Do Revisions Really Happen In ILLINOIS!! (long, sorry)
Hello Everyone,
I have been trying to get a revision for a while and now I am truly disgusted. I had gastric bypass done in 2000 at the Bariatric Treatment Center, At the time I lived in Chicago so follow up was difficult to non-existent at best. The hours for nutrition were from 8-4:00 with no help in the city and no Saturday hours; so much for follow up. They did not use sutures when they closed my incision, they use the small strip adhesives so it began to open. This required a visit to them after 6 weeks and one more time was scheduled if it had not closed. On my last visit for this, I was down 30 pounds.
This is about the time I noticed that the weight had stopped coming off and, I telephone them. I saw the doctor about four weeks after my last visit for the womb opening and he insisted that I had to be doing something wrong, and told me to follow the guidelines a little bit closer. At that time, they told you to eat five or six small meals a day, not to drink anything with your food, and not to drink through a straw.
When I still didn’t see weight loss I called them again, this was in late 2000 and again I was told it had to be something I did. In July 2003, I actually got an appointment with the doctor who spent less than 7 minutes with me, insisted that there was nothing wrong with his procedure, noted that i had only lost 42 pounds and said there was nothing he could do, it had to be my fault because the surgery works! After this appointment, the doctor would refuse to take my calls. He was always in surgery or in with a patient and I was told, would call me back..
The story goes on, I went to another doctor who said, he could do the revision for me, because I had a sliding hiatal hernia, but it would cost me $15,0000, which he assured me would be much less than the $25,000 he should charge because he was going to perform this as if it were a new surgery. He was sure I had a lot of scar tissue, so $15,000 was small in comparison to what it should cost me. This doctor is very well known and assured me that BCBS of Illinois would definitely not pay for my revision. The idea appeared to be excellent, but I just didn’t have an extra $15,000 in cash lying around. (I just lost my home!).
Anyway, I now have a fatty liver, osteoarthritis of the T7-Vertebra, the knees and upper chest. All documented by a third Phase Bone Scan, my C-Reactive Protein (for the heart) and Alkaline Phosphate (liver & bone) is off the charts, I have a sliding hiatal hernia, and to top it off have developed late stage asthma.
Does anybody beside me think this SHOULD warrant a revision? Any suggestions from anybody would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to die, but it appears this is where everything is headed. I am 5'2" tall and I am currently at 219 lbs. I was 235 when the surgery was done. I know to some it may not seem like a lot of weight, but try carrying this around and not being able to breathe too!
Wanting to live!
I have been trying to get a revision for a while and now I am truly disgusted. I had gastric bypass done in 2000 at the Bariatric Treatment Center, At the time I lived in Chicago so follow up was difficult to non-existent at best. The hours for nutrition were from 8-4:00 with no help in the city and no Saturday hours; so much for follow up. They did not use sutures when they closed my incision, they use the small strip adhesives so it began to open. This required a visit to them after 6 weeks and one more time was scheduled if it had not closed. On my last visit for this, I was down 30 pounds.
This is about the time I noticed that the weight had stopped coming off and, I telephone them. I saw the doctor about four weeks after my last visit for the womb opening and he insisted that I had to be doing something wrong, and told me to follow the guidelines a little bit closer. At that time, they told you to eat five or six small meals a day, not to drink anything with your food, and not to drink through a straw.
When I still didn’t see weight loss I called them again, this was in late 2000 and again I was told it had to be something I did. In July 2003, I actually got an appointment with the doctor who spent less than 7 minutes with me, insisted that there was nothing wrong with his procedure, noted that i had only lost 42 pounds and said there was nothing he could do, it had to be my fault because the surgery works! After this appointment, the doctor would refuse to take my calls. He was always in surgery or in with a patient and I was told, would call me back..
The story goes on, I went to another doctor who said, he could do the revision for me, because I had a sliding hiatal hernia, but it would cost me $15,0000, which he assured me would be much less than the $25,000 he should charge because he was going to perform this as if it were a new surgery. He was sure I had a lot of scar tissue, so $15,000 was small in comparison to what it should cost me. This doctor is very well known and assured me that BCBS of Illinois would definitely not pay for my revision. The idea appeared to be excellent, but I just didn’t have an extra $15,000 in cash lying around. (I just lost my home!).
Anyway, I now have a fatty liver, osteoarthritis of the T7-Vertebra, the knees and upper chest. All documented by a third Phase Bone Scan, my C-Reactive Protein (for the heart) and Alkaline Phosphate (liver & bone) is off the charts, I have a sliding hiatal hernia, and to top it off have developed late stage asthma.
Does anybody beside me think this SHOULD warrant a revision? Any suggestions from anybody would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to die, but it appears this is where everything is headed. I am 5'2" tall and I am currently at 219 lbs. I was 235 when the surgery was done. I know to some it may not seem like a lot of weight, but try carrying this around and not being able to breathe too!
Wanting to live!
Margiev
You need to contact Kelley or Walter Lindstrom at www.obesitylaw.com immediately!!! I also have BCBS of IL and you can have a revision and it is possible for the insurance to pick up the cost. Kelley and Walter are attorneys that work with nothing but bariatric surgical insurance issues. They are working on my request for revision as we speak and BCBS of IL is know to be one of THE most difficult insurance providers and deny everything.
Call them. Maybe they can give you some advice or maybe they will even take your case.
Best wishes!
Call them. Maybe they can give you some advice or maybe they will even take your case.
Best wishes!
Nancy 
Hi
I just read your story today and wanted to write to you. About two years ago I had bypass surgery that turned out to be the bigist disapointment of my life. I was told I would lose at least 190 to 240 pounds. Will I don't need to tell you "joke Joke" . I lost about 70 pounds and within one year started putting it back on. None of the things I was told about the surgery happened. My surgeon was a joke. One month after surgery she left the hospital without a word. I went for my 4 week check up and was told she was gone, with no explanation. The next three appointments were rescheduled five times. I never saw the doctor again. I continue to struggle with this on my own. I was told I would not be able to eat certain foods and the one I ate would be in very small amounts or I would be very sick. I was told I was to eat three meals a day. Nothing else. I have never heard of this before. All the information I got when I was researching the surgery was that you would eat five to six small meals a day. I have never been sick with any thing I have ate. I never fell full or for that mater over full.
I am looking into haveing a revision, but at this I have not been able to find a doctor in Illinois that is doing revisions. I an so discouraged and disapointed that I fell I sould just give it up. I was so looking forword to living a normal life and enjoying doing things with my family.
I just read your story today and wanted to write to you. About two years ago I had bypass surgery that turned out to be the bigist disapointment of my life. I was told I would lose at least 190 to 240 pounds. Will I don't need to tell you "joke Joke" . I lost about 70 pounds and within one year started putting it back on. None of the things I was told about the surgery happened. My surgeon was a joke. One month after surgery she left the hospital without a word. I went for my 4 week check up and was told she was gone, with no explanation. The next three appointments were rescheduled five times. I never saw the doctor again. I continue to struggle with this on my own. I was told I would not be able to eat certain foods and the one I ate would be in very small amounts or I would be very sick. I was told I was to eat three meals a day. Nothing else. I have never heard of this before. All the information I got when I was researching the surgery was that you would eat five to six small meals a day. I have never been sick with any thing I have ate. I never fell full or for that mater over full.
I am looking into haveing a revision, but at this I have not been able to find a doctor in Illinois that is doing revisions. I an so discouraged and disapointed that I fell I sould just give it up. I was so looking forword to living a normal life and enjoying doing things with my family.
you can get a revision. ds will be the best thing to do in my opinion only from the research ive done. there is a surgeon in skokie that does them and he takes bcbs il check him out. he's out of network though because he does surgeries all over the place. but i believe he will write it up so you can get approve. i had the gastric bypass done in 2000 in maywood il. sorry to hear you didnt lose what you should have and i dont believe it was something you done. it had to have been the surgery procedure itself as to why you didnt lose because the weight come off without any effort. you couldnt have eaten too much and your stomach suppose to be the size of a egg. i would trust that surgeon to do a revision on me if it failed with the original procedure. also i know a lawyer that can probably get your home back if you havent moved out. my friend got hers back and had moved out and everything(WOW)
Thank you so much for your response. Regarding the doctor in Skokie, please send me a private message about him. It seems like everything has gone crazy. the latest, I just got an x-ray report back from a hospital reported a few slight problems. The one that really caught me was when they stated my gallbladder was fine, I found that very humerous, considering my gallbladder was removed in 2000, when I had the original surgery done.
I have just about had it! Things are extremely funny or tearfully sad depending on what day it is! But I will keep my head up and keep trying. As for the house, it is gone. They actually put a lock on the door in November.
Thanks again
I have just about had it! Things are extremely funny or tearfully sad depending on what day it is! But I will keep my head up and keep trying. As for the house, it is gone. They actually put a lock on the door in November.
Thanks again
Margiev
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