the winter had to cancel a couple of time. I do think that it is time well spent for research and decision making. Take care! (My surgery with Dr. Toder will be next week on Aug. 17!!!!!)

I had lap surgery almost 3 years ago with Dr. Toder. She is a wonderful surgeon. They did give meds to calm me shortly after I arrived at the hospital. I had a JP drain in at the hospital, but it was taken out before I left. I had my surgery on a Thursday and came home on Saturday morning. I didn't have much pain, matter of fact, I didn't even get my pain pill prescription filled for at home--but I did get some liquid tylenol (which Dr. Toder OK'd) to have on hand at home just in case, but never needed it. For me, the most painful part was when they took the drain out, and even that was terrible. The other uncomfortable thing for me was having the cath in--I would much rather have gotten up to go to the bathroom. The staff at the hospital were awesome, and I received excellent care. My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you take chapstick with you. I couldn't have anything to drink or anything, not even ice chips until after my leak test, which was late on Friday evening and my lips were VERY dry!!! If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me or post on here. Take care and good luck! Jill

Oops--I meant to say even that WASN'T terrible--hope I didn't scare ya!

Hi there Maria I had laprascopic with Dr Toder on 6/28 and she is awesome. I had a pre-op sedative and there was no drains at all. the whole experence was great. I had surgery on monday morning and went home wednesday morning. if you want to know anymore just let me know you can email me at [email protected].

Thanks for the replies everybody. I have been planning this for so long I had no idea how nervous I would be when I realized it is really going to happen ! September 7th seems awfully near all of a sudden ! Hopefully we can meet sometime at a support group. Well, I have to go and worry some more now...