HAS ANYONE GONE TO ELLIS HOSPITAL?? I HAVE ?"sss

Hello all I usually lurk more then I post .. MY fault I need to, I don't really have anyone to talk to, not anyCLOSE friends in my life just family & my husband( they are very supportive)... MY dearest friend just moved away and the others in my life have grown apart due to different lifestyles and busy busy lifes( and will not be supportive as some of my co-workers are not)... Well, after much rambling I need to ask a few questions so here goes : I just went to my mandatory seminar at Ellis, and prior to that like 2 weeks ago I had a full physical including Ekg & blood work with my primary, and I have a mamoogram & gyno visit next week (all stuff i figured I would need for approval) and my primary also wrote me a letter of medical necessity as well. Now I called to find out what to do after the MANDATORY SEMINAR and hey said I need to meet with the surgeon of my choice ( I picked Dr Clark ) in march. NOW what happens next? I really need to have this surgery by june ish because I may not have a job by the end of june (not getting into that now) My questions are has any one had surgery there? How long did your process take? what did you think of the hospital? any other pertinent information would be helpful... THANKS.. r

Hi, I really don't know much about Ellis hospitals program, but I am going through Albany Med and they have a wonderful program. I started the process on 11/21/06 and I have my surgical consult, where I should get a surgery date, on 2/27/07. If all goes well I am hoping to have surgery at the end of March or beginning of April. It's all in your preference and it also depends on your insurance requirements. Some insurances require a 6 month supervised weight loss before they will cover the surgery. Good luck with your journey! Janet

thanks for the response not toomany people answer when i post it was very nice!! rae

Rae: I went thru AMC 4+ yrs ago but many of my in person support group members have used Ellis w/ success and pleasure. Dr. Lirio is very experienced/seasoned and I hear many ++ things of Dr. Clarke as well. Time frames are so individual based on your medical condition, your insurance company requirements, yur committment to lose the preop wt (they use Medifast for 4-12 wks +/-) depending on what they feel you need to lose preop to improve your health, decrease your risks of complications/death and shrink the liver. I recommend you call your insurance co (I think I mentioned this before) to get a copy of YOUR policy. That way you know if they have their own hoops. such as a 6-12 mo preop medically supervised diet, this is seperate from teh bariatric surgeons requirements! Keep in contact w/ Ellis. Here is their website: http://www.ellishospital.org/bariatrics.cfm it has many helpful links: Meet Our Doctors BMI Calculator Most Frequently Asked Questions Bariatric Surgery, Step by Step Patient Profiles Latest Bariatric News Seminars & Support Groups Nutrition & Exercise Contact Us http://www.ellishospital.org/bariatricsstepbystep.cfm this site breaks their process down...there is no timeline again beecause too many factors play into this. Basicaly if you are proactive and a consumer of your own healthcare you are sure to have best oucome! I caution you about not having insurance postop that is risky, complications could bankrupt you and many needfrequent f/up labs and if yu can not afford it you caould be very unhealthy and trade Morbid Obesity for malutrition which is just as deadly! The need to afford copays supplimetns vits, etc is imperative to safe and healthy recovery! WLS is an expensive lifetime investment in yourself! http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/forums/?ID=TR-k127 Dr. Lirios Pt forum! Take Care, Jamie 100cm proximal Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh Albany, NY 320(preop)/163 (lowest)/174 (current) 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery) Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King www.albanyplasticsurgeons.com http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/jamiecatlady5/ "Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"

Thank you jamie!! I did call mvp and all the lady on the phone said is I needed to Have co-morbities which my in my doctors letter of medical mecessity it says I have borderline diabetes, high cholestrol and high bp along w/ many family members are severly diabetic now. I went to my mandatory seminar at Ellis so far and I actually meet with Dr clark in march... I also asked the lady at mvp about hospitals and the 1st one she mentioned was Ellis, but the reason why I chose Ellis is because I live outside of broadalbin, and it's closer then AMC, & MY PCP'S asst had it done there By Dr clark and she had nothing but great things to say about him..And MY PCP says he would rather have me there them AMC so if he backing me up on this I'm going to listen..I am very happy to have my pcp supportive.. He had mentioned this a year ago but I blew him off and when I brought it up at my physical (earlier this month) he was very supportive and said said he would have a letter of medical necessity written ASAP! I do believe I have to lose 10% which on the medifast program will be not a problem-hopefully! I have a full cabinet if medifast as I was on that diet before and have like 300.00 of medifast already.. (the hospital charges 50.00 a week for medifast eeeks!) I asked if I have it already will I have to purchase it and they said no.. if I have it already.. I guess i'm getting a little excited and I am hoping this is a fast process as I said I may not be employed by June/ July ..Believe or not my dr's asst had her Mandatory seminar, all tests and surgery done within 4 weeks! She did not not have the same insurance compant though and her co-pay was 1200.00! When is your support group? I would love to meet you! rae

Rae: Did I send u an email with all local support groups a while back? If not let me know.My group is in Saratoga 1st monday of the month 6-8pm in Saratoga Hospital Board room. We neet again next Mon 3/5! [email protected] $1,200 is cheap the surgery is $25-50K if u had to self pay! I had $500 hospital deductible worth every copper penny! Hugs Take Care, Jamie 100cm proximal Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh Albany, NY 320(preop)/163 (lowest)/174 (current) 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery) Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King www.albanyplasticsurgeons.com http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/jamiecatlady5/ "Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"