Anyone have surgery at Duke?

I'm presently with Dr. Dennis Smith in Georgia, but now that there's a DS surgeon at Duke, I'm thinking of switching over, since it's much, much closer.  My concern after going through Duke's website on their WLS requirements, though, is their crazy number of required pre-surgery visits.  If I lived closer, it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm far enough away that I'd have to take a day off of work for each visit, and that just won't work.

Anyone ever have surgery at Duke whowasn't from the immediate area?  Did they make any changes to the number of required visits for you, since you were an out-of-towner?  I'd planned on calling them and asking these questions, but I'm fighting a battle with strep and can't talk very well right now, which puts a kink in the whole calling them thing, lol.

I am with the Duke Weight Loss Surgery Center (actual surgery was performed at Durham Regional though), but I think it depends on your insurance more than what they require.  My road was.... Free Seminar in February 2008.... Then it took another 3 months after that to get my first appointment and I made sure I had all the testing, which they tell you about at the seminar, that was May.. it too****il November before everything was approved and I got a surgery date of December... I had to post pone that date and move it to january.... but I have only dealt with one group so may be different elsewhere.  Good luck on your journey.

Ok, thanks for the information.  I'm figuring my timeline, due to my insurance, is probably going to look like yours.  So if it takes me a year total, I won't be surprised.

Hi Lisa,

Two things... I had surgery at Duke in June of 07 and my husband just had his there in Dec of 08, but a friend of mine just had her surgery with your current Dr. a couple of weeks ago. I think if you do a search for Angela P, you will find her and can ask her any questions you might have about using his practice.

I live near Duke, but I don't recall a large number of visits for my husband or myself. We did all of our testing with our PCP, so we went to the

required seminar,

first evaluation visit with the RNP, Psych and Nut

Pre-op visit with the Dr, Psych group, and Nut, plus pre-op with anesthia and taking care of all paperwork.

Finally, surgery day

So, in my recollection there were only 3 visits pre-op actually at Duke.

Wishing you every success in whichever path you take.

I know Angela!  She's actually the one that got me looking into Dr. Smith to begin with.  She's been a fabulous help to me.  She's also the one that pointed out Dr. Sudan to me, as she lives right down the road from Duke, apparently.  I am actually very happy with Dr. Smith's office, his Bariatric Coordinator is top-notch, but I'm having some insurance issues regarding them.  Between that and the distance, Dr. Sudan might be a better bet for me; he's closer and I already know my insurance will take him.

I'm glad to hear you didn't have many visits.  When I went on the site, I think I counted something like 10-11 seperate visit requirements that had me boggled.  I was hoping it was something different in reality.  This makes me feel much, much better.  Thank you so much!

I live nearly 4hrs from Duke but did not have to make too many trips.  My PCP handled most of it.  As far as I know, all visits are required and necessary for your own good.  I am lucky enough to work for a company that had no problem with me taking days off.  Good luck.  P.S. Duke has the best doctors and Durham Regional was exceptional in there care of me.  I am out of Surgery 2 weeks now.

Oh, I don't have a problem with the why of the visits - better safe than sorry and all that.  But if some of them can be taken care of locally, that would be so much easier.  I've been saving up my time off for this, but I wiped out what I had with a nasty case of strep this week, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do now.  I think they'll be ok with me taking leave without pay, but *I* would hate doing that.  I need all the money I can get!  Thanks for telling me about the hospital, too. Some of the horror stories I've heard on OH about various hospitals have me terrified.  It's good to know Durham Regional isn't like that.

Hi Lisa,

As I mentioned earlier, both my husband and I had our surgeries through Duke, so both were performed at DRH. I have to say that while my experience with DRH was 'okay', it wasn't stellar. They have since brought in a bariatric coordinator that has turned the hospital stay part of the program around 180 degrees. You will have a meeting with the program coordinator during your pre-op visit prior to surgery so that you and your support persons will know what to expect. They have a new Bariatric Wing on the 7th floor that has been customized to support the needs of the bariatric patients and have nurses dedicated to bariatric care. The in hospital experience my husband had was STELLAR.

Just thought you'd like to know.

That's good to hear.  One of my biggest concerns is how the hospital is.  I knew they'd put in a new wing, but I didn't know about the new coordinator.  It's nice to know they'll fix something if it's obviously not functioning as it should.  Some hospitals should take a lesson from this :-p

My hospital stay was right before the new wing was opened.  I had a few bad experiences in the hospital, but they were not Duke's fault.