Anybody had surgery or in the process of at Mt.Carmel in Columbus?

Hi :) Has anyone had their surgery at Mt. Carmel hospital in Columbus, OH?  Or is anyone in the process of getting surgery at Mt. Carmel?  My surgery is not scheduled yet but I have 2 more nutrition classes/meetings and then i'm done with all my pre-surgery tasks and should be able to schedule my surgery.  My surgeon is Dr. Patricia Choban.  I have medicaid (molina) and have had a terrible time with them.  If anyone is in the same boat I would so love to talk to you!!  This has been really stressful and it would be so nice to talk to someone going through the same things as I am.  Thanks alot!

Hi & Welcome to OH,

I'm sure you'll get several answers on this thread but be sure to also check out your Dr's OH page (with patient reviews)

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bariatric+surgeon+p rofile+Patricia+Choban+dq.html

You might want to Private Message his past patients most are very willing to share their experience.

Best wishes in your journey,
~Michelle
OH Member Services

HI, I too am one of Dr Chobin's pre surg patients. I have had the priviledge of having Dr Chobin on my Breast Cancer case (2006-2008) I like her very much as does my husband who is my main supporter on this journey. I have Medigold ins and Charlene, the advocate, said it is one of the easier ins to deal with. I have had my PCP letter of med necessity, my cardiac release, my psyc eval, my meeting w/nutritionist is next week and the meeting for my pulmonary function test is sched (his office took the longest to sched) I have read everything I can get my hands on and talked with many in my same boat. I have a BMI of 65, sleep apnea,hypertension,copd,DJD,pre diabetes,and my breast cancer has a higher chance of reoccurance due to the estrogen my obesity tissues create (even tho I am post menopausal). I know all the risks of surgery and that this is my one big chance to help turn my health problems around. I can learn a new way to eat if it means I have a better chance of living a longer life free of a lot of meds and being able to be active again. I am the volunteer director of 2 food pantries and run a large Christmas project for 800 kids +. I am a lay speaker in my church and live a full life...however, I am in constant pain and want to live to see my grandbabies grow up! Who did your psyc eval? Would like to stay in touch.......

Hello! It's so nice to hear from someone that has the same surgeon!  Thanks alot for responding.  I am 32, I weigh 260 and have my meeting with the nutritionist this coming week and then the group nutrition meeting 2 weeks after that.  So we are kind of right along the same track.  I can't remember what his name is but the doc that did my psych eval. was at the OSU integrated medicine building.  Were you ever told when we can schedule our surgery date?  I hope we don't have to wait until after the class.  I have been doing this whole thing since December of last year...so almost a year...just crazy how long the process is taking!  Good luck and Hope to talk to you soon :)

My meeting with the nutritionist is this Tues Nov 18 at 2:30 and my group meeting is scheduled for 6 - 8 on Dec 11. I have to see the pulmonologist on Dec 18 for the lung function test. I had a sleep apnea done 4 yrs ago by same group and it showed sleep apnea and I tried the c-pap machine for a year but couldn't stand using it due to extreme claustrophobia. I sure hope they don't want to do another test because I think that would be a waste of resources. I think they should wait till 6 mo after the surgery and rerun then if they want to. Dr Chobin said to discuss with the lung spec and see how they felt. According to Charlene, once she has all requested evaluations, she then takes us to a week to get an answer from the ins co for the go ahead. (But I realize there are holidays involved and the office will be closed part of the time.)Then she will call to schedule the final pre surgery meeting with Dr Chobin which she tries to schedule within 2 wks and at that meeting a surgery date is scheduled and the last pre surgery testing done at the hospital (labs and chest x ray) I figure that if the lung eval goes ok and I don't know why it wouldn't, I won't be looking at surgery til mid January or so. Why has it been such a long route for you? I'm sure you are very antsy having waited for a year to get this far along.....Patty

I had my surgery with Dr. Choban on May 28th this year.  She is great.  I started the year at 270 pounds and today I am at 214.  I also had the lap band.  Please pm me with any questions.  I can tell you that I started the process in February of this year and banded within 4 months.  It was a very smooth process for me.  I guess I was lucky.  Good luck in your journey.  It is very rewarding!! 

I had Dr Choban & Dr Price. Both good surgeons. If you are going with Dr Choban, I would have the open RNY..Dr Price I would go lap RNY.

I had surgery June 30th and July 4th  - so far I have 50lbs. The first 8 weeks were hell. After that the days have gotten alot easier! I had complications. If you want to know more send me note.

Good Luck.

cobolblue--  I'm so sorry to hear you had complications.  Thanks so much for responding for I'm just on here to find out as much as I can before I do this life altering thing. 

My quick story: I'm 32 and 260+ lbs.  I am scheduled to go to my meeting with the nutritionist tomorrow actually and then I have the group meeting a couple weeks after that.  Then I assume I can schedule my surgery date?  I'm not exactly sure when they finally schedul the surgery...  do you know?  It's been a long road for me when it comes to all the insurance stuff.  I started the whole process 11 months ago and am scared to death it will never even happen. 

I was wondering why you said --"If you are going with Dr Choban, I would have the open RNY..Dr Price I would go lap RNY."    I was planning on the lap RNY with Dr. Choban.

Thanks alot! and  would love to hear back from you and maybe your story?  Any info would be great :)
~B~