Dr. Bodner

Well I had my first appointment today. The Doc. was nice and he explained everything to me. They will be mailing me a packet with my date for all my tests. They will all be on the same day. Everyone working there was very nice to me and showed a great deal of respect. The one thing I did not like was that he told me he would have to do an open procedure on me. He told me because I was too big to do it the lap.way. I was extremely dissapointed. He said even if I went to Boston they would do it open there as well. He said they draw the line after 289lbs.

I'm sorry about the 'open' part of the procedure. I think that's a poor way to go about it - 'drawing the line' after 289 pounds. At Lahey Clinic, Dr. Shah has performed laproscopic RNY on patients over 350#. I myself was 308# when I was on the table. He prepares us for the fact that he may very well have to convert to an open procedure, if there are complications or if he feels it's going to put the patient at risk, but he does not have a weight limit. In Dr. Shah's mind, a lap procedure is generally going to promote better, faster post op recovery. Personally, I was up and around the next morning, at home after 36 hours, and back to work in two weeks! To me, this weight limit is indicative of this doctor's inexperience with minimally invasive surgeries. It's probably best if you don't act as a guinea pig for him. However, if a laproscopic procedure is high on your wish list (it was at the top of mine) you might want to investigate another surgeon or hospital that *does* have more experience. Best of luck, Lisa

Dr. B has just begun to do Lap.. Im glad that he wont just jump in and do a surgery he's not comfortable with.

Dr. Bodner is JUST starting to do Lap procedures. He's skilled at open... he should just do what he's comfortable with, kwim???

Hi Jason, Dr. B is a great surgeon, and is good at WLS. As mentioned he is new at Lap. Best of luck to you. MaryLyn 5/21/03 -128 RNY-Open Morton Hospital support group meets every 4th Tuesday of the month in the cafeteria annex at 6 p.m.

Jason, It sounds like everything is moving along just awesome. I am sorry that you have to have an open instead of a Lap. But at least Dr. Bodner is telling you that he is more comfortable doing open than lap, where you as a result could end up with some serious complications. I respect that in a physician/surgeon. If I didn't have major issues with Morton Hospital, I would consider Dr. Bodner myself. I have to find another surgeon, I think. But that is a whole nuther issue....LOL. Good Luck Jason and please keep us updated on your appointments. Erin

Jason, At Beth Israel in Boston (where I am having my Lap done) ALL the surgeons "draw the line" at 350lbs for the Lap procedure. They have intro to WLS meetings with the surgeons on the first Thursday of every month. Try and go to the May one. You can also call and see if you can get an appt. before then too. Good luck!! I am having mine done with Dr. Schenider, the number there is 617-667-2845.

That is not true Jason - my surgeon is Dr. Hess out of Quincy Medical and he does the surgeries along with Dr. Forse of Boston Medical, and MOST of their surgeries are Laproscopic, no matter what your weight it. The only time they do open is if there are other things being taken care of such as hernias, panni removal, etc. It all depends on your surgeon. But our doctirs tell us even the open is not as "open" as it used to be - the "open" incision is much smaller than before, and they still use all the same instruments as they use in the laproscopic version - so do not worry my friend LIZ F. West Quincy, MA. PRE-OP