Upstate Hospital In Syracuse

I have a few questions I hope someone can help me with.  I went to a seminar that Dr Cunningham and his associates gave.  This is who my Primary Doctor recommended and from what I hear they are great.  I sent in my paperwork the next day and haven't heard anything yet.  I am sure it will probably take a few weeks before I get a phone call?
I also contacted my insurance company to see what they require.  It seems they require 6 months of documented weight loss.  From what I have read you need to do to either the WLSurgeon and be weighted monthly or your primary dr.  I do go to my primary on Tuesday so I  thought I might as well get a jump start on the 6 months with him.
Is anyone familiar with Cunningham's office nad how far they are usually booking out?

I started the process with Dr. Cunningham office.  I went to the info session 2nd week of January.. sent in the packet and it was only about a week that I got the call but the appointment wasn't until Mid March.  At that first appointment, after a quick visit with the nurse to get vitals and such.. met with the nutristionist and the surgeon..  It took about 3 hours for that first appointment.   Dr. Simon was going to be my surgeon.. (from what I understand Cunningham himself only does open and not lap, from the short time I spent in the program I know people that wanted Lap but had their first visit with Cunningham, and whoever you have your first visit with is who you will have as a surgeon.  When they got there and realized that he only did Open, they had to wait quite a while for a new appointment with Kim or Simon.  So when you do get the call and you' think you want to go Lap and not open, be sure to mention that so they don't schedule you with Cunningham)

Just my personal experience..  After that first visit I knew right away that the Upstate program wasn't for me.  There are sooooo many people going through the program there and I really and truely did feel just like a number. I didn't feel there was anything personal about the process there at all.  Thus, I set out for another consult with another office and I'm soo glad I did.  There is such a major diffrence between the surgeon I'm with now and the upstate program.     Be sure to leave your options open and don't feel like you have to go with whoever your doctor recommended(as upstate was also recommended to me by my doctor as well)

I had open RNY on March 17, 2008 with Dr. Cunningham who I fell in love with at my first appointment.  He is very honest and open.  It is my understanding though that he is leaving in the next few months to head up a surgical dept. in North Carolina.

I did not go through the seminar.  I mailed in my paperwork (the questionnaire) and about 2 weeks later I got an appointment for about 2 months later.  I had my first appoint on Sept. 25 and it did last 3 hours.  You talk to Marcie the NP, meet the nutritionist and then with Dr. Cunningham.  He does only open RNY.  If you have had any type of stomach surgery (I had my gall bladder out in 1983) then they will recommend him and having open.  Dr. Cunningham will put you on a strict diet - 20 teaspoons of food at a meal, 3 meals a day.  It can be any kind of food, he doesn't care - it can be 20 teaspoons of Twinkies.  But no more than 20 teaspoons.  He wants you to lose at least 5% of your body weight.  This is an impossible diet and you will want to kill yourself and everyone around you within a week.  Marcie will tell you to never mind what he said and lose the 5%.  You will also be given a prescription for pre natal vitamins.

The six months of weight loss can be shown by previous weight loss attempts you have had.  If your primary care doc has had you on a diet and you showed some progress, the 6 months can start from there.  But it will be at least 6 months before you even think about surgery because of the number of people in the program plus the psych eval and support group meetings you have to do.  I was fast - first appt Sept. 25 and surgery on March 17 - that was extremely fast.  You wil be going in to see Marcie and the nut once a month from the first appt to surgery.

Right now I understand there are numerous people in the program at various stages just like there was for me.  Surgery takes a while to get a date - you will have everything in, and the insurance will approve, you will get a date and it may be at least 4-6 months out.  I was also told that Dr. Cunningham only operates on Wednesdays but for some reason (I think because of the Easter holiday) he did mine on Monday.

You will not see Cunningham after your first appt.  I did not see him again until the day of surgery in the prep room.  You will see Marcie and the Nut. (Sounds like a TV sitcom).  If you call with a question they will answer.  But pre surgery it is pretty clear cut - lose as much weight as you can.  When the time comes for surgery you will get a letter from the hospital telling you when your pre op appt is - you will have an appt with Marcie before this on the same day.  Dr. Cunningham does not put you on a liquid diet before the surgery - nothing to eat or drink after midnight before surgery.

The only warning I have is make sure you have a stress test done before your preop appt.  I got to the pre op appt and was thrown for a loop because I did not have a stress test (the office originally told me I did not need one, but lo and behold, everyone needs one!).  Your primary care doc can refer you to someone - NY Heart, a part of St. Joe's did mine three days before surgery.  They are quite accomodating and are used to "rush orders".

I never had a complaint about my care and treatment at the office or at the hospital.  The only "grumble" I had was after my surgery about 6 weeks ago I was experiencing some pain in my belly (not really m,\y belly, but in my bowel area) and I called and asked Marcie to call me back.  She never did, but I figured out the problem - gas!  Other than that everyone was great.

If you need more information, please let me know.
Good luck!
Deb

 

Deb,
Thank you for all your information.  Hopefully I will get a phone call from them this week for my first appointment.  In the meantime I go to my regular doctor tomorrow to make sure we start the documention of my weight loss. I  am sure there is plenty of notes in my file about weight loss since my doctor has been encouraging this for over a year but I wan't ready mentally to make the change.  I have thought long and hard and read tons and tons and feel I am ready for this now.
At the seminar they did say that Dr. Cunningham was leaving but the other two doctors will still be doing the surgeries.  But with one less doctor that will probably back things up even more.
Thanks again for all your info.

I also went through the program at Syracuse and had my first appt. with Doc Cunningham.  As with the previous post...I fell in love with him at first sight.  He's such a caring surgeon and I felt total confidence in him.  I have confirmed the information that he will be leaving to go south soon, so surgery with him is out of the question.  It is true that he only does open, but the office has no problems switching you to another surgeon if you would prefer lap.  I can tell you that I wasn't out of work any longer with the open method and in some cases, depending on your medical health, the open can sometimes be better. 
I received a letter about two weeks after I sent in my packet...I did not go to one of their seminars either.  The letter gave me a date about a month to a month and a half away.  My process after that actually went very quickly.  I was able to "get it" pretty quickly and I was fast tracked to my surgery date.  By "get it" I mean that I was able to comprehend the mental aspects of the whole process very quickly.  I was no longer letting my head dictate what I was going to eat and was eating to stay healthy....and I liked it. 
The people at the Bariatric center are wonderful and I can't say enough good things about them.  Any time you have a question or need somethnig they are there for you to call and they get back to you quickly. 
As far as "how far are they booking out" well with Cunningham leaving then the wait will probably be longer than I had.  You need to do your 6 months for the insurance so getting started now is a great idea.  Cunningham puts everyone on the same diet....3 meals a day, no snacking....20 teaspoons at each meal with 3 to 5 minutes between each bite and chew everything 20 times.  Of course he has a list foods to eat and others to avoid.  If you'd like I have copies of all those so that you can get started.  He also wants to see an increase in exercise, so do some walking if you can.  They all like to see that on your diary.  They will give you a food journal there, but in the meantime start one of your own.
Good luck with everything you do and I personally feel that if your in the CNY area you couldn't have picked a better bariatric center.  I've talked with many people who have gone elsewhere and not been nearly as happy as I have. 
Just a side note....This time last year I was a size 24.  I weighed 275 lbs and was in constant pain in my knees.  I went to Cunningham in October 2007...had my surgery in February 2007...and now I weight 165 lbs and this weekend I was able to get in a size 8 jeans!!!!  A size 8, I'm still amazed at that.  So best of luck.
Dee