Any opinons on Dr Jeffrey Hunter/Fed way or with Virginia Mason

any one had any dealings with Dr Jeffery Hunter or with Virgina Mason?

He will be my surgeon, and I had found him to be very kind, knowlegable, and his staff is great... I have seen Kat Redmond (physician's assit)  and Robin Beeson (nut), in my process to get approved for surgery.  I would also look at the comments that other OH members have said about him. I have worked at Virginia Mason for over 20 years... and have been hospitalized 2 times and both times had a good experience at VMH. Helen

I have not met with anyone yet, I am still figuring out what it will cost me out of pocket and what I will need to do. Do you know what his proceedure is. If you don't mind can you walk me thru what he has asked you to do before surgery? for example I asked one doc what his proceedure is and his is 1) initial appt, get a info packet and forms to fill out.   2) 2 weeks later meet with surgen  3) 4-6 weeks later is pre-op visit  meet dr again and  with Nut, inbetween get a psch eval, and approval of insurance. 5) surgery  Now I am on Medicare and this doc ask me to bring $250 to meet the surgeon and $400 on pre-op visit. It might be because I am on Medicare i don't know.  can you tell me your doc's proceedures? or requirements prior to surgery?

I have no dealings with the dr, but I just finished my stay with Virginia Mason and I can't say enough good things about them! Their bariatric unit is great (other than some of the furnishings being non-bariatric sized like chairs and bathrooms) but the staff is very well educated and know what a wls patient needs. They are working on getting their menus updated, so be sure to double check the liquid items you get in case you need sugar free...

Dr. Hunter was my surgeon and I thought he was terrific.  At my pre-op appointment with him, he was very knowledgeable, didn't seem rushed or anything - like he had all the time in the world for me (unlike most regular doctor appointments) and answered any question I asked, even the ones I thought he might think were silly.   At 5 months post-op, I was hospitalized for three days for dehydration and he stopped by several times to check on me and see how I felt (he had two doctors from his team running tests on me).  I saw him again a week later for a follow-up to that and was feeling much better.  He re-emphasized the need for lots of fluids, especially since I tend to get dehyrated very easily (always have even when drinking 8-10 32 oz. bottles of water prior to surgery). As the previous poster said, the facilities aren't built for larger people.  I did have an incident where a nurse gave me my sustained-release blood pressure medication pill crushed in applesauce which caused a bad reaction - SR meds are meant to be released slowly over time, but in RNY patients, we can't have them because they release the dosage all at once.  My sister and husband were both there and knew this so they questioned the nurse before she gave it to me, so she said she'd check on it and left then came back and said the doctor said it was okay.  I got really dizzy and lightheaded and  "fell asleep" all of a sudden in the chair so my sister ran out and got a nurse.  They monitored my blood pressure which had gone dangerously low and gave me something in my IV and I woke up a little while later.  When the doctor (she assisted Dr. Hunter with the surgery) came to check on me the next morning, my sister relayed this episode and she said no one had called her at all and she left the room.  She came back in and said that there were no notes about the medication being given, so she'd talked to the nurse who monitored me and gave me the IV meds and confirmed what my sister said.  The doctor said she was going to take it up with the nurse's supervisor.  Never saw that other nurse again, so not sure what happened.   And on day 2, my doctor cleared me for discharge at about 1:30 PM, and we kept asking when I could leave, but the nurses said they couldn't find it in my chart that I had been discharged.  Finally at 4:30 PM we asked them to call the doctor and find out what was up.  They said they finally found the note on the chart and I could leave soon, but I still didn't get processed and get out of there until 9:00 PM!!!  And then my sister's car was locked in the parking garage because it was after hours and she had valet parked her car and the valets were all gone.  So security came and helped her get her car out so we could go home - we had a 1-1/2 hour trip home so I was wiped out by the time we got home finally.  Should have made them keep me another night by that time of night! Other than those two incidences, the other nurses were very friendly and were great.  The pain shots came whenever I needed them and I slept a lot after surgery and that night.  The next day I had a couple pain shots, but was ready to leave pretty early on.

I asked this earlier but I THINK i was suppose to ask you  Post Date: 7/9/08 8:23 pm
I have not met with anyone yet, I am still figuring out what it will cost me out of pocket and what I will need to do. Do you know what his proceedure is. If you don't mind can you walk me thru what he has asked you to do before surgery? for example I asked one doc what his proceedure is and his is 1) initial appt, get a info packet and forms to fill out.   2) 2 weeks later meet with surgen  3) 4-6 weeks later is pre-op visit  meet dr again and  with Nut, inbetween get a psch eval, and approval of insurance. 5) surgery  Now I am on Medicare and this doc ask me to bring $250 to meet the surgeon and $400 on pre-op visit. It might be because I am on Medicare i don't know.  can you tell me your doc's proceedures? or requirements prior to surgery?

Yes it was.  Dr. Hunter does his surgeries at VM Hospital in Seattle.

Have you spoken with the coordinator at Seattle Virginia Mason? (just remembered, she also works at Federal Way)   Her name is Lana Lee.  She would have all the answers and  she'll point you to the right direction and if you are tight on money, she'll send you to the financial counselor and hopefully  after looking at your case, your fees on Nutritional consult, psych consult, and even valet parking  may be waived.  Cross your fingers and hope things will work out for you.