Anyone considering surgery at Midwest Bariatric Solutions?

I was 5'4" and weighed 248 pds at the time of gastric lap banding in July 2004.  The band was removed in August 2006 due to complications.  While I had the band I lost about 44 pds - after the removal of the band I lost 97 pds without ever trying to for one day.  On 12/28/07 I had a feeding tube surgically placed into my small intestine area.  My weight has not fluctuated too much since then.  

1st off Im very sorry you have suffered complications. I am also NOT judging you for telling your story. you have that right. I am also a patient of dr Wasco's. I also had lapband , had a port replacement and then finally band removal from a defective band. NOT the dr's fault.

I am now having vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy I have to say, dr wasco & the entire staff at MWBS have been awesome. caring, helpful everything I expected. I think no matter where any of us or anyone else goes there is always going to be someone who is unhappy. Im glad you found someone who you trust now. and Im sure he's a great dr. but I bet you would still find people unhappy with that dr as well for whatever reasons.

Hello JWJ, I have tried several times to get this message to you, and you have not replied.  I would like to speak to you because I am very close to deciding which procedure to go with (obviously I have taken certain surgeons off my list).  Here is my original message to you from last week: Thank you for sending that information to me.  I am only a little over half way through it and it is absolutely unbelievable.   If I was not reading this first hand (meaning notes written by Dr Wasco himself, etc), I wouldn't believe it.  He contradicts himself constantly throughout the notes.  I love the entry where he states "I have explained to this patient that my partners and I are taking reduced fees to treat her because she is out of plan".  First of all, what kind of Dr makes a remark like that to a patient and secondly when you met with the Medical Director Of NHP in January of 2008 he explains to you that because HE wasn't a provider, and because they agreed to pay for this, that he actually received more than if he was a provider.  So not only is he a liar, he is motivated by what he thinks he's making off a patient.  The chart that NWHP sent you shows that each time he billed them he got exactly what he billed for.  If he had been a provider, he would have gotten a substantially less payment.  Where is this guy coming from?  Then in October 2006 his notes state that he "already talked to someone at Network and they said this surgery (surgery you needed to find out what had gone wrong already) wouldn't be covered".  He tells you that on October 18, 2006 and their call logs you obtained show him NEVER calling into any department until after October 18, 2006.  He indicates you are a "Dr Shopper", yet every Doctor you saw you have obtained the referral letter that he wrote for you.  Did you ask him for these referrals or did he suggest it?  The best is a different physician notes in which he takes a call from Wasco and goes on to tell him your band had to be surgically removed and JOKES about it!  Even the other Dr suggests utter amazement at his lack of sensitivity in notes corresponding to Wasco's on that same date (in fact, Wasco has no note in his file about his discussion with your other physician on that day).  Your postings are not the first time I have heard bad things about him, but these notes are the icing on the cake.  Thanks again for being an advocate for others that may fall victim to him.  I hope you are doing well.  It sounds like you are in much better hands now.  

Hi:  I'm sorry I didn't see your e-mail before now.  If you were only about half way through about a week ago, I will assume you are further thru the information now, or have even finished it by now.  I'll answer your questions with the information I can answer them with for now.  I can't answer the question  "where is this guy coming from?"  because I don't know where he is coming from.  Evidently he doesn't know where he is coming from either because that is erroneous information.  My medical file from his office is filled with fabrications, falsifications, errors and ommissions.  The very first line of my medical file is an error, isn't it?  I guess I'm a little concerned about a surgeon who doesn't even know what surgery he performed!  It took a long time to collect the information that I did, but I will move forward with that now that I have almost everything now.  I can send in a form requesting that my objections to some of his errors, etc. become part of my permanent file. That is not good enough for me, so I have retained an attorney to assist me  in demanding under a certain Wisconsin Statues (I used to know the exact statute number, but I cannot find it right at this time) that the records be corrected.  The other Physicians notes, telephone records, affidavits, etc etc will aid in that.  THEN I will file a complaint with the State Of Wisconsin for falsification of medical records which I have been advised that this State takes very seriously.  As far as the referrals, it was his idea to see all of those other phsicians except for two of them, and ,of course , any treatment I have sought since the horrific nightmare with him  ended.  If you are through the records and the accompanying information you must understand why I would want those records "cleaned up".  Not only is he being untruthful, he is withholding very important which is not fair to me or any other physician *****lies on this to be accurate information.  As far as the reimbursement issue, I paid privately for the surgery initially.  When I had emergency surgery Network covered it and they continued to cover almost everything from that point on.  There was only one procedure not covered, but we paid for that ourselves immediately.  We NEVER had an outstanding balance with his practice, so I found the never ending talk of getting paid rather odd and somewhat offensive.  I thought that this may be the job of his accounts receivable department, but evidently I am wrong - it must be the job of the surgeon!   As far as your questions about how I am doing - I am doing somewhat better, but I still have a way to go as you can tell by the notes from the current physicians.  I have leaarned a lot from these physicians, and as you can tell that Wasco's lack of concern in a telephone conversation that I had with him almost 10 days before my May 11, 2006 surgery may have set off a chain of events that changed my life forever.  I believe that is the exact quote from one of my current physicians.  Wasco was fully aware of the May 11, 2006 surgery and he knew exactly who was doing it, where it was being done and what was being done.  You will note that most other physicians opinions (those who have any knowledge or expertise in the placement of gastric lap bands) indicate that he should have had me come to his office to have that band deflated before that surgery.  I know later in the notes he states that he wasn't sure if I was having surgery or when or whatever other "static" he writes about.  He is lying!  He did know.  Maybe I did not use all the proper medical terminology when speaking to him about what I was having done, but if he was not sure he should have phoned this other physician.  He told me he was going to because he said he knew him and ,in fact, indicated that he went to Med School with him.  Anyway, I am through one surgery, and there is the possibility of one other one.  After that, it is the opinion of three specialists in this field that "this may be as good as it gets", meaning some of the damage is permanent.   However, this should not steer you away from having either one of these procedures if that is what you want.  My situation is the exception to the norm - it is not the norm.  Be choosey about the surgeon and clinic you use.  There are excellent clinics in this area such as UW-Madison and St Luke's in Milwaukee, and I am sure there are others.  The physician that you use will make a huge difference.  Now that I am seeing other physicians (but have always kept my primary because he is the best!) it has made a world of difference.  It is comforting knowing that I will be treated with dignity and respect.  It is comforting knowing that physicians really do listen, and act upon your physical complaints and concerns.  Sometimes bad is good, and this may be one of those times.  In the business I am in I think sometimes I may have been complaisant, or didn't always listen as well as I should have listened to a client's concern, and now I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that type of treatment by someone you have a professional association with and think you can trust.  This has taught me to be a better listener in my job and to understand that what I think may be trivial is probably not trivial to the person expressing the concern.  As for Kevin Wasco, this will all catch up with him.  He will find his way to the front door soon enough and he'll do it all by himself.  People like him always do.  Remember . . . you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.  He'll hang himself. As for you, make a decision you are comfortable with and we'll talk soon.  You can call me at the number I gave you when you requested this information from me.  Take Care. 

JWJ, if you are still frequenting this board, will you please contact me? It seems as if we have had parallel experiences. I would like to discuss a few things with you, if you wouldn't mind. I also have vagus nerve damage from a screwed up lapband surgery. Thank you, Nicci

Hi Nicci:  I'm sorry I am so late in replying to you.  I haven't been on this website in awhile.  I just  returned from a hospital in another state where I subsequentky had to go to have surgery in an attempt to try to reverse some of this damage.  The physician is VERY confident that it is surgeon's error (both directly and indirectly).  I will explain when we talk.  I had surgery on May 27th - returned to Wisconsin on June 1st, but ended up having to go back due to complications.  Things are better now.  I have a few surgeries to go yet - the next being July 31st, but that one will actually be in Oshkosh.  Ironically, even though it is way out of his usual area of expertise, my OB/GYN and another General Surgeon will be doing the surgery.  I am very happy about that because I trust my OB?GYN more than any Physician I have ever dealt with.  Just knowing he is in the OR makes me feel better.  I will be happy to share any of my information with you.  I have all records from all physicians and you will be in absolute amazement when you read them, if you choose to do so.  Please write to me in private and I will help you in any way I can.