Anyone had WLS at Barix Clinic Groveport OH?

Was looking for some input  (good & bad responses) from folks who have had their WLS at the Barix Clinic? 

if you have any medical problems at all. I think it is better to get it down in a hospital if god forbid something does happen.....just my thoughts Dave

YAY!  I have a consult with surgeon Timothy Custer at Barix Clinic on Jan. 9th!   I really appreciate your responses.  I just wanted input about the facility (Barix).   My other choice was OSU but I dreaded going down there (too congested and chaotic). I have been putting this surgery off and finally decided that the time is NOW.  I have to get this weight off.  I am facing joint replacements and feel it will be easier with less weight. I am really excited!   I am also curious about what to expect after the surgery?  How painful is the recovery, etc?  I am alone so I would have to make arrangements for some help since I have a cat.  I doubt that I will be able to change her litter box for a couple weeks.  I had lap surgery for gall bladder in 2000 and had no problems with that recovery.  In fact I walked in and out in 3.5 hours.  I realize this lap surgery will be more intense and that I will be there a couple of days. The other thing I am curious about is what will I be eating after the surgery?  Will I have to buy supplements? Thanks so much!  :-)

my surgery was almost 4 years ago- i had no complaints- i do not care for the 3 hour drive tho for pre and after care- my own surgeon has left the practice to move back east- his parents are quite elderly and it was sad to see him go. what kind of questions do you have? be specific maybe i can help better? best to you whatever you choose!

I had my surgery there almost 3 years ago. My physician has also left the practice. I am a nurse and to be real honest, the nurses are great, however there is a nite time aid/ respiratory therapist who is Indian and named India and she is horrid! She placed me in a chair and closed the door as requested, but did not put a call light near me. She was rough when moving me. She has a good heart, just poor patient care skills. Also they have a physician named Dr. Bates who is horrid. She does the pre and post appointments. Now my sister did just have the lap band placed and all was fine. They wouldn't let anyone stay all night with her and in my opinion this is very suspicious. Thankfully, India wasn't there that night. Thankfully things went well for me, but they are more about profit then patient care in my humble opinion.

I had surgery there in August and coudn't be more please with them.  I have had no complications either.  My surgeon was Dr. Vig and he has left since then.  I see Dr. Ramos now and he is ok.   I never met Dr. Custer.  I have to tell you that the nurses there are fabulous.  They are wonderful and caring.  They took really good care of me.  They also have a wonderful dietician named Katie.  She helped me on the pre-op plan that my insurance requires.  I lost 30 pounds in 3 months with her help and encouragement. I tried to do the Mt Carmel program, but they were rude and obnoxius.   You have to fulfil so many requirements just to get into the consult.  At Barix, your consult is the first thing!!  For me it was much easier and faster to go to Barix than Mt. Carmel. PM me if you have any more questions.  If you want, there is a support group on Jan 19 at 9:00 out there. 

Hi there ... thanks for responding.

Glad everything went well for you. I am a bit nervous about this major step.

How long from time of consult until you actually had the surgery?

I don't know how to PM? I am having enough trouble just getting to the message boards. haha

I signed up for something out there at 7 pm 1/17/08 but the lady that called me today said I didn't have to go since I am having a consult 1/9/08.

I do not have a support system. My family is totally against WLS. I also live alone with my little old cat. My son and sister threw hissyfits when I told them I wanted to have WLS. I am hoping I can get a neighbor to come in and take care of my cat when I have the surgery. I am not even going to mention it any further to my family.

I was going to go to OSU but I just hated the thought of having to go down to that busy campus. I was on Anthem insurance and they didn't cover Barix so I was going to have to do OSU. I kept putting it off and suddenly my insurance got switched to UHC. I called UHC and they said Barix was covered! YAY! So I had just applied with Barix on line last night and I got a call at 9:30 this morning from them! She woke me up ... haha! I was shocked when she asked if I could come in for the consult already. She also said they were "in network" with UHC. I just hope I don't have to jump through hoops pre-surgery/

Take care, Susan

I'm working through the Mt. Carmel program now and maybe things have changed some since you tried it so I thought for completeness I'd share this info for those who may be reading this thread. They have special beds on 7West at Mt. Carmel West and nurses and personnel just for the bariatric patients so you don't have to worry about being put in a hospital room with someone else who doesn't understand about weight loss surgery and/or nurses who aren't familiar with our needs, special bed size, gown, etc. They've got that covered.  I don't know how long they have had it but when I went to my first orientation meeting in October 2007, I was introduced to a lady named Melissa Webb,RN who is their bariatric program coordinator and to their bariatric nutritionist Michelle Strakowski, RD, and they are specifically working toward the needs of the bariatric patients whether its RNY, lapband, etc.  I have heard that Barix and Riverside's Fresh Start programs are well oiled machines in terms of follow ups on new patients seeking the whole insurance approval and consults process so if you like that special personalized attention, I am happy to say you should do whatever works best for your situation. For me, my insurance only covered surgeons under the Mt. Carmel program so cost and insurance coverage was a factor.   I think Dr. Patrician Choban who is at Mt. Carmel now was formerly out at Barix if I remember correctly. I was concerned about hearing that some patients got attached to their surgeon only to have that surgeon move on to another clinic or city and then they had to start with someone else but regardless, as long as you get a board certified bariatric surgeon who has lots of experience in the type of weight loss surgery you are interested in, that's key. I ended up choosing Dr. Phil Price for my pending lapband surgery at Mt. Carmel because he's not only a very experience bariatric surgeon, he's advanced certified in laproscopic surgery and he leads the teaching faculty at Mt. Carmel in minimally invasive surgery (lap) and in addition, he's been in Columbus for 20+ years, so I liked that he was tied to the area for the long term as much surgeon. Hope this helps for those who choose Barix, Mt. Carmel, OSU or Riverside.

I had my consult in April and my surgey was in early August.  I could have had surgery sooner, but I had to do a 3-6 month supervised diet before Aetna approved me.  After Barix submitted the paper work, I was approved that same day!  I had working with Aetna on this so they knew me, which is why that probably went faster than normal.  Barix won't schedule the surgery though until they get the approval letter in their hands.  Once they received it, they scheduled my surgery for 3 weeks later.  So that goes pretty fast..  I had my pre-admission testing 2 weeks before surgery.  Originally I was scheduled as lap RNY, but they found gallstones and they told me I had to have an open surgery so they could take my gallbladder out at the same time. I'm glad you got your consult so quickly.  They are really good about that.  You will be in a room with others at first while the doc goes over the different procedures, benefits, and risks.  Affrerward, you will meet individually with the doc and he will ask which procedure you want and address any questions or concerns.  You will also get info on what to do for insurance.   I wish you luck.  Keep me posted.  And I am sorry to hear about your family.  They may just be against it because they are scared!  In the end, you have to decide what is best for you!  I personally have been given my life back.  I can do things I haven't done in over 15 years! 

hi Paula
Thanks so much for the info.
i have UHC insurance. So this could happen pretty fast? wow.

Do they run tests like upper GI etc? I had my gall bladder sucked out in 2000 via lariscopic surgery, and did really well with the recovery.

I can't go on like this any longer. I have been overweight and struggling for 43 years now. I am facing multi-joint replacements and being this heavy it would be a waste of time (and pain and money) to have them replaced now. Being heavy is really hard on replacement joints. I also need to go to water exercises and there is NO WAY i would be seen in a bathing suit like this!

You look really young Paula. How much have you lost now? Do you feel it was worth it?

Take care and thanks