Dr. Melvin at Vanderbilt?
I was beginning to think I was the only person in Tennessee who was having this surgery done at Vanderbilt! I agree, everyone there is wonderful! I don't have a date yet...I am on month 5 of my doctor supervised diet. I've been turned down once by my insurance company but it was only because of the 6-month thing.
Hi,
I don't know Dr. Melvin but I am having surgery with Dr. Richards who is part of the Vanderbilt bariartic unit. I must say though that all of them have the same standards. Vanderbilt is the best of the best and their staff is very thorough, you won't even get to meet Dr. Melvin until you are like 2 weeks away from having surgery. Their staff gets everything prepared from the consult to the getting you approved all before you see Dr. Melvin. They have a very booked schedule because they are that good. People from all over the region choose Vandy to have this done. They go by what your insurance needs but they have a criteria of their own... You must go to their nutritional classes. They are only $250 and that is for 6 classes, any additional classes needed after the six is at no charge. You will go to 2-3 classes before surgery and 3 classes after surgery. Believe me these classes are wonderful because they give you booklets that tell you what you can eat and a breakdown of your diet schedule after surgery. They don't want people just guessing what they can eat after surgery. I studied hospitals with a Bariatric unit for 7 years and for the longest time I used to wish that Vandy had a bariatric unit. Of all the hosptials and their programs that I studied they have been very impressive. There has been patients from other hospitals such as Centennial who have attended Vandy support groups and have recieved diet charts that obviously weren't given to them at their hospital. Many hospitals just want you to attend a seminar, get a psy eval as required by insurance and then they go by strictly what insurance wants. If insurance approves you, your are given a date without any kind of preparation or guidance. Vandy just isn't like that.
It sounds like you are very devoted to Vandy. That is wonderful. However, this forum represents a wide variety of surgeons, facilities, and procedures. Equally, each individual will defend their choices of surgeon, facility, and procedure... I received mine at Centennial with Dr. Hugh Houston and if someone were to ask me, he is THE BEST. Of course I am partial. But to say all other programs pale in comparison, I just will not do that. I chose my surgeon because after doing my own research, I believed him to be the best choice for me, and the one I was meant to have...
Hi Melinda R,
Yes I speak very highly of Vanderbilt because news of this hospital has traveled all the way to New York and people fly here constantly to be worked on at the teaching hospital. With them being a teaching hospital they can't afford to have incompetence. They have to have the best. Just like the guy said in the next post, I too have experience something that went wrong and Vandy is what kept them alive. My father 10 yrs ago was given a surgery that they did wrong and that he didn't even need and it darn near killed him giving him a 30 percent chance of living. From this day fourth, my father will only allow physicians who are affliated wtih Vandy do do anything to him. He will not trust another hosptial. And I personally had seen other specialist and until I went to Vandy I had no idea of the things that they should have tried and checked for. At Vandy all of my doctors are the top physicians of their programs and most of them are professors as well.
And, like I said I studied programs for the last seven years and I remember when there wasn't really anything around but Centennial's bariatric program. There was a doctor at Vandy who did gastric bypass but he was a liver doctor who did it every now and then and would only do it to people with a BMI of 50 or more and he only did the Open procedure. So at the time Centennial was the main hospital in metro Middle TN with an actual program. Dr. John Husted was there at the time and not only did I attend one but I attended 2 seminars at different years. I've attended seminars as far as memphis and knoxville and I have to say that I was really impressed when I attended Vandy's seminar, they gave us folders and I left feeling refreshed and as if I had just picked my surgeon. Dr. Richards is the top surgeon of the Bariatic unit and I have darn good insurance that is right next to the federal governments and I wasn't going to just give any doctors this money if I felt in anyway they would treat me like a patient number. I would have traveled to Cali if that's where I felt the best doctor was. This is an elective surgery that is permanant so I was very picky over who would change my life and get 50k for doing so. Any doctor who is trained can do RNY and do it well and everyone is going to lose weight when things are done the right way.
The lady who posted this just wanted to know if I knew anything about Dr. Melvin and how people insisted that she stays with Vandy. So as a person who has dealt with the bariatric unit at Vandy, I can say that compared to some hospitals not just Centennial as I have studied programs and hosptials as far as Detroit, she has a good shot here. They are also a center of excellence in their program which one of the good benefits means that they are allowed to take medicare patients to perform this surgery. I don't know how many hospitals you looked into before getting yours done but I have known hospitals who only went by just what the insurance wanted and I've seen people in surgery like a month after filing, and a week after getting approved, that is too soon and thats crazy. No diet classes, no telling them if they are going to lave laproscopic surgery to go on a liquid diet a week before surgery, and even no calcium citrate for gastric bypass people. Just " See you for surgery in a week". So all in all, its just a preference. At first I was frustrated because like all of their other departments they are sooo thorough but after I got a call from another clinic and they wanted only one visit with me and then if i'm approved i'd come in for surgery. I said " No thanks, I think I've got something good going on here."
Um, excuse me but, as gastric bypass patients, we MUST take calcium citrate not calcium carbonate. We don't produce enough of the stomach acid required to make use of calcium carbonate.
I don't know of any of the programs in Nashville that do not have excellent pre and post surgery care including nutritional counseling. I know that Baptist and Centennial both have a full-time nutritionist as part of the bariatric clinic team and those of us using these programs can verify that we have full access to them anytime we need them. We also have regular support group meetings through our surgery clinics with continued nutritional support as well as other topics.
Also, Baptist and Centennial are also Centers for Excellence.
I chose to not use Vanderbilt BECAUSE they are a teaching hospital. I have been a patient in a teaching hospital before and I did not want a repeat of the stream of medical students coming in to perform exams on me while I was recovering from my surgery. I realize they have to learn on someone. I just wasn't willing to be the one again.
I have talked with several people who have had WLS at Vanderbilt and the majority of them will tell you that while they were pretty satisfied with their surgeon, the nursing care in the hospital left a lot to be desired. While every hospital may have some less than stellar nurses, I've seen more complaints about Vandy nurses than any other hospital in Nashville.
That's my .02.
First of all lets be real.... This is a "to each its own" kind of thing. This originator of this post wanted to know specifically about Vanderbilt and Dr. Melvin. You could not answer her question obviously and I having experience with his facility gave her my input and then you who has never had any experience with this facility, you who was at a completely different hospital starts stomping away at how people shouldn't compare hospitals and how your doctor is the best. No one said your doctor wasn't. And furthermore for you to critize me for giving someone advice on what i've experience at a facility that you can't relate to is absurd.
No one at Centennial ever told me to take calcium citrate, and when a place doesn't mention certain things then it is those things the I turn my nose up at. And for the last time I said that Centennial wasn't the only hospital, there was another on in Detroit in fact that was like this. And yes, I was going to study bariatric programs because you've got doctors out here that take a weekend class of this and then next thing you know they are calling themselves bariatric surgeons. Before taking a break from College I was in the medical field so I always do my homework. And for the record since you are big on comparision did you know that although Vandy's bariatric program is not as old as Centennial's they outranked Centiennial when it came to success rates of the surgery.
I like my teaching hospital because they have a code of formality and procedure. The way its written is the way that every patient is done. They don't hire some doctor and let him set up his own hospital and do patients anyway he/she chooses like regular hospitals. So in saying all of this. I was only trying to answer this lady's question, and in my opinion not only is Dr. Richards the BEST but Vanderbilt itself it and anyone who is able to see these guys its a blessing because they make sure that they get you everything set up for surgery and that you will have a good success rate afterward. Furthermore they have a darn good insurance team to make sure that there is little reason why one would get denied. And how often does Centennial have support groups? We have them every friday and every third Tuesday of the month with the exception of July. Like I said there have been people from other hosptials to attend it, and there was recently a lady from Centennial who had the surgery done and asked my dietician for a diet guidline because her hospital never given her one and here she was a month post-op not knowing hardly what to eat.
I believe that everyone has taken thier own time in chosing thier surgeon and hospital, I know it took me five years to make my decision and I feel that my surgeon and hospital was the best choice for me. I have all of my doctors at Vandy, but I told my PCP that Vandy is not where I wanted to have this surgery and he respected my decision. Vandy is a hospital that is well known, however both Baptist and Centennial are well known around the country as well. About a month prior to my surgery I watched a Discovery Health program that was nationally broadcasted about a patient's story that was having this surgery and she had it performed at Baptist. What I am saying is that just because a hospital is a teaching hospital, does not mean it is the best and all the others are out. It is a persons personal preference and that should be respected. This site has never seemed to bash any programs and I hate to think that it is about to start. I know that I have had a lot of nutritional guidence, it is more on a one on one personalized program at no cost to me. I have never had to wait when I have ever needed anything in relation to my surgery before or after and I do not anticipate this level of care ever changing.
I do have one thing to say in relation to your comment about this surgery being an "elective surgery" I do believe that this surgery is not elective, it is a surgery that is medically necessary and that is why insurance companys pay for the surgery now. Yes, I understand that it is a surgery that you have a choice on weather you choose to have the surgery or not, but it is, in my opinion a surgery that is just as important of a decision to have as a heart surgery. You have a choice as to have that as well and this surgery saved my life in more than one way. Also, yes you will lose weight after having this surgery, however you must make a lifelong change or you will be right back to where you were if you do not make these changes. Therefore, everyone will not lose weight, yes initally, but not long-term if they do not change their habits. This surgery is a "Tool" and just that, not a quick fix or an easy way to losing weight. The program that I am involved in makes sure that their patients know that and that is why support groups are very important and the hospital programs as well as this forum is a wonderful group of support for me. I hope that you can respect the fact that we all do love our surgeons and our individual programs. I respect your decision, however I do not like the fact that you have put down other programs, based on partical facts.
Shelia
OMG...You have really turned this into a lousy defensive arguement. What part of my posts haven't you read? What is this? Dr. Spaw day..Do you even know where he got his training or what his scores were like or how many complaints may have been filed. I doubt you even looked at his licensure info that is online. I think its a coincidence that two people who have this doctor seems to pick this forum and talk about how great their hospital is.... IF she had wanted to know about Dr. Spaw or Centennial she would have asked that instead and I wouldn't have poked my nose in something I don't know just like you are. Just because your little hospital did you justice doesn't mean that they are the best. In a past post I did write that any surgeon who is properly trained can do RNY and a patient can have a great job and great results done on them and given the fact that some people can only see certain doctors who are in their plans network everyone doesn't have the choice to pick Vandy or Centennial . So how the heck is that putting other programs down just because I was able to tell this woman how much of a great experience i've had. If I had a bad experience then perhaps I would have recommended her elsewhere.
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