1st consult w/ Dr. Roslin. Apologizing ahead of time post is long.

 Ok just made it home. I guess I shouldn't complain some people have to travel cross country. Well got there 30 mins early and he was running behind so I was playing on new phone so after sitting there for about an hour the administrative assistant comes in and says umm do you know you need a referral and I say no I don't. She said yes you do from your PCP bc you have an HMO. I say I do not need a referral. She said well I suggest you call your PCP up and get one. I said so does that mean he is not going to see me today bc I drove 2 hrs to get here. She said ohhh well we might have to charge you out of pocket. So I call PCP who thankfully was still open and she said you do not need a referral. I said that is what I said. So I give phone to assistant and they are going back and forth. So assistant says well I am busy I don't have time for this and hands me the phone. So I tell PCP's nurse could you just please do a referral just in case. So shes like ok it won't be today bc he is an out of state doctor so shes taking all info down and she says I need NPI number. So I ask assistant anfd shes like all you need is UPIN and not NPI. So she refuses to give me number I am like wtf do I really want to do this. So I call my insurance company and say do I need a referral and she says no your plan does not require referrals. I said but she is telling me bc I have an HMO my plan requires one. So the rep from insurance says first off all HMO plans are not the same and you have one of the best ones that is pretty much just like a POS Plan except you if you go out of network so just to make sure I had her look up Dr. Roslin to make sure he was in network even though I checked 50 times before. She confirms it and I wait another 45 mins to see him.

I get weighed in and height is measured. He is like why are you here and I say I am interested in DS revision. He says ohh so you must of have surgery before. I am like what was the point of requesting all my records if you didn't even glance at them. I know you are busy but seriously. So he scans it over and is like DS is one of the most complicated surgeries and add to the fact that you had bypass and you had a specialized type of bypass. I don't know where he read this but he said it was in op report. He said I am going to tell you on a level of difficulty and complications from one to 10, it would be an 11.5. He said there are many risks involved and people try to downplay those risks but i like to be upfront. So I completely understood this. So he said did you feel your bypass was successful? Rhetorical question. You only lost 100 on it but you probably don't see it as a success or you wouldn't be here. So this is when I start tearing up. I can't help it lately anything makes me cry. I said this is not something I want to do but healthwise I have to do it. I said actually my first surgery was not something I wanted to do. I do not believe these surgeries are quick fixes. He said no I didn't mean to imply you did. He said I understand where you are coming from. You are 30 and you have some significant health problems. I said I know. He said this surgery can take anywhere from 4 to 12 hrs depending on the complexity level so you really need to ask yourself is this what you want. He said there are only 2 doctors that do this type of surgery: him and another women. He said you are at great risks for leaks and you may be on disability for 3-5 months but you need to decide if that is risk you want to take. So then he asks if I was married so I said no I am single. He asks who is most important person in my life and I said my Mom. So he said next appt I want you to bring her to appt bc I don't want anyone calling me asking me what I did to you if you have complications. So I am thinking omg I am grown and my mom is against me having revision surgery so now I really going to have to speak to her about this again. I know ultimately its my decision and I will explain to her why I am taking this route but I just didn't want people knowing until I had a date and whatnot. Selfish of me you might say but people who have never been overweight and had to go to these means don't understand and could never understand what it is like to not want to look at yourself in the mirror, wear sweat pants just so you don't have to feel how tight your clothes are, etc... So I will see how that goes w/ Mom. 


So he said I needed an upper gi endoscopy which I have an appt w/ Dr. Lee next tuesday (thanks sexyVT for having me think ahead). I need to call them tomorrow to see if it is just the consult or the procedure itself bc my appt is at 5:00 P.M. and I do not think I can fast for entire day. I need to see cardiologist. He doesn't think there is a problem but just for precaution sake and I need to have a CT scan of abd/pelvis done. Once those are scheduled and I get the authorization to have CT scan done I can call back and make an appt for f/u and we will go from there.

I am not going to lie. I am now asking myself if I am doing the right thing but I know in my heart and head I am bc seriously I can't continue to live this way. 

Sounds like you had a rough day!
    I'm sorry the consult was so tough and emotionally draining, but glad Dr. Roslin was honest about the risks, and about being sure of what you are getting yourself into.
    And I can really appreciate the dread you now feel about confiding in a less than supportive mother. But I do feel it may help all around to have her meet Dr. Roslina and hear about the surgery and what you can hope for from him and not just from you. So in the long run this may turn out to be a positive step.
     Best wishes as you continue through the pre-op process.

Larra

 Larra,

Rough wouldn't even describe it. After my long post I looked around on OH for a bit and next thing I knew I just woke up on couch. 

I knew many have said Dr. Roslin's approach was to be honest, direct, and candid so I was expecting that and I really appreciated he told me the risks and didn't try to sugarcoat it. Does it change my opinion of the surgery: no. I continue to research and I feel that this one is the best for me and in a perfect world, it would have been the first one I would have chosen if I knew about it in 2004 but alas it is not and I am now beginning this new journey and hoping it turned out better than the last one.

Yeah I don't think my Mom is necessarily against the surgery. I will have to sit down and discuss it with her. I just think she is scared for me of the pain and whatnot. I mean I am 30 now and I was out of work due to being sick a couple of weeks ago and my parents either called or came over everyday. They are just overprotective and always have been and then I think add into it the pain they saw me in after the first surgery and it freaks them out. But I will try to explain to my Mom the reasons for the wanting of the revision. She knows I have some health problems but not the full extent of what strain my body is under and yeah no one really knows that bc I pretend my weight doesn't bother me and if you asked anyone looking in they would tell you no Toya has no problem with her weight. She is so confident, doesn't care what people think, blah blah blah but thats bc that is what I want you to see but it is so far from what is really happening it is quite scary. So I will try and have that talk with her in small spurts. I was able to call and get my CT Scan scheduled. I love that the hospital has scheduling staff it seems like 24/7. So I will call cardiologist tomorrow who happens to be in same office of GI. I will see when they can fit me in. Lol Dr. Roslin's nurse was like how did you know to call the exact GI. You are so smart. I was thinking I called the ones affliated with the hospital and Dr. Lee was the first one who could see me and not schedule my appt out until late Nov-Dec.

Thanks so much for the well wishes. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment on my post and offer encouragment and advice, it is greatly appreciated. 

WOW....sounds like it could have been a better experience.

My experience with Dr. Keshishian was very different....I, too, was looking for a RNY to DS revision. I had several phone conversations with him and had all my pre-op stuff faxed to his office. My revision took 2 hours and included removing my gallbladder and appendix.

Good luck on your journey.

 Lol Gail,


Yeah it could have been but hey we can't help how others act. I am glad your experience was different and mine is not necessarily the norm. From this board I have heard great things about Dr. K. 

I don't think he was trying to scare me but he did make me look at it more realistically. I dont have a specialized pouch and I did look on op report and it just lists procedure as  gastric bypass with 150 cm Roux Limb so maybe I am missing something. I will read it more indepth later on.

But thanks for the well wishes, will defintely keep the board updated. 

Sorry you had such a rough day...
I would definetly give some serious thought to what he says. Sounds like gut reallness to me. I would definetly take heed. I think its better to be prepared for possible outcomes, than not prepared at all. The insurance situation is a mess,dont you hate those little snags?

 LOL just snags are what can throw a whole day off especially when someone is telling you something that you know is not true but alas everything in life is not easy. So I was tested and kept my calm and usually I would not.

Yeah realness is what he showed me and realness is what I had to think about on the 2hr trip home and all last night. 

I thought and thought and rethought this 50 million times. So I went ahead and made all my appts and I am just waiting for those and then I can make a follow up and I will see where this takes me. 

My first consult was similar. I think this how he weeds out the the weak ones and to see at what limits are you willing to push and how ready are you.I felt like a show pony jumping through hoops so different of a process from rny consult for me at least Good luck to you............................................Kenya

 Hey Kenya,

Glad to see you posting. I hope you are feeling better.

I agree with you its like only the strong survive so he is definetely seeing who can handle the pre op requirements. He is assessing how serious you are about wanting this. My RNY was a piece of cake lol but my Mom always taught me to go after whatever I want and I am so stubborn once I have a plan in my head nothing can sway me which got me a lot of whoopings growing up but lol if it wasn't for that I wouldn't be who I am today. So all my appts are made. My appt with GI is for consult only then we will discuss when the upper GI and endoscopy will be done after tuesday. CT scan is next week and cardio is week after. At this point, I might as well buy a second home in Mt Kisco. LOL

Well I hope you are doing better. And thank you for your kind words. 

Toya, Sorry you had a hard day yesterday.  Doc Roslin was the same way with me as well except he asked me if I had any children and close family and yada yada yada.  He wanted me to be sure of the risks involved with the revision.  I am 3 1/2 weeks out and so far I am glad I made the decision.  Also you should get a CT scan with and without contrast of your abdomen so he can see how the last surgeon did your pouch (I had that done).

It will be fine just make sure you make the right decision for yourself.

Good luck with your journey.

Frankie