Newton-Wellesley? - *Update in OP*

Thank you to everyone! I went to the surgical orientation at UMass (where I work - administration, not nursing!) and at Baystate (where my husband works) next week.  I was going to go to the one at NWH last week but wasn't able to due to two sick kids.  I was planning on going through the Behavioral weight loss program at UMass and was then sidelined by a serious knee injury - and an arthritis diagnosis in that knee.  I see my ortho on Wednesday and I get to tell him that not only does my left knee still hurt like the dickens, but my right knee is starting to throb right along with it. I have Harvard Pilgrim, which I hear tends to be more reasonable than some, but I worry about what to expect.  My PCP is very nice, but each time we've talked about weight loss, it's always been "well try this diet or try that diet".  Gee, you think I HAVEN'T tried it?

Good luck! I had my surgery there with Dr. Gazmuri and the whole process was so quick! I went to my Four hour consult (it was actually closer to 7 hours!!- so be prepared, bring a book lol) in Mid March and had surgery on May 22nd.  Super fast.

great update! what surgeon will you be seeing for your 4 hour?

Kelly - it's Gazmuri.  :)

I also have Harvard Pilgrim...They were actually really great about everything. My consultation with Dr. Gazmuri was January 10, 2007 - I had my approval letter three weeks later.  My surgery was March 29th!! time frames I cannot complain about..

he's very nice - I saw him in the hospital after surgery

I have Dr. Gazmuri too and my process went through smooth. 1st meeting  10/07 4 hour appt   11/18 2nd Dr. Appt (green book!) 01/16 Booked for surgery 07/07/08 (my own choice)

Dr Gazmuri is super.

Hi. I had my surgery done at Newton-Wellesley and I had a phenomenal experience with the staff and the process itself. I attended my first meeting in late August, scheduled my consultation for the first week of October, and got a surgery date for the first week of January. My surgeon was Dr. Santa-Ana but all of the doctors were involved in my case, and in fact, all of them visited me in the hospital twice a day during the recovery. Anyway, the timeline was pretty reasonable, in my experience. At the consultation, everything was explained thoroughly. I was asked to lose 15 lbs before the surgery  and was given a lot of useful information from the nutritionist about how to accomplish this goal. I was nervous over the holidays because if you gain weight, they will postpone the surgery, and believe me, it was tough to be disciplined over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, but knowing that my surgery was on the line was a powerful motivator. Anyway, they have two sets of meetings each month: the 0-6 Month Post-Surgery Group (also for pre-surgery patients), and the Community Support Group (for patients 1 year or more out). They require you to attend one of each of these meetings although I decided to attend two of each. It was pretty informative hearing people share their different experiences, and it really helped me prepare myself mentally over the three months. By the time the surgery date arrived, I knew what to expect, and had a store of tips and tricks to get through the pureed food stage, as well as how to organize my vitamins, etc. I highly recommend Newton-Wellesley Hospital. I could not have had a better experience!