Future revisions and Dr. Greenbaum

I spoke directly to Dr. Greenbaum about the buzz on the boards regarding him not doing any more revisions. He told me that it would be ok for me to put this out here for everyone so that's what I am doing.

Dr. Greenbaum said that he currently has a large waiting list and backlog of revision patients. He feels that lately all he has been doing are revisions (last week he did three) and because there are so few surgeons who do revisions he has people who fly in from all over for him to revise them to DS. He said that he doesn't want to get into a rut and do nothing but revisons, and he doesn't want to be known as the "go to" guy to fix the problems caused by others. If you are currently scheduled for a revision or are already in his pipeline for a revision then you will be seen.  For now he is just looking to clean up his backlog and that is why he is currently turning away new revision patients. 

Thank you. Good to know.

Ack Ok... I was just approved for my revision within the last few days so I'm waiting for a call back now with a surgery date Thanks for the info!

My insurance denied my revision with Dr.Greenbaum. I feel they dont help enough as  trying to get the surgery approved. Then Tina said she would talk to Dr. Greenbaum  about the ERNY, he said the insurance would not approve it. I called my insurance company and 2 representatives I spoke with said I need to do a 6 month diet., Tina says no.I am waiting on my letter from the insurance company.

They tend to know what they're doing. If you have evidence of mechanical failure, you can bypass the 6 month diet requirement. I did.

There is no mechanical failure. What is considered a mechanical failure?

Mechanical failure happens when something goes wrong with the original surgery. I had a ring around my stoma that caused constant vomiting and esophageal erosion. I was approved because esophageal erosion, when untreated, can lead to cancer.  Other examples would be: staple line disruption, band slippage, etc.

Did he happen to say anything about "Virgin DS" patients?   I called today, after being recommended on this board, and was told to call back after January and they might be accepting patients.

I did not ask specifically about virgin DSers or any other type of WLS surgeries, just talked about revisions. It could be that right now he just has so many patients that it is possible he isn't accepting more right now. When you called, did you tell them that you were interested in WLS or specifically DS?