Duke WLS Patients

I have started the process to have RNY surgery.

I had my first consultation and have had all my pre-op testing which showed no co-morbid conditions and my only other issue is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and annovulation (infertility).  I am within the BMI for the surgery, but I have not been approved yet.

For those of you who had your surgery through Duke WLS which doctor did you choose and did you have any complications?

After you sent in your medical records how long did it take to get your next appointment and your surgery date?

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post.  I've been lurking and people give such great advice on here.

I had Dr. Porteiner. And I was blessed not to have any complications. I suggest that you study and research all the Doctor's. What was right for me, may not be the case for you. My first appointment was In Jan and my surgery date was March the 7th. I went thru the program quickly. I had no health issues except bad knees. I was approve for surgery and got a dat within two days after my package was summited to insurance (BCBSNC). I have had a positive experience with Duke from the top down. I do no people that has had problems. I know that they are going thru alot of changes know. I think the biggest problem I've heard from other people is the communacation that they are lacking. But from personal experience I've had a awesome ride so far. Good luck , Ken

WOW Ken, 105 lbs---that's AWESOME!!

I went through Duke WLS and my experience was vey similar to Ken's.  I think it's very important for you to research the docs to see which one would best fit you......my surgeon is Aurora Pryor, and she's been WONDERFUL!!  I was very fortunate and have not had any complications thus far, although my journey has just begun----I'm just under 3 weeks post op.  Best of luck to you----

I had my surgery with Duke, June 5, 2007. Dr. Eric DeMaria performed my surgery. I had researched all of the physicians that work with the Duke program and to be honest, I was comfortable with all of them. I have gotten to know more of them and more of their patients since then and would still be comfortable with all of them. Dr. DeMaria is very competent technically, but I have not found him to be a great communicator ... you can read more about my experience on my profile. I did have a complication that could honestly happen to anyone; I experienced a puncture during the initial incision. While it is rare, it can happen. To my surgeon's credit, he was able to repair the puncture laprascopically and continue the surgery laproscopically. Normally, when this type of thing happens it causes you to go on to have an open procedure.

My husband is in the process of going through Duke to have his surgery and I would be comfortable with any of the surgeons at Duke. Some have a 'better' bedside manner than others, but I feel that all of the surgeons with this program are exceptionally competent and truly do care about what they do and the impact of it on the lives of the people that they treat.

I believe that the program as a whole has issues with communication that need to be addressed and resolved.

Once all of your medical records are in and they have transcribed the medical notes from your visit, they will compile all of the information and put it together to submit for insurance approval. I don't know what the current timeline for this is right now and I know that they are undergoing some adminstrative staff changes and that may impact the insurance submission timeline ... As Ken mentioned, Duke is going through some serious growing pains with the admistratitive portion of the program. I'm hoping that it will get better. In the meantime, I suggest that you keep copies of all of your records and stay in touch with the people in the office to get an idea of where you are in the pipeline and what they expect the timeline to be. That is what we are doing and it is working for us.

Wishing you all the best,

Barb