REPOST: I Need Help!! **long post/rant** Seattle surgeons anyone?

Please, I need as much help as I can get..I'm re-posting this from the main board, and i've posted this on my two main sites where I know I'll get much support from everyone.. I'm so disappointed. Friday was the worst day I can remember in over a year. I went to see my surgeon with high hopes, and everything went wrong. First, he told me that I needed to get down to about 300 before he could even THINK of sending in paperwork to approve me and get operating time. He said that even if I do lose the extra 60 pounds or so, there's no guarantee that he'll still do it..it's a BIG MAYBE at this point, and it's not positive in the least. He LIED to me...I asked him at my last visit if my weight would be an issue or if I had to lose a certain amount, and he said no. He told me he had placing at 2 hospitals and he'd be able to operate without trouble. I asked him why he said that to me before, why did he get my hopes up and tell me this was the appointment where we would get things started? He said he just wanted to see if my other specialists were right...if I really can't lose weight on my own because of insulin resistance and pcos..he wanted to see how motivated I really was before telling me. WHY DID HE WASTE 6 MONTHS OF MY TIME?! i'm so angry, and upset. Not only that, but he was so COLD and RUDE and INSENSITIVE to me...He was saying he was sorry and that his "hands were tied" with the coldest glare, the kind you get from people who look at you like you're a piece of **** wasting their time. To make things worse, as I was walking out of his office, my knee collapsed under me right by his secretary's desk. I couldn't move for 10 minutes, I landed on my bad knee right on, and now I have a HUGE bruise from halfway up my calf to the top of my knee. He saw me fall, and my sisters and mom came to help me...he idled along with that stupid look on his face..my mom told him,"see? this is why she needs this so bad, she can't even walk properly" he just smiled at her and said "i know" and turned around and walked off. I understand him not being able to show emotion in certain situations, but he was SUCH AN A**HOLE ...completely different from the first 3 appointments I had with him. He's too smug and ****y...saying "surgery is nothing, just a bit of cutting and sewing and you're done, if I had the tools I'd do it for you right now.. no big deal, it's easy.." How is it NOTHING?! it's major surgery, and it's MY LIFE in YOUR hands. Now I know what he's like, and I can't wait for him or these stupid Canadian hospital politics. I need to find someone new now, and I definitely can't depend on the Canadian system anymore because they have all these rules and restrictions...my surgery is elective, not considered a necessity so it doesn't matter how it's affecting me, i can wait according to them. There is only ONE other surgeon I could see here that is safe, and his waiting list for the first consult alone is 2 YEARS..and then another 2 years until surgery, at least. My pcp said to forget about the canadian system..he wants me to find a surgeon in Seattle...I don't know where to start!? --This is where I need your help-- If you know of any good surgeons in the Seattle area, please let me know. I have already looked on the ASBS and in the surgeon search here, but any advice on others would help. I refuse to give up, I NEED this surgery, it's my only chance. I'm tired of crying and being disappointed here, I can't rely on anybody and I have to do the dirty work on my own and find a good surgeon. It will probably have to be self-pay, and my family is going to help me, but I can't believe things have taken such a nasty turn. We have so many expenses, my dad is so burnt out...I don't know how we're going to manage but my parents and sisters said they would, they'd do anything to help me through this. Friday was horrible, but I think I'm all cried out for now and I just want to pick up and get things moving again. Just writing this made me feel a little better. If you made it this far, thank you..I'm sure you all know how nice and comforting it is to have a place to turn to for support, and I really appreciate it. Love, Aleya

Hi Aleya, I would recommend a consult with Dr. Ki Oh in Federal Way. He does pretty much every kind of weight loss surgery there is. If you are self pay, there won't be the hastle with getting his office staff to get you approved. He is an INCREDIBLE surgeon. I know he handles many high risk patients, and does fix a lot of other surgeons booboos. Sooooooooooo I would highly recommend him. I had surgery October 7, 2004 and am below goal at this point. I have had ZERO complications. He is very good at what he does. Definitely check into him. Federal Way is only about 35 minutes from Seattle. So if you are coming that far, you might as well come the rest of the way Hope this helps, Laura

Hi ..You could give Dr Moonka at Virgina Mason a call he was the one who I had do my WLS ..He was more than up front about how things usually go and how things can sometimes go bad ..He was honest about telling me he had only lost one patient doing WLS and that was from a heart attack..So now he does make you jump through the hops if you have heart problems.My WLS has went so well that I have yet to find anything I cannot eat or drink..I have lost 92 lbs since 2-17-2005 and I would have lost more if I could do more than walk for exercise . Now I'm looking at maybe having to have my shoulder worked on before I can work out my whole body..I also want to say the nurses that took care of me for the three days I stayed in Virgina Mason where the best anyone could ask for...I hope no matter who you find to do your WLS that everything goes well and that you can enjoy life again Jerry

Aleya, I'm so sorry this happened to you, I would have cried my eyes out and I would have gone and beat him up with a baseball bat!! J/K but seriously, what a smug asshole!! My suggestion is going to see Dr. Simonowitz here at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue. Its like 2-3 hours away from the BC border. I really like dr. S. and will be having my sugery with him this upcoming Tuesday. Here is his information: Surgical Specialists at Overlake 1135 116th Ave. NE #550 Bellevue, WA 98004 Phone: 425-688-1916 Fax: 425-688-1901 Hours: M-Fri: 9:30-5 Give him a call and see what he can do for you. If you are self paid, I dont think you will have any problems getting in and getting a date for surgery. FYI ... my surgery which is open RNY will be about $15,000. Please let me know if you need any other info and take care. Dont give up hope, this will happen for you!! Marlize

Forgot to mention, read some of his reviews from other patients here on OH, and you will see why I chose him. He was also referred by a co-workers mother who raved about him!! M.

A friend of mine had Simonowitz also. He told her to eat whatever she wanted up to midnight before the surgery, meaning no pre-surgery diet. She only had about a 3 week wait after being approved, too. If I didn't have Group Health, I would have gone to him. Happy Clam

He that is what he told me as well, eat your heart out up until midnight before surgery, because you will never eat like that again!! I will have more input after the surgery! M.

I would suggest Dr. Oh if you are looking to do an RNY distal. There are not any other surgeons in the Seattle area that I know of that do anything but a proximal, and at 360 you're on the edge of really needing that distal to be able to get to goal weight - at least based on statistics and EWL and all of that. I might suggest if you have not considered it that you look into the BPD-DS surgery. It has the best long term results for EWL in the SSMO category (super super morbidly obese) which is where I started out with a BMI of 71.2. There aren't any surgeons in Seattle that I could recommend but there are some in the states like Rabkin in San Francisco, Dr. Crookes at USC as well as back east that I recommend. I went to Dr. Baltasar in Spain, if you go out of the states it's a lot less expensive. I also know of folks that have gone to Dr. Marchesini in Brazil (one gal in Washington is there right now) and paid under $11,000 US. There is also a Dr. Ungsen in Mexico that I've heard of folks going to. My personal favorite, of course, is Dr. Baltasar - he is one of the top 3 in the world for this surgery. The cost was around $18,000 US for everything including airfare and hotel and a trip to the Meditarranean beaches for recovery. Not bad, eh? If you are interested in finding out more about the DS, check out www.duodenalswitch.com. It really does have excellent quality of life for the long term and there are no worries about pouch ulcers, staple line disruptions, dumping, and the like. One can eat a bit more with it and still lose great amounts of weight. It's a fabulous thing. Yes, I'm a bit gassy if I eat simple carbs and have had a bit of diarrhea but it's sure worth it. Good luck to you! Jill DS 3/10/05 Dr. Baltasar, Spain revised from adjustable gastric band (lap band) 440/435/347/140 hw/sw/cw/gw -93 pounds in 4 months 1 week.

If you are going to be self pay then I would look into Dr. Ki Oh in Federal Way. My insurance does not cover the surgery so I am also self pay with my surgery on August 11th. But with Dr. Oh for some of the Appointments and bloodwork and other procedures required for the surgery he bills the insurance company under something different then having them done for gastric bypass, it has saved me a couple thousand dollars. For me I am having the open distal and the cost is $28,499. which when I looked around it was very comparable to other surgeons in Washington State. I think he does the band for about $15,000, but not to sure on that. Phone to Dr. Oh - 253-275-6030 and also check out his website at www.ohtobethin.com I hope this helps a little and sry for your doctor being such a butt. Good luck Teri

I am soooo sorry that you have had this set back. I can recommend Dr James K Weber. He was my sisters surgeon and he is who will do my surgery. He does medial and proximal RNY. He will not do Lap because he says the risks are higher because there is less room to work. He has me on a 30 day totally fat free diet to reduce the size of my liver by 25 percent before surgery to decrease the chance of complications as the fatty liver is extremely fragile. Also advised I start protein loading now to help me heal better and faster after surgery. He was empathetic to my arthritis and the obvious limitations it places on me. He does want me to exercise as much as possible before surgery, he made reccomendations as to what kind and how much but he conveyed that he undertands how hard it is, but it is for my health and safety and I deeply appreciate his concern and compassion. This guy has his patients best interest and health at heart. Money is not his motivator, helping people is. Some have said he is not very personable but I found him to be very personable. Perhaps the difference is with people who have all kinds of excuses instead of taking responsibility for their health. the Surgeons give us the tool, we have to use it like our lives depend on it. I can understand a Doc not having patience with people who are full of excuses. Check him out.