Dr Wasco/Theda Clark

its a 3 1/2 hour trip and if something goes wrong I thought that it would be easier since there are physicians here that do rny so how did your meeting go

I am new to writing on this web site.  I have read it many times in the past few years.  I am not obese.  I am 5'4" and weigh 110 pounds.  I have never been overweight, so I cannot relate to the trauma that all of you have felt at one time or another.  All of you who have undergone WLS are to be applauded for making such a difficult decision.  I want to tell my story from the outside looking in.  I know WLS is not the easy way out of obesity.  In fact, it is the ultimate solution to the problem for many people.  However, I would like to give a family member's perspective.  JWJ is a close family member of mine.  Initially I knew she had WLS, but we didn't talk about it much.  We live 2000 miles apart from each other.  As 2006 rolled around I realized the problems she was having I became very concerned.  I had many discussions with both her and her husband about what appeared to be her ever declining health.  I was in Wisconsin in August of 2006.  It was apparent how sick she was, however her weight loss was about 55 lbs since her lap band surgery in July 2004.  No one was thinking that was the problem.  In August 2006 the lap band was removed by emergency surgery.  I kept in constant contact as I knew JWJ was not getting any better.  Unknown to her at the time, her husband and I spoke everyday.  He kept telling me that she just keeps saying "I got myself into this - I'll get myself out of it".  In Nov of 2006 I flew to Milwaukee, WI  for JWJ's daughter's wedding.  I was astonished by how she had changed, but was told that the following Monday Dr Wasco was doing some sort of surgery and this was going to take care of everything.  JWJ was in so much pain and so nauseated, but did make it through the wedding.  After Nov 6th I again kept in constant contact with JWJ and I could tell that things were no better - in fact, they were worse.  By the second week in Dec JWJ's husband called me and said that I should probably come home sometime around the Christmas holiday; he said anything that was bad in early Nov was only worse now.  He proceeded to tell me how she could noy keep any food down; that she was always nauseated; that they have been in and out of ER a number of times due to dehydration and low potassium levels.  I asked the obvious question which was "Where is this Wasco during all this?".  It was explained to me that at her follow up with him on 11/17/2006 he said that everything appears to be going well since the surgery and that follow up was only as needed.  It was further explained that JWJ and Dr Wasco had spoken on the phone a few tines since then, but it didn't appear he was going to be investigating any further,  When I arrived in Wis in Dec 2006 I was absolutely astonished.  JWJ had definitely lost weight in previous weeks since I had seen her (about 30 lbs).  She could not eat solid food.  She could not overcome this extremely nauseated feeling.  She had constant and rather severe abdominal pain.  She looked horrible - she was pale, her eyes were sunk in her head and her hair was thinning.  I told her to make an appt with this Wasco while I was here, but she could not get in.  JWJ and her husband assured me that he had been made aware of the situation.   Instead, we got an appt with her Gynecologist who JWJ had a lot of confidence in.  When he took one look at her he said he was referring her to a Specialty Hospital and he made an appt for her to go to Froedtert Hosp in Milwaukee.  I left Wis, but returned for her initial consult at Froedtert on 1/26/07.  The consultation was absolutely unbelievable - it was like the bariatric Dept and Wasco's records were actually written about two different people.  I was so angry by the time that I left that consultation I told JWJ that I was going to call Dr Wasco myself and ask some questions.  At that time JWJ signed a release giving both her husband and myself permission to discuss her case with me.  After leaving 18 messages, Dr Wasco called me back.  When he called we agreed it was late in the day for him and that we would have a 3 way conversation the next morning with me and we would have JWJ on the line also.  At that point I thought he must be a very compassionate professional *****ally wanted to know what our concerns were and then possibly shed some light on how he felt we should proceed.  After all, the opinions we had differed so greatly we didn't know what to do.  I was way off base on that estimation.  I now understand why he wanted to wait until the next day for a consultation with us - he knew he needed to get his story straightened out!  The following day we had a three way telephone conversation that lasted in excess of an hour and he never answered one question!  It was apparent to me immediately that  he was manipulative, he was arrogant and, although he knew his patient was in on the conversation, he talked about her in third person as if she wasn't there at all.  Anytime that JWJ or I tried to speak, he would say "please just let me finish this thought, then you can talk".  Unfortunately, it never became our time to talk.  On a few occasions I did get some questions,but he became extremely defensive and would only say "You know I'm not an evil person".  No one was accusing him of being an evil person, we were only wondering why things differed so drastically from one bariatric surgeon to another. He then proceeded to tell us that he knew exactly what is wrong and that "he stands behind his work, and he will fix this".  He described in  great detail her diagnosis, although he never gave it a name.  He described in great detail the surgery he would need to do to correct it, although he never gave it a name.  After that phone conversation I called JWJ and told her to get rid of him - I told her he should be reported to the State Of Wisconsin,  She assured me that he was a good Dr and that he had a plan and that she had no reason to believe that he wouldn't follow through on his plan.  She told me that I  was over reacting and that she had confidence in him and she felt she could take care of things herself.  In other words, she was politely telling me to "stay out of it".  I did stay out of it for awhile, but her overall health just continued to decline.  In the meantime, Froedtert thought they had discovered a liver mass and scheduled surgery for 3/20/07.  I asked JWJ if Wasco knew about all this since Froedtert alleged that this was seen on films obtained from his office.  I either fax'd or sent Wasco a memo updating him without JWJ's knowledge because I felt Wasco should know and because I knew JWJ was just too sick to even care,  He did not reply to me, but I believe he spoke to JWJ about it.  When 3/20/07 rolled around surgery could not be done because JWJ's lab report was so poor that her surgery was postponed to another day.  Evidently something else had also shown up in a urine test, and Froedert elected to postpone it.  I once again made Wasco aware of this.  We discussed the whole Froedtert situation as he seemed "uncomfortable" that they had formed such a different opinion than he had.  He asked who JWJ was seeing there and I told him the name of the one physician I was most familiar with.  I went on to explain that although he is a terrific Dr., he speaks very little English, and I felt that this hampered communication some, but it was nothing we couldn't work through.  His next remark absolutely floored me and I will never ,ever forget it.  He said  "Well at least we speak English here".  I was so shocked that I don't think I replied.  When he realized that I was absolutely silenced by his remark he went on to say "well don't get me wrong - I'm not a racist.  I'm married to a Mexican".  Now my opinion of him dropped even further following that remark, but I kept it to myself.  I was so troubled that a professional would talk like that.  As time went on things got worse.  The horror stories I could tell would never end.  Subsequently, some 15 months later (after Wasco did nothing and then finally medically abandoned JWJ stating her frustration level was too high with him?!?) she was diagnosed with the exact diagnosis that he described in January of 2007 and in Spring of this year underwent the exact surgery that he described in January 2007.  Coincidence or not?  I don't know.  She has also encountered countless other problems that have resulted in 3 additional surgeries that one physician has explained are the "result of months and months of malnutrition".  Wasco knew she couldn't eat - he knew she continued to lose weight.  He did nothing!!!  Now I have most recently read the posts about her meeting at Theda Clark (and I do know the results of that meeting).  I only wanted to go on the record on this web site to let you all know to be aware!  I have watched this nightmare unfold before my eyes, and it has been devastating to watch!  I want JWJ to know that I am proud of all that she has achieved and that I want her to keep going until this Physician no longer has a license.  You know we will all back you - you know how much evidence we have all collected.  Don't let him hurt another person.  You always told me to stand up for what I thought was right.  Now it's your turn to stand up!  You did great IN SPITE of Wasco, not because of WASCO!  It is your obligation to get this word out.  I'm glad there is a forum like this that will enable people to research their physician prior to selecting he or she as their surgeon.  I only wish that JWJ and my family had done more research (more specifically about her surgeon) prior to her surgery. 

I am new to writing on this web site.  I have read it many times in the past few years.  I am not obese.  I am 5'4" and weigh 110 pounds.  I have never been overweight, so I cannot relate to the trauma that all of you have felt at one time or another.  All of you who have undergone WLS are to be applauded for making such a difficult decision.  I want to tell my story from the outside looking in.  I know WLS is not the easy way out of obesity.  In fact, it is the ultimate solution to the problem for many people.  However, I would like to give a family member's perspective.  JWJ is a close family member of mine.  Initially I knew she had WLS, but we didn't talk about it much.  We live 2000 miles apart from each other.  As 2006 rolled around I realized the problems she was having I became very concerned.  I had many discussions with both her and her husband about what appeared to be her ever declining health.  I was in Wis in August of 2006.  It was apparent how sick she was, however her weight loss was about 55 lbs since her lap band surgery in July 2004.  No one was thinking that was the problem.  In August 2006 the lap band was removed by emergency surgery.  I kept in constant contact as I knew JWJ was not getting any better.  Unknown to her at the time, her husband and I spoke everyday.  He kept telling me that she just keeps saying "I got myself into this - I'll get myself out of it".  In Nov of 2006 I flew to Milwaukee, WI  for JWJ's daughter's wedding.  I was astonished by how she had changed, but was told that the following Monday Dr Wasco was doing some sort of surgery and this was going to take care of everything.  JWJ was in so much pain and so nauseated, but did make it through the wedding.  After Nov 6th I again kept in constant contact with JWJ and I could tell that things were no better - in fact, they were worse.  By the second week in Dec JWJ's husband called me and said that I should probably come home sometime around the Christmas holiday; he said anything that was bad in early Nov was only worse now.  He proceeded to tell me how she could noy keep any food down; that she was always nauseated; that they have been in and out of ER a number of times due to dehydration and low potassium levels.  I asked the obvious question which was "Where is this Wasco during all this?".  It was explained to me that at her follow up with him on 11/17/2006 he said that everything appears to be going well since the surgery and that follow up was only as needed.  It was further explained that JWJ and Dr Wasco had spoken on the phone a few tines since then, but it didn't appear he was going to be investigating any further,  When I arrived in Wis in Dec 2006 I was absolutely astonished.  JWJ had definitely lost weight in previous weeks since I had seen her (about 30 pds).  She could not eat solid food.  She could not overcome this extremely nauseated feeling.  She had constant and rather severe abdominal pain.  She looked horrible - she was pale, her eyes were sunk in her head and her hair was thinning.  I told her to make an appt with this Wasco while I was here, but she could not get in.  JWJ and her husband assured me that he had been made aware of the situation.   Instead, we got an appt with her Gynecologist who JWJ had a lot of confidence in.  When he took one look at her he said he was referring her to a Specialty Hospital and he made an appt for her to go to Froedtert Hosp in Milwaukee.  I left Wis, but returned for her initial consult at Froedtert on 1/26/07.  The consultation was absolutely unbelievable - it was like the bariatric Dept and Wasco's records were actually written about two different people.  I was so angry by the time that I left that consultation I told JWJ that I was going to call Dr Wasco myself and ask some questions.  At that time JWJ signed a release giving both her husband and myself permission to discuss her case with me.  After leaving 18 messages, Dr Wasco called me back.  When he called we agreed it was late in the day for him and that we would have a 3 way conversation the next morning with me and we would have JWJ on the line also.  At that point I thought he must be a very compassionate professional *****ally wanted to know what our concerns were and then possibly shed some light on how he felt we should proceed.  After all, the opinions we had differed so greatly we didn't know what to do.  I was way off base on that estimation.  I now understand why he wanted to wait until the next day for a consultation with us - he knew he needed to get his story straightened out!  The following day we had a three way telephone conversation that lasted in excess of an hour and he never answered one question!  It was apparent to me immediately that  he was manipulative, he was arrogant and, although he knew his patient was in on the conversation, he talked about her in third person as if she wasn't there at all.  Anytime that JWJ or I tried to speak, he would say "please just let me finish this thought, then you can talk".  Unfortunately, it never became our time to talk.  On a few occasions I did get some questions,but he became extremely defensive and would only say "You know I'm not an evil person".  No one was accusing him of being an evil person, we were only wondering why things differed so drastically from one bar iatric surgeon to another. He then proceeded to tell us that he knew exactly what is wrong and that "he stands behind his work, and he will fix this".  He described in  great detail her diagnosis, although he never gave it a name.  He described in great detail the surgery he would need to do to correct it, although he never gave it a name.  After that phone conversation I called JWJ and told her to get rid of him - I told her he should be reported to the State Of Wisconsin,  She assured me that he was a good Dr and that he had a plan and that she had no reason to believe that he wouldn't follow through on his plan.  She told me that I  was over reacting and that she had confidence in him and she felt she could take care of things herself.  In other words, she was politely telling me to "stay out of it".  I did stay out of it for awhile, but her overall health just continued to decline.  In the meantime, Froedtert thought they had discovered a liver mass and scheduled surgery for 3/20/07.  I asked JWJ if Wasco knew about all this since Froedtert alleged that this was seen on films obtained from his office.  I either fax'd or sent Wasco a memo updating him without JWJ's knowledge because I felt Wasco should know and because I knew JWJ was just too sick to even care,  He did not reply to me, but I believe he spoke to JWJ about it.  When 3/20/07 rolled around surgery could not be done because JWJ's lab report was so poor that her surgery was postponed to another day.  Evidently something else had also shown up in a urine test, and Froedert elected to postpone it.  I once again made Wasco aware of this.  We discussed the whole Froedtert situation as he seemed "uncomfortable" that they had formed such a different opinion than he had.  He asked who JWJ was seeing there and I told him the name of the one physician I was most familiar with.  I went on to explain that although he is a terrific Dr., he speaks very little English, and I felt that this hampered communication some, but it was nothing we couldn't work through.  His next remark absolutely floored me and I will never ,ever forget it.  He said  "Well at least we speak English here".  I was so shocked that I don't think I replied.  When he realized that I was absolutely silenced by his remark he went on to say "well don't get me wrong - I'm not a raciest.  I'm married to a Mexican".  Now my opinion of him dropped even further following that remark, but I kept it to myself.  I was so troubled that a professional would talk like that.  As time went on things got worse.  The horror stories I could tell would never end.  Subsequently, some 15 months later (after Wasco did nothing and then finally medically abandoned JWJ stating her frustration level was too high with him?!?) she was diagnosed with the exact diagnosis that he described in January of 2007 and in Spring of this year underwent the exact surgery that he described in January 2007.  Coincidence or not?  I don't know.  She has also encountered countless other problems that have resulted in 3 additional surgeries that one physician has explained are the "result of months and months of malnutrition".  Wasco knew she couldn't eat - he knew she continued to lose weight.  He did nothing!!!  Now I have most recently read the posts about her meeting at Theda Clark (and I do know the results of that meeting).  I only wanted to go on the record on this web site to let you all know to be aware!  I have watched this nightmare unfold before my eyes, and it has been devastating to watch!  I want JWJ to know that I am proud of all that she has achieved and that I want her to keep going until this Physician no longer has a license.  You know we will all back you - you know how much evidence we have all collected.  Don't let him hurt another person.  You always told me to stand up for what I thought was right.  Now it's your turn to stand up!  You did great IN SPITE of Wasco, not because of WASCO!  It is your obligation to get this word out. 

I'm getting the VSG also. I'm going for a consult with Dr Chua in Milwakee on Monday. He has done the VSG before but mainly does the band and the RNY.  If you want to you can add me as your frien and I will let you know what happens on Monday. It will be late because my appointment is not until 5 pm. Skye

Have you had your appt with Dr. Chua yet. I have heard nothing but good things about him. I went to his WLS seminar a while ago. I was impressed. My cousin had a lap band placed by him four years ago. She is doing great and has lost a lot of weight. I was ready for the band also. I filled out my paperwork but needed a question answered. I was now considering the VSG. I called to speak to someone at his office. I was told to speak to his nurse Jan, so I left her a voice-mail. Unfortunately, I never received a call back. That was over two weeks ago. I was very worried and discouraged to say the least. I was hoping she didn't get back to me because she was on vacation or something, but to this day I haven't heard a thing. I have since moved on in search of someone else that can perform the VSG instead of the band. Have you checked out any other surgeons around here? I went to Bariatric Institute of Wisconsin's seminar recently. I have also met with Dr. Chaing. Do you guys know anything about them? They perform the Band, VSG, DS and RNY. I am not interested in the band any longer nor was I ever interested in the malabsorbtion procedures. Any thoughts on VSG surgeons would be appreciated.

I had a RNY with Dr. Chaing on July 9th (today is my 2 month surgiversary) and I think the world of the Bariatric Institute's staff, their support system and their network of nutritionists at Elmbrook.  I have lost over 60 pounds since June 18th (when I started my 3 week liquid diet because by BMI is over 60). 

Dr. Chaing treats his patients with a great deal of respect and I was immediately comfortable with him.  He doesn't treat people like traditional doctors do, isn't judgmental and the offices accommodate large people (larger chairs, Elmbrook has larger wheelchairs, etc).  One that hasn't gone thru the experience of being put in a wheelchair that you are afraid you will be stuck in would not appreciate that as much as I did.

One of the nurses at BIW had a RNY done herself 5 years ago and has lost 125 pounds.  They have 2 bariatric nurses on their staff and the staff at Elmbrook has bariatric nurses as well.  They run a first class program.

Without going too much into it, I have a friend that had a band done by Dr. Chua with not such good results.  You are wise to do your homework which I did as well.

Good luck in your journey.

Sylvia

Sylvia,

Thanks, I this helps a lot. I had a good feeling about Dr. Chaing, but needed confirmation. This is a decision that we must not take lightly. I am sometimes accused of researching the heck out of things before I make a decision. I just don't want any regrets. I have my nutrition appt at Elmbrook at the end of this month, so I am going forward. I have called the Bariatric Institutes office a few times with questions and they have always been very helpful. Maybe I will meet you at one of the support group meetings. Take care.