Anyone had surgery at Froedtert with Dr. Wallace??

I am almost ready to schedule my surgery with Dr. Wallace, and am wondering how it went with others.  I also work at Froedtert, but no where near the inpatient side.  How is it as a patient?? Was Dr. Wallace the one to help after your surgery, or was it more of his support staff?? I know it is a teaching hospital, and he is a busy man. I would love anyone's input.  Thank you,

The waiting game! ugh! I still have 2 more months of doing my 6 months of supervised diet. So May and June. So my last visit with dietician is scheduled for June 9th after that it goes to the surgeon office they will call and set appt then I finally see the surgeon then it goes to the insurance company. Did you have all the testing done for the surgery like the blood work, gall bladder, upper and lower GI? Not sure if these are the ones but just guessing they might be. What are the test they require for surgery? Is it done after you are approved for surgery? I just bought some bariatric vitamins and protein supplements from Aurora Sinai medical center pharmacy. The handouts in the bariatric surgery program had them there with the prices. When I went to purchase them at the pharmacy most of them were much higher than the what i had on the sheet I took from the waiting room. I let the pharmacy know to let the program know the prices have changed. I was sticker shocked. I am doing my research online to find better prices and to find samples of different kinds for cheap or free ones. I want to experiement to see what ones I like. I also want to prepare my body for the surgery by using these products.
When I talk with the dietician this week she told me that it will be July or August. she is thinking more of late July or August. I can't see why so long when I am done with my 6 month stuff by June 9th. I was hoping at least by the end of June or early July. I have 2 graduations this year yep both of my kids graduating. One from 5th and other from 8th.
Wow I can remember when I was 28. I had my first child when I was 30 and my second when i was 33. I am now 44 going to be 45 this August.
I got a recumbent bike for Easter :) from my hubby. I been using one in physical t herapy and seems to agree with my knees. I love my recumbent bike. Now if I could get rid of the pain in my heels i have bad plantar faciitis. I am going to physical therapy to help increase my activity level. Today I was able to go up and down a flight of stairs without pain :)
I hope you hear something soon. I see you have Dr. James Wallace? Where is he located at? Do you like him? I have chosen Dr. Thomas Chua. I hope to have it at Aurora Sinai medical center. I am having the rny. Is this Dr. james Wallace related to a Dr Brian Wallace? The reason I am asking as my husband has a Brian Wallace for his family doctor at St Lukes family practice. He has had him for several years. If you could find out for me that would be great :) I just saw the name and was the same name as my husband Doctor but different first name. Did you have to go to a 2 hour seminar first? What about the 6 months medical supervised diet? The psychologist?
Keep in touch and let me know when your surgery is scheduled.
take care! 

My surgery will be done at Froedtert, and we have the whole set of requirements to go through too.  They will check all your bloodwork to make sure you are not having any underlying issues that would compromise your surgery, and they ultrasound your abdomen to make sure that your anatomy is normal, and that there is nothing there that would complicate the surgery.  As far as the vitamins go, at Froedtert, they just want us to take chewable vitamins and calcium chews.  And those aren't that bad to buy. 
Good luck with the bike.  Sounds like you have a great support system to help you through this.  And even though the waiting sucks, it was good for me.  It made me go back and forth as to why I should have the surgery, what I was afraid of, I discussed things with many family members, and it was a very good reflective time.  I did have to wait an additional month because of my initial psych eval.  I do have a long history of depression and anxiety, so my first visit with the psychologists did not go well, and I had to come back a month later after I worked on what I needed to work on.  Again, this was helpful.  But, as my nurse practitioner told me, the psych eval is one of the most important steps.  They will not let you have the surgery if there is any reason to suspect you may not be successful because of your pyschological state.  I will let you know when I get scheduled!

Good luck ladies. Time will move quickly now.Before you know it you'll be in the O.R. You'll be happy you did it. Just stay on track and follow your doctors plan.
Keep us posted on your progress.

Here's to new beginings!!

Shari
Oak Creek, WI  

Hi,
Dr. Wallace did my surgery Feb '08.  He has a superb reputation as a surgeon.  Sometimes he can seem a bit gruff, but he takes his business seriously.  To be honest, I have not had a reason to see him re: my surgery since he performed it.  All followup has been with the nurse practioner.  BUT, I really haven't had any issues that would warrant needing to see him. 

Know your "big book".  You will attend a teaching class just before your surgery.  That is invaluable.  I had surgery on a Thursday and went home on Saturday.   

Let me know if you have any specific questions.  I'd be more than happy to share my input.

-Dawn

Yeah-
Dr. Wallace is an interesting man.  He came in and told me that he does not think that I am truly a type 1 diabetic(and I have been since I was 3 years old), but, he is a surgeon and not a medicine doctor.  I asked him, "so you just do the slicing and dicing??"  He said yep!
I do know a lot about the surgery and everything in that book, so that is good.  I am a nurse at Froedtert, so I kinda know the whole deal.  I am actually thinking of attending a nursing seminar on bariatric surgery, so I can understand the nursing and medical side of the surgery too.  That's at the end of the month.  
One specific question, once you were able to schedule your appointment, how quickly after did you have the surgery??  The people in the clinic there are great, I just hate to keep bugging them. 
And, how was your experience as an inpatient there??  Do they have space to let your husband stay with you?  Thanks for all the info!

Great - so you are pretty familiar with the hospital :)  I'd take advantage of that seminar in a heartbeat if I was in your shoes.  What an awesome opportunity.

Anyway, I saw him in October and could have gone in Jan but decided on Feb myself.  I'm MCW so I didn't have any insurance hoops to jump.  My husband could have stayed, but he had to go take care of the dogs.  The nurses on days and evenings were great.  My biggest issue was getting breakfast delivered on Saturday.  Major hiccup with food service. Oh yeah, and those compression units on the legs...  I felt bad having to call for someone to unhook me when it was time for the IV fluids to come out!   

I had major GI sensitivity to the morphine so I couldn't move without feeling like I was going to get sick which delayed me walking or even standing/sitting.  Going for the leak test the next morning was hell,   Fortunately I figured it out by 4:00 a.m. that it was the morphine and I refused it.  It finally made it out of my system.  But I guess that tells you that the pain was NOT that bad, as I stopped taking the morphine well before they would have d/c'd it. 

So if he doesn't think you have type I diabetes, what would be his alternative dx?  Just curious :)

His theory was very very very very early onset type 2 diabetes.  What is more likely is that my type 1 developed into a more complicated diabetes once I hit puberty, and has been haywire ever since.  Were you inpatient while they were switching over to the new food menu-I heard there were a lot of major problems with that.  And luckily, I know how all the equipment works, so I will do as much of it myself or with the help of my husband!   I agree, I hate having to call for help with every little thing.  How long was it before you could shower???  I just know I never feel well until I get to shower!!!

Well, still waiting. I talked to the insurance company again, and they hope to have it all approved by next wendesday.  It feels like so long away. And this is just so I can schedule my surgery.  Then I have to actually wait until I can have it.  Its been in the works so long that It will feel surreal when the time actually comes.  And I still have so  much work to do.  
I saw a neurologist yesterday for my severe daily headaches, and again, the cure is mostly  all about lifestyle changes.  Plus, the great kicker is that the medicine I was taking for my headaches is actually now contributing and making it worse.  So I have to stop that medicine, and start anti-epileptic meds.  The lovely news is that my headaches will get worse before they getter.  All while I am trying to get this surgery done!  But, hopefully, the surgery will help with headaches too. If I could just get it done..................

I had surgery by dr. Wallace a year ago in January. A friend of mine is married to a Dr. and when she needed surgery, he sent her to Dr. Wallace because he said no one knows thier way around a stomach better than him!!

I saw him a few times in the hospital, but have only seen the PA since then, which is fine. I think he is an awesome surgeon--I had very little post-op pain and have had no complications.

I did not have a great experience in the hospital, but I heard they were under-staffed when I was there. It wasn't horrible, just not good.

My life is so much better, and I believe the surgery saved my life.

Good luck to you. It was a good thing for me; I hope it will be for you, too.