FEAR

 I HAVE ONE MORE VISIT WITH MY NUT AND THEN I RECEIVE A SURGERY DATE. AS THAT DATE DRAWS NEAR I'M (STD) SCARED TO DEATH AND NOW BEGINNING TO QUESTION MY DECISION. HAS ANYONE ELSE GONE THROUGH THIS.

hi hutch.. it's totally normal to get a little scared.. this is a big decision... I had my surgery on 6/22... so I am only a few weeks out... I am down 30# and am feeling great... by far it is the best decision I have made regarding my health and how to get it back on the right track... you will be sooo thankful afterwards... just remember all of the reasons why you wanted it in the first place... take a deep breath... it will all be ok...
best regards,
katie

Hi Hutch... I think more people would worry if you were not scared. I had mine done 6 years ago, the first year was great. I made the mistake of having my surgery at Barix Clinic in Ypsilanti. Your sold by how well the center sells itself and as soon as the check for $63,000 cleared from the insurance company, they are done with you. Please make sure you will have excellent follow up care. I am suffering a severe complication now and can't get any help for it. No doctor wants to touch it and Barix was nice enough to inform me that their doctors are surgeons and DO NOT see patients unless they require surgery and that I would be wasting my time coming out there.  Long story short, I had the flu the first week of June, since June 6th, I cannot eat solid foods and it is a crap shoot if I can have liquid. Not only am I offically starving to death but am gaining weight at supersonic speed.  Their answer the second week of June when I called to  make an appointment, they scheduled it for July 20th- the next available and if I felt I could not wait that long then I needed to go to the local emergency room and demand to be admitted. So please make sure you know how your follow up care will be handled. I feel now without exageration (spelled wrong) that when I signed my surgical consent form I also signed my death certificate. Too bad they do not have puking as an Olympic event because I would bring home all the gold medals....

Joy-
I'm sorry you haven't had the follow up care you needed.
I think you should start a thread to talk about this.  Answering a pre-ops questions about general nervousness with a long post specific to your complaints about a center really isn't very helpful.

I think if you start a new thread and put your story out there it will be more beneficial to you and to other posters.

If you can't eat and you can't be seen there I would suggest you go to your PCP right away, before you get even more sick!!

I am looking in to after-surgery options as well, so I know how frustrating it can be!

I really thought I was informed of how this would affect everyday life. I researched it daily for a year, went and had a tour of the center and spoke to some of the patients. I really am all for the surgery but had no idea about bad follow up care. I did go to my PCP, since my surgeon is no longer at this Barix I went to a surgeon at Oakwood, he is the one that referred me back to Barix. It is a horrible feeling knowing what is going on with you and can't get any help. I work for Oakwood Health Systems and did speak to one of the ER doctors and she told me the same thing.... go back to where I had the surgery.

Before I had this done I was called "functionally fat" had no co-morbities. I now have high blood pressure, 3 different anemias, new on set seizures due to not being able to maintain a potassium level. When I spoke with the supervisor today to make a complaint about their wonderful follow up care. I stated to her that I was dying from starvation. Her reply was "then you need to be seen" I understand about sticking up for your co workers and employee's but after the rudeness and being told that I did not understand a conversation, I am still wondering what part of "our doctors are surgeons and only see patients that reqyire surgery and that I would be wasting my time coming out there because I would NOT be seeing a doctor". I would not let them touch my dog. I did add to her that I am soooooo glad I work in a hospital and have a VERY BIG mouth.... if I can stop one person from going to that center for this surgery, then I feel I have mission accomplished. No one deserves to feel this way, or be treated this way. I am only 42 and get around like I am 92. There are alot of good facilites to have this done at, my strongest recommendation is to get a follow up plan in writing, that way it leaves no room for error or "misunderstandings"

Joy,

For a while there I thought I had a hernia or a shifted diaphragm.....I had some chest x-rays that showed my bowel in different places.  I took my chest x-rays to my surgeons office and asked him to look at those and my CT scans I'd recently had because I thought that was odd....mind you I really didn't have any symptoms (long story but I'm a cancer survivor and they saw spots on my lungs with those CT scans, so no one but me was really worried about my intestines, but me) my surgeon told my hubby (who was there for a post op visit.... mind you he never called me) that he wasn't concerned about what he saw! 

Anyways, because I am asymptomatic, I've left him alone,  but if I had pain or other symptoms he would hear from me loud and clear.  Make no mistake of that.  Like you I work in the medical field and know how they can brush off patients.

If you have a problem drive them nuts until they listen, this is your body, no one knows it like you.  After 6 years w/ no other "hypochondriac" complaints they need to listen to what you have to say.

Good luck,

Edie.

But I do have to say, I agree w/ Brenda, post this to another thread, you will get a better response, again., good luck.

First I must say congats to you!!! Being a cancer survivor, that is awsome to hear. That is a long terrifying road to go down..

It sounds like your surgeon made a huge HIPPA violation. We as employees are held to a high HIPPA standard, it's too bad some of the doctors seem to think that does not apply to them.

Unfortunately, there seems to be very few doctors that truely are there for the patients and not the extra dollar in their paycheck. A girl that used to work for my PCP stated that the staff and doctors were constantly told "If you want to make a profit, get "them" out in 10 minutes, if you want to break even take 15". I understand the "assembly line", but they really need to put caring back into curing. As patients, we are scared, as doctors they just see another dollar. I will say my PCP has done everything from his level that he can do. He has even called from his home as late as 10:00 at night to see how I was doing. A couple of weeks ago, I finally started really standing my ground, when the doctor came in the room I told him "have a seat, your not making a profit today" he sat and we talked. I will fight tooth and nail to get my patients what they need but I also finally realized that I was not fighting that hard for myself. 

Over the last 6 years my complaints were not of a hypochondriac, I had 3 hernia repairs and gall bladder.

I am very technology challenged........if I knew how to post this to another spread I would. I just do not want to see anyone else go through this or worse. I know they do not care about our families, but we do. They are the reason I keep trying to find other ways of getting this dealt with. My poor mother had to be put on "nerve pills" because she could not stop crying, and hubby was laid off here and had to go work in Chicago for 6 months just to keep our healthcare insurance. I am glad he was laid off again (although, I do miss the paychecks), that has taken some of the pressure off of my mom. The newest thing with mom is she keeps calling my sister and telling her that she thinks I am going to die because I am so bloated from fluid retention that I look like I am full term with twins. I asked my sister to convince mom to contact the Olympic Committee and petition to get puking listed as an event so I can travel and bring home gold medals.....atleast now she knows I have not lost my sense of humor, even though she does not find it very funny...

 WOW THAT'S HEAVY

hutch,

dont sweat it, i had a consult with dr. katz, which is not barix its st. john oakland, and he is great.  its just that at the time, he only did Open rny and was going to ny to work with a doctor on lap rny's.... he is good so you are in great hands.

everyone has a journey to share, mine just happens to be uneventful and im a barix patient.

bm

Scared is normal!  I pretty sure most if  not all of us have been there as the time draws near.  Good luck with your last Nut visit and getting your surgery date.