Ugh, I knew this was going to happen.

I spent the morning trying to find a local bariatric surgeon to meet with--they don't like to meet with other MD's patients for any reason. I was told "we don't have time to take care of other people's patients." Okay, what am I supposed to do then?

I was told to find a PCP, have a bunch of testing and get a referral. I don't need referrals with my insurance. I hate jumping through hoops and that is exactly what I am going to have to do. I just want to know if my gut is okay and if I am deficient in any vitamins. If a revision is recommended, then I will procede.

Grumble, grumble, brumble.

Thats really confusing to me. Did you not want to or cannot go back to your originalsurgeon? I didn't like the  person that took over  for my surgeon when he left the practice so I called one that was about 3 hours away and within 21 days of meeting him he did my revision.


Tell them you are looking for a new doctor to call home. I dont see what the big deal is with surgeons doing that.

that is actually the norm and very common.  most surgeons will not take on patient's who had surgery with another surgeon.  this becomes a problem when you are looking for a bariatric surgeon to take over your care since you traveled for your procedure (but a good pcp or endo is great here too) any dr can order blood work so you can see if you are deficient that way and if it is a question of bowel obstruction, you will diagnose that before anyone else.  you could also use a good GI dr for that, but I understnad why you want a bariatric surgeon to follow you, keep calling around to ask.  go onto the ASBMS and see which drs in the profile have listed follow, meaning they will follow patients who had surgery by other surgeons and take care of them.  first figure out what YOU want then find a surgeon, don't let a surgeon dictate if and what kind of surgery to get, and for heaven's sake seek out a surgeon who performs ALL wls not just some.  good luck in your travels....

I had surgery in 2002 and I did not travel. I have since moved, like 2 weeks ago, and I need someone to take over my care and possibly, see if I would even qualify for a revision.

I don't know why bariatric surgeons are so selective, people rarely have the same surgeons in their lifetime. My mom had many surgeons for many different surgeries, why is gastric bypass so special?

I'm seeing a new PCP next month, and hopefully she can guide me through the process of having my gut checked out. I'm convinced something isn't quite right.

Do a surgeon search here on OH.  You should be able to find one that lists revision as one of their specialties.  That's how I found my new surgeon, and I didn't have a problem making an appointment.  I had moved across the country two years ago, and put off finding a new doctor until now because I was worried I wouldn't find one that was willing to see me. 

I just read your profile, and I'm going to suggest you look into getting your RNY revised to a DS. There are not a lot of surgeons capable of doing this revision---it's the most technically challenging revision there is. However, you're reasonably close to two of the very BEST surgeons for doing this revision---Drs. Rabkin and Keshishian, both located in CA. You can get their contact info from this website:www.dsfacts.com.