Centennial???
Hi, I was just wondering if anyone has had any problems getting in touch with the office at Centennial Center for the Treatment of Obesity? I've called and left a couple of messages over the past week and a half, along with filling out the online form for someone to contact me back. I was just wondering if anyone knows if they are on leave for Easter or anything. I'm trying to switch over from Cumberland Centery for Obesity Surgery to them and I've already recieved approval from my insurance company I was just curious as what I need to do and schedule an appointment with them. If anyone has any ideas as to why the call back time is so long please let me know. If possible anyone that has had surgery with Dr. Houston let me know how it went and what to expect. Thank you all so much.
Larry,
Larry, I spoke with their offices this morning. I dialed 342-5820...that goes direct to Dr. Houston's folks.
I meet with him on May 5th and have my surgery on May 9th. His staff has been very, very kind, patient and generally awesome! April S. just had surgery with him yesterday. She may be better able to comment.
Good luck to you!
Marianne
I kept in contact with the obesity treatment center's insurance specialist Lisa Ferrell. She was very quick in responding to my emails. Her email address is: [email protected]
I just got home from the hospital. Definitely a lot of soreness! But, their office will probably make you go to a obesity surgery seminar, fill out a packet of paperwork. Make sure you have everything you need to submitt to insurance. Send it all to the Center's address. An insurance specialist will look over the paperwork to make sure everything is in order. They might have to submitt your insurance for reapproval due to change of surgeons... though I'm not entirely sure. I suggest contacting Lisa. After I got approved, someone from the center contacted me to set up a surgeon consulation. I had one the day after my approval. I was so excited! At the consultation, you meet with Holly, Dr. Houston's nurse, she checks your vitals, weight, and snaps a pic of you. She gives you a binder with everything you will need to know pre-op and post-op. Then your sent to a room to wait for Dr. Houston.. he explained the surgery, some of its complications, what to expect which the binder also does as well. After the consultation you meet with Holly again to pick out a date and get a date (2 weeks before surgery date) for you pre-op testing (for me, only blood work and an EKG) as well as nutritional counseling class. She tells you how much you will owe Dr. Houston, which will be due on the day of your nutritional counseling class. Later in the following couple of weeks you'll get a phone call from the anesthesiologists office from Centennial. They'll ask you a bunch of questions. Finally the date is here before you know it. I had to show up at 5:30 a.m. for surgery. I went to the second floor and was handed a restaurant style buzzer thingy. ... we only had a short wait before it started beeping. I was sent to a small room where a nurse checked my vital signs, gave me some pepcid and small sip of water. (by the way dr. houston only requires 2 days of clear liquids prior to surgery, and nothing after midnight the day of surgery) She also gave me a patch to put behind my ear...its for motion sickness, prevent you from getting nausous and a shot of blood thinner. This one burns for a bit after it is injected. I had to give a urine sample to check for pregnancy, you probably won't have to. Then I had to change into the gown. Shortly after, my family was able to come back to see me while I waited for someone to take me to the holding area. (They were given the same type buzzer. It's also how they were notified throughout the procedure) My family kept me pretty relaxed and calm. Finally this little man comes in to get me... I was thinking how is this man suppose to wheel me in this big hospital bed..but he managed to do it. I said goodbye to my family and for some reason I was laughing and they were laughing. I thought I looked silly being rolled by this little man lol and they agreed lol So we get to the holding area and its FREEZING cold, he did give me a blanket that had been warmed. This is where I met with the anesthesiologists. One hooked an IV into my left wrist. It wasn't painful at all. This IV is used to sedate you in order to put the Central IV in your neck. So, I waited a few minutes while a mixture of emotions ran through me, tears, excitement, laughter, etc. Several people checked on me, everyone was super nice. I saw Dr. Houston briefly, asked if I had any questions and he realized I hadn't been given my central IV yet. So here comes the anestheisologist, I'm finally given something for sedation. I think I blacked out for a minute or two because next thing I realize I'm in the operating room and being asked to move from the bed to the operating table. I remember someone saying that I needed more sedation because I was wide awake. It is EXTRA freezing cold in there. Someone puts a mask over my nose and mouth, I take a few deep breaths and the next thing I remember is waking up in pain. Someone was telling me to take a deep breath and I felt something yanked out of my mouth. I told someone to put me back to sleep. I don't know what was happening, everything is such a blur...finally I'm in my room, my family brought me flowers and my husband is taking pictures of me. I'm pretty alert here but really wanting to just close my eyes and sleep, but everyone was there wanting to talk to me. They're trying to keep me in good spirits, I try to laugh but it really really hurts. I couldn't have anything to drink for the entire day. That was pretty miserable. I also had a catheter... that wasn't fun either. I had to walk with it too. You're also hooked up to the IV, morphine pump, and the compression stockings that inflate and deflate on your legs and a heart monitor which constantly is beeping. They really want you to start walking and doing your breathing exercises. I walked twice after sugery and had to inhale from the breathing spirometer. When I finally got to sleep, I was waken every other hour it seems like, people checking my vitals, injecting medicine into my line, checking my bag of saline/potassium solution, injecting blood thinner into my arm. Everyone was great! The next day Dr. Houston came in and checked over my chart, he got rid of the beeping heart monitor and told me I could start sipping liquids and he would get one of the nurses to remove the catheter. That was the best feeling. I was so happy. I could get something wet into my mouth and didn't have to carry around a pee bag! At lunch, I was served a tray of jello, iced tea, chicken broth, and one of the ABB pure protein drinks. These are horrible! I like the Isopure better. My husband brought me one from home. I was feeling a lot better. My stomach was still pretty sore as was my neck from the Central IV. Personally, I thought the IV in the neck was the worst. Its more like a long narrow tube...my husband said it looked to be about 8 inches long when it was pulled out. It was also stitched into place. This was a bit on the painful side for me. Anyways, on the second day, I walked about 7 times and barely got the 24 ounces of liquids in. During the day, I saw a nutritionalist and someone from the pharmacy. Around dinner time, Dr. Houston came back to check everything. Everything was looking great and said that I'd probably get to go home the next day. I was still pretty sore at this time. I used my morphine pump occassionally during the day and then everytime someone woke me up during the night so I could get back to sleep. Oh, getting in and out of bed is pretty painful, but the more you walk, the less pain you have as well as gas. On the third day, Dr. Houston gives me the ok to be discharged. The IV came out around 11:30, it wasn't a pleasant experience. Dr. Houston came in for the official discharge around 1 p.m. Went over some basics and wrote a prescription for demerol, pepcid, and something for the preventioin of gallstones. At 2 o'clock, I was out the door. I had to leave in a wheelchair and pushed up an incline from the hospital to the garage. I was very embarrassed because this guy was having a really hard time pushing me. Oh well. I'm still a little sore and a little gassy, but I feel almost like myself. I am still having a hard time comprehending that I actually had the surgery. I can't wait for some weight to start falling off. I have my first post-op appointment Thursday.
April,
Thank you for letting me know what all goes on with Dr. Houston and his staff. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about them. And I do hope that everything goes well for you, you will be in my thoughts and prayers. I hope I wont be a bother but I might have a few questions if the future. But again thank you so much for your response.
Best Wishes,
Larry
Larry there are days I have a hard time reaching Lisa at Centennial . I have my best luck Mon thry Wed . If you are that far along get your records from the other center and have them ready to fax or mail to her after that it should take very little time . I just got my date with dr dr for my first appt .
Good luck
Laura
Laura,
Thank you for your response. The insurance lady at my previous office had me fax her a medical release statement, and she said she would be delivering my paperwork and records to them at Centennial. I just found out today that my approval letter was supposedly mailed back in March and I still haven't received it so that is something I have to get worked out. But other than that I don't see anything holding me up at this point that just going to one of their seminars and setting up an appointment. I'm going to try to get intouch with them again next week because I know alot of places are either closed or take off early for Good-Friday. But I am trying my hardest to get this done. Thank you for the information on the best time to reach them.
Larry
Larry there are days I have a hard time reaching Lisa at Centennial . I have my best luck Mon thry Wed . If you are that far along get your records from the other center and have them ready to fax or mail to her after that it should take very little time . I just got my date with dr dr for my first appt .
Good luck
Laura
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