after care
My surgeon told us at our initial seminar that we should expect to be lifelong friends; that he expects his patients to come in for the regularly scheduled appointments for the first year & then yearly after that with yearly blood tests. I know that if I have any questions or problems & can call or just stop in to see a nurse or PA.
An example- last fall, one night at work I started experiencing some really severe pain. I went home & found myself alone. I was in so much pain that I didn't think to call my surgeon, where someone is always on call but laid there in pain. The next day it had subsided but I knew I better follow up on it. Who did I call? His PA & she got the ball rolling. She arranged an ultrasound & when that didn't show the expected gall stones, she made the arrangements for me to see the gastroenterologist. When he didn't find anything & seemed to be grasping at straws, I went back & told Angie what was happening. She asked me one question, turned to the surgeon who had just walked past the door, & said something like, "don't you think she should have this test?" He agreed &, as they say, "the rest is history." I am now minus one nonfunctioning but stoneless gall bladder & no pain. My surgery was done by my bariatric surgeon, an excellent general lap surgeon, & hospitalized on the same floor with baraitric patients with a diet that was OK for me to eat.
Had I gone to my physician, he would have sent me to a different hospital for tests, a different gastro who practiced at that hospital, & who knows how many more procedures? I'd have been operated on by a surgeon who may or may not be experienced with patients whose insides are all different. There may have been something else going on related to my new insides that he wouldn't recognize.
I like this arrangement because my family doctor has no experience working with baraitric surgery patients. He wouldn't know what to look for and, even though we have an excellent relationship after 28 years, I trust my surgeon's staff more with this situation. I am my family doctor's first patient to have the surgery so he asks me what I can & cannot take or do. Obviously, if I have a problem that I am sure is not related to my surgery, he is the one I call.
To add one more thing though, my surgeon has been doing this surgery here only 3 years now & their records show that a very large percentage of their patients no longer go back for their annual appointment & it concerns them. I suspect that the cost of the blood tests is the deterent. The ones I've had are very expensive, one alone was over $500 & if you aren't insured and feel good it's easy to let it slide. Perhaps they'd have better luck if they were more selective of which tests are required.
My insurance pays for all preventive procedures. I'm not sure if that includes the blood tests. So far by my anniversary date, my deductible has been met anyway.
Dixie
Thank you very much for taking the time to give me so much information.
You have been very helpful. I need to talk to more of you Grads that can educate me on how to take charge of my own health care. I suppose in case of an emergency you can keep a wallet card with the surgeon's number on it. I have dealt with trying to keep information on me/with me for my conditions, Diabetic, high blood pressure, blood thinners I guess one more GASTRIC BYPASS PATIENT RNY!!!!!! won't be that much harder.
Linda/Bactrac/swangirl
Name/CB handle/me post op 
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