Anyone have surgery w/Dr. Looseman?

I am at the beginning stages of the RNY at Parkland Medical Center. I am curious if anyone had their surgery there & if so, how did it go?

Hi Sabra! I had surgery with Dr. Looseman in June of 2004. She is wonderful! I chose to have open rny and have no regrets at all. Their program before and after surgery is great, I still attend the support groups at parkland. The hospital & staff were very attentive when I was there also. I had no complications, everything went like I had hoped for and I am so happy with the results of my choice. Best of luck to you! Annie Dee -112

Thank you Annie Dee. I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I have gone to one of the support meetings already. I am planning to go to the next one on June 6th. I have done my intake w/Seena there & I'm scheduled for a complete physical, blood work, & ekg on July 18th. One of my co-workers had her RNY dont w/Dr. Looseman & she's 8 months out now & is doing great. She's -100 & feels great. Good luck to you. You should be very proud of yourself. Have you ever been the size you are now?

Hi Sabra- I know nothing about the program at Parkland, but I wanted to see if you had checked with any other programs for Gastric Bypass. There are a bunch of people on here that go to Nashua to Dr. Drinkwater. I, myself, go to Dartmouth Hitch**** Medical Center in Hanover. They have an extraordinary program there and a few surgeons that do the procedures. Just thought I would mention some others too so you could "shop around". I know every program is different as far as requirements and things of that nature. It may take longer too for surgery depending on how many are in the program and having just 1 surgeon. I don't know how fast you want to have it done or what anyone else's wait time is like, but just trying to help. I started program in March 2005 at DHMC and have everything in place and ready to meet surgeon and scedule surgery. Best of luck to you and keep us all informed with progress. Shelley

Hi again Sabra, in answer to your question @ my weight, yes I used to weigh this much a little over 30 years ago! Its been a long time.... The support groups before surgery are very informative. Seena is so friendly and helpful! Good luck with all your pre surgery testing, they are very thorough, making sure you have all the necesary testing before. I also had to do a visit with a phyc before surgery was scheduled. Everything went smooth, I didn't have to deal with the insurance company at all, they did all the work. Also had my gall bladder out at the same time. Best wishes to you, Annie Dee -112

Thanks, Shelly. The things I hear about at DHMC are that they "always lose the paperwork" & "it takes forever to get the surgery done there. My dad had an RNY & he went to the Elliot Hospital & he was happy w/them. I have read a few things good on here about Dr. Drinkwater, too. Maybe I should look into their program as well. It's so hard to decide what is best to do. Thanks for your input - I really appreciate it.

Hi Sabra!! I actually have my 1:1 surgeon appt. with Dr. Drinkwater this afternoon.... I just started his program. I DID start at DHMC back in the winter and didnt really care for it so I switched to Dr. D and he is just so wonderful. I also opted for him because at DHMC they DONT do the Laparoscopic procedure and only open... Ive always been told that if they only do Open then find another surgeon because that means the surgeon isnt very experienced. How is your dad doing? How long ago did he have the surgery? I hope all is well!

Hi Angela. Dr. Looseman from Parkland does Open & Lap RNY's. She prefers to only do Lap's on people w/a BMI of 45 or less. My dad had his surgery 2 years ago in November. He's doing fabulous. He's lost all the weight he needed & he feels great. He had his open lap at the Elliott Hospital in Manchester. He said he liked everything about his experience there. The only thing he can't eat is ice cream. He seems to be able to eat everything else, but just in a small quantity. How long have you been in this process w/Dr. Drinkwater? How long is his average start to finish? I just started last month. I have been to 2 support meetings & my intake meeting. I have a complete physical scheduled for next week w/labs & an ekg. So hopefully after that they'll schedule me to meet w/the diatician.

Hi Angela-- At DHMC they DO laproscopic procedures now. I don't know how long they have been doing them, but I know they do them there at the Lebanon hospital.

That is true about DHMC. They seem very disorganized. I went to an orientation meeting, sent in my paperwork that day, and it took me a month to get "registered" with the program. Then there are all sorts of things you have to do before you can even meet the surgeon. I did hear a lot of good things about Dr. Drinkwater in Nashua. I decided to go to Boston where I could move along faster and not have to jump through hoops. Best of luck wherever you decide to go! Carrie