Frustation-Waiting to hear about initial appt

This is my first post, although I have been reading for a while and found your posts to be really helpful. Through it I was able to come to the decision to have the Lap Band and sent in my initial form to a Boston hospital. Although I know of two people who applied to this same hospital and heard back within a day or two for their first appts, I have yet to hear from anything. It has been almost 3 1/2 weeks. I called at 2 wks to make sure they had rec'd my fax, and they had. They gave me the name of the person who would call me "to set up an appt." My question to you all, is this normal? I can see being called and having an appt set aways in the distance, but to be ignored after making such a big decision.... just seems so wrong to me. I am thinking I might want to trust my reaction (rejection) and go elsewhere rather than question them directly and have them work with me and consider me a problem patient. In other areas of my life I can be quite assertive, but I have had such rejection due to my weight over the past few years I may be getting too sensitive. Give it to me straight folks. - Julie

I'll bet that hospital is MGH...they're infamous for that and I frankly don't understand it. Bariatrics is a gold mine for hospitals and they should treat their prospective patients better than that. I submitted an application to MGH the week before the 4th of July...I called them to follow up 3x and was constantly told that it was being reviewed and "don't call us, we'll call you". Guess what? I NEVER heard from them. That's why I went to Tufts-NEMC who is pretty prompt about getting you in. Not to put down the other hospitals, but I really wouldn't go anywhere other than NEMC - the doctors truly care, the care is excellent and they even have an exercise physiologist on staff (which most programs don't). Their website is: http://www.obesityconsult.org If you want to fill out an application, you can do it here: http://www.obesityconsult.org/html/apply.htm By the way, I had surgery at NEMC on 10/31 and still have NEVER heard from MGH! Their loss...

Hi Julie If you are not happy with a hospital or doctor's service of any kind I would reccommend you looking into another program. I know programs are very busy but they should be able to accomidate you. I decided to have RNY and I called the surgeon's office and I had my consultation appoinment within 3 weeks. I had no paper work to fill out before hand. When I went for my consult they had me fill it out at the surgeon's office. My surgery date took a long time due to my insurance companies policy it had nothing to do with the program. I also called the office almost everyday for two weeks when I knew that they sent in my paper work. The office did not seem to be annoyed by this at all. I went to Dr. Randall at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Medford. I know he is now doing the lap band as well as the RNYs. Good Luck in your decision to stay with your program or start looking else where. It can be a very long process.

Hi Julie, I am going to Brigham and Womens...I checked them out on the internet then I called and registered for the Information Meeting (they have one every month)...You listen to them, then you can ask all the questions you want. The next day, I called and scheduled an appointment with the surgeon. My consult was on Nov 3rd and I had to follow up with my PCP, a visit with the dietitian, psych consult, echo cardiogram and upper GI.. All which the surgeons nurse scheduled for me (except for the visit with my pcp). I live on the South Shore, so she scheduled 3 appts in one day which was a lot nicer than traveling into Boston 3 times...The Dietitian told me that after surgery I can go to the support meetings at Cape Cod Hospital which is about the same distance, but with out the traffic...I am just waiting for the insurance approval and a surgery date....My experience with BWH has been great so far..My surgeon and her staff have been nothing but supportive.. Don't give up!!

Hi Julie, it doesn't sound right to me. I left a message with the NWH program and they were quick in returning my call and very helpful in aswering questions. The consult date was scheduled a couple of months out. Attending an info session is needed before the consult date. Some folks had luck getting their consult date pretty fast with the cancelation list. I also called the Brigham and they were very abrupt and would not even talk to me about scheduling a consult until after I went to their info session. I was looking in to the Brigham because my PCP is affiliated with them. After the experience with the attempt to set an appointment, I was really turned off and decided to stick with NWH. I have heard all good things from people here who had their surgery there plus there are practical reasons for me to go to NWH. (closer to home etc) Good luck but go with your gut...if you are turned off early on, you have to wonder what it will be like dealing with the hospital you mentioned after surgery. I am curious if you are up to sharing which hospital it is. ~Cher

Hi Julie, It is true about NW not doing the lap band. Aside from my initial experience with the Brigham, they might be worthwhile for the lap band. My PCP had suggested Dr. Ashley Vernon when I talked to her about wls. The whole reason I had even looked in to Brigham is that I trust my PCP. When I researched Dr. Vernon, I learned that she had performed a live surgery for the company that makes the lap band. Check it out (and good luck) http://www.or-live.com/BrighamandWomens/1372/