X-Post...Another Fatality..Newbies PLEASE Research Your Surgeon

I've been in contact with a classmate of mine from 30 years ago. I connected with him on FaceBook. I saw a post that his wife was having Weight Loss Surgery so I tried to follow his posts about her surgery and recovery. It does not have a happy ending. I'm just putting this out there to reinforce the fact that research really needs to be done when choosing a surgeon. Here's a tid bit of what was explained to me about her death.

These are his words not mine....

XXXXX had weight loss surgery on August 19th and came thru pretty well and went home on august 25th.. she developed an infection which probably occurred in the hospital and was readmitted to the hospital on august 28th. on sept 8th doctor took her into surgery to clean out her wound and put a new drain in because it was not draining well enough and was over whelming the would vac.. the surgery seemed to go well enough according to the surgeon but xxxxx had trouble in recovery and her blood stopped clotting. She fought the great fight but her body just gave out on her.. Her surgeon is Dr.Hoddinott in Ocala, no recommendations against him but if I was having that type of surgery I would not do it in Ocala since they are lying about truly being a center of bariartic excellence. Their rooms are not handicap accessinble and many of their nurses and staff are not sensitive to the needs of the overably obese person ...

Wow! That's too bad! I've never heard of this surgeon. But, your insurance companies can tell you what hospitals are Centers for Excellence for future reference! As a matter of fact, those are the hospitals they will require you to go to if you have insurance!

For those who are pre-op and reading this, research is a must. However, because there was a death and it's possibly RNY related, as unfortunate as it is, don't forget there are always other factors we don't know about. Just do your research and listen to your head and ONLY YOUR HEAD!!

Peace!

Just a note here.  Not all insurance carriers require one to go to a COE.  One can go to the Surgical Review Corporation's web site and search for hospitals and physicians who have the COE.  http://www.surgicalreview.org/locate.aspx

The American College of Surgeons also have a certification program.  This certification is equivalent to the COE (may even be a little more stringent).   http://www.acsbscn.org/Public/index.aspx

Red

I am truely sorry to hear about your friends wife.  You are so right about researching your surgeon.  I had my surgery done in Ocala by Dr. Jawad.  His office is a Center of Excellence.  Dr. Jawad is one of the top Bariatric Surgeons and as is his Center of Excellence.  I did alot of research before I chose Dr. Jawad, I wish your friend had done the same.