Doctors at Vanderbilt

I,m waiting on my insurance to aprove me. i,ve sent everything in to vanderbilt, an they said i would know somthing in 7-21 days. i just haven,t made my mind up which surgen i want. will they just assign me one or will i be able to choose. an if you had your surgery at vanderbilt please give me your input. I'm excited an nervous too. but i know i want the surgery. Thanks Tom

Hi Tom, just wondering what insurance do you have?

Tom I am going to Vandy for lap band. All the doctors seem to be very knowledgeable in this type of surgery.. If you will go to www.tennessee.gov and go to the dept of health there is information on all the doctors in Tennessee. Good luck

Hi Tom, Dr. Richards was my surgeon and I was very pleased with him. He is very thorough and he wants to make sure you know all the details of what's taking place. He is not overly friendly but very polite and very knowledgable. Christian is the NP and he is extremely friendly and he's always willing to answer any questions or at least help you find the answers. If by some chance I could not have gotten Dr. Richards I would have wanted Dr.Torquatti. A friend of mine had him and was very pleased with him. I met him and he's very nice. He is like second to Dr. Richards. They both have very good track records as far as complications are concerned and 0 deaths realting to WLS. Good luck with your search! Lisa

Tom, I didn't actually answer your question. Sorry. I requested the one I wanted (Dr. Richards) and my friend was assigned Dr. Torquati because he is involved in a diabetes study and she had diabetes. I think if you specify up front you will have the Dr. of choice. Lisa

I was assigned a surgeon because of my immune system disorder. Dr. Richards was interested in my case. I can't say enough wonderful things about Vanderbilt's doctors and NP's. LIke someone else mentioned, Dr. Richards is an EXCELLENT surgeon, and Christian his NP is also a wonderful source of support! I am thrilled with my choice to go to Vanderbilt, and hope you have the same experience as I did! Take care, Ashleigh

Breaking Thread. Hi Ashleigh, what is wrong with your immune system and was there any problems after your surgery due to your immune system? I have leukemia and just wondering what I might expect as my immune system is low due to the chemo pills I'm on. Thanks for any info. Kathy

I have a problem called Common Variable Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Basically the simple version is that I don't produce the right type of antibodies to fight off infections, so I get sick very easily. I'm actually at a higher risk for cancers like leukemia, but so far have been lucky. Before surgery, they gave me an infusion of Human Immune globulin (IVIG) to help boost my immune system to fight any possible infections that might occur due to surgery. I didn't have any problems at all. I'm on a daily antibiotic to prevent infections. It works for me. The only infection I had after surgery was a tiny incisional infection that I treated myself (stupid, I know), and bronchitis from not being able to cough. Let me know if you have any other questions! take care, Ash

I was assigned a surgeon because - - I did not question when they approved my surgery. I figure that if I had met the surgeon and not like him, I could had requested someone else...but I like the guy they assigned me and stuck with him. I figure that it has a lot to do with health issues and type of surgery you're having and who specializes in that particular area.

Hey there Tom! I was assigned/referred to Dr. Kelly Wright by my kidney transplant doctor. He felt he would do the best job because Dr. Wright is also a transplant surgeon and performs open RNY. I had no choice in the type of surgery because of all my past surgeries. I am still taking my anti-rejection meds (and will for the rest of my life) for my transplant whi*****ludes prednisone. As you know, these lower immunities and they told me I would take longer to heal. I, however, have done wonderfully. All my staples are out and the steri-strips have already fallen off. The incision looks great and Dr. Wright has been very pleased with my progress so far. I think all of this is due to Dr. Wright's wonderful care and precision during surgery. Dr. Wright, in my opinion, has got to be one of the most intelligent and skillful surgeons I have ever met. His post-op instructions are very detailed and he is very accessible if you have any problems. I know others have said he doesn't have good bedside manners but I think it is quite the contrary. I thought he was hilarious and he made things much easier on me. He came in frequently to check on my pain level, the incision and to see how things were progressing. If he wasn't able to stop in then it was his assistant Dr. Russell (and many others). I couldn't have been happier with anyone else. Good luck with your decision! (Don't be afraid of open RNY either! It has been wonderful so far.)