NEED LOTS OF PRAYERS !!

 I am at North Hills Hospital and I am NOT comfortable at all with the surgeon that they have appointed to me.   He is a Surgical Oncology Surgeon but when I told him I had a gastric bypass.....he kept asking which one and have a funny look come on his face.   I did call Dr. Kim ( my bariatric surgeon ) and he wants me at Forest Park in Dallas.....the only thing is....that is not a covered hospital.     The doc here at N, Hills also wants to open me up instead of doing it laproscopic.    Please pray with me that they will cover the Forest Park.   Thanks everyone and I love you guys and there is NOTHING you can do about it,


Hugs and blessings ~~~ Vivian

Ohhhhh Noooo! I hate it when a doctor gets that dumb founded look. I'm calling you up in Prayer right now! God Bless and keep us informed.

HI VIV !    WOW    I haven't been back online since last night.....slept and then worked -  came home and slept somemore and then went to the store.........

he kept asking which one and have a funny look come on his face  PROBABLY CUZ HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO TREAT YOU WITH THIS SURGERY !!     DUH !!!   The dang dummy !! 


HAng in there girl.............we luv you and are praying for you...

Call for the patient advocate. Tell them you are not at all comfortable with your surgeon that he does not know what a gastric bypass is and he scares you! Stick to your guns till you get another surgeon! Do not let that guy operate on you! Can't Dr Kim see yo there or can he help you get another surgeon there if your insurance doees not cover his hospital?? Love and continued prayers!
Meggie

Forest Park Medical is the hospital that Dr. Barker is credited for starting, per what I was told when I was there in February. He and some other doctors started this hospital as a speciality hospital. One piece of information to know is that if you go thru the ER and they admit you thru the ER that the hospital will work with your insurance company and what is not covered they will eat the cost and bill you a small percentage. Of a 52,000 bill for my ER visit and then being admitted I owe $852 of that. I am not sure if that helps you. But, prayers are with you! I absolutely LOVED the staff and care I received at FPM!

From a surgical point of view, you won't find a more skilled surgeon IMO. Surgical oncologists are trained for cutting out tiny itty bitty bits of cancer from people (usually around the size of a centimeter). From a surgical POV, you're in very capable hands. Just because every surgeon doesn't understand WLS doesn't make them in incompetent surgeon.

Hope you get better soon! If you're willing to pay extra $$ out of pocket for someone who "knows" WLS, than transfer. But I think for what you're having done - you're gonna be a-ok with the surgical oncologist.

Jenny

Aw Man....I'm away from this box for the weekend and you go getting some excitement started! I don't know what to tell you about the hospital situation other than the advice about the ER is right, at least it is with my insurance.

I have a good diving buddy who is a surgeon in Austin. He's told me one of the biggest reasons he became a surgeon was because he's just not a people person and try hard as he might he just has a horrid bedside manner. As a surgeon he usually has minimum contact with patients. It may be the same with this oncologist they called in. I know you want to like the surgeon but I think it's more important that he's a good one. Just my 2¢.

I'll be keeping you in my prayers and swinging livestock to boot! Please check in ASAP and let us know how you are.

VIV-Be honest-are you uncomfortable mostly because he's NOT Dr Kim? That's understandable. Could you stand the thought of getting into a car and traveling across the county to another hospital and paying the $$ in the insurance rate difference to HAVE Dr Kim? Then go for it.

But mostly-breathe-stop-think-and don't make eveything just a major drama before you think it through and put it in perspective-it will just make your pain so much worse. Trust me. Anxiety breeds pain. And don't go stealing my byline of loving people, etc-it took me years to come up with that..lol

Praying-and KNOWING God will have everything will turn out the way it is SUPPOSED to, because HE is  in contol

Just got on the computer and saw your message -- I vote for sticking to your guns until you find a Doc that understands that you have had GB.  If you need to get in touch with a Patient Advocate, then do so!  You shouldn't have to change hospitals just to find a Doc that understands YOUR body!!! 

Let us know how you're doing!  Don't let the pain and fear of this Doc cloud your judgement! Just because you are in the hospital doesn't take away your voice about your own care!!!

Hugs, Mari

I just got online and, I am sorry that you are having problems Viv.  Let me ease your mind just a little.  There ARE more than one "types" of RYB.  There is a proximal and a distal RYB.  The difference is the length of intestine.  When you have a surgeon that hasn't cut on you, he may want to know which you had. 
I also agree with Jen R.  Oncologists are wonderful surgeons.  Even if he isn't familiar with RYG... he is going to be very skilled at surgery.  You may not be aware of this, but RYG is not just done for weight loss.  I learned that doing research.  There are other medical conditions that patients have the procedure for.  It has been a while since I did the research, so don't quote me on this one, but I believe that is how they discovered that patients lose weight with RYB.
With that being said, if you are not comfortable with your surgeon, like mentioned, ask for a patient advocate.  Take a deep breath.  You do have a say on who cuts you open. 
I am saying a prayer for you right now.  I hope that you get better soon.  Please keep us posted.

-Kim T