Question:
Has anyone had surgery at UPMC, Pittsburgh
I am having my surgery in Pittsburgh, UPMC. Dr. Ramanathan. I have heard that these doctors are some of the best at lap rny. Does anyone have any experiences to share? Good or bad. — jennifer S. (posted on April 11, 2004)
April 10, 2004
Hi Congrats you have a great surgeon! You can look at his profile of all
patient comments here on our website. Schauer my surgeon who trained your
doc runs a awesome practice with great aftercare too. Me and my wife Jen
attend their support group meetings regurally. You REALLY SHOULD TOO! The
first wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM at montefiore hospital right next
to presby. Everyone knows me so introduce yourselves! Your surgeon and his
group are great! Patients are thrilled with him. Wait times that once
stretched over a year are shrinking. Do keep copies of all test results in
case the back office looses something and allow extra time for office
visits in case they are delayed. Our surgeons group will spend whatever
time needed with each patient for office visits, sometimes that leads to
delays:( Their death rate doing all sorts of tough revisions is .4% well
under the national average of 1 to 2%. This answer wasnt meant as a
commercial but sure sounds like one, you are in good hands! Theres also the
pittsburgh yahoo group drop me a e mail if you have any futher questions.
— bob-haller
April 10, 2004
Bob is right - you couldn't be in better hands. My son's doctor was
Schauer, and I had Dr. Hamad, who trained under Schauer. These folks are
among the elite in WLS. You are in the best hands you could possibly be
in. My surgery was at Magee Women's - fantastic experience, no problems or
complications. My son's surgery took place at Presbyterian, also
wonderful, and no real negatives to report. Aftercare is very important,
and these doctors are on top of it! Best wishes. Lap RNY 9/11/03,
270/175/???
— Carlita
April 11, 2004
Just one minor word of warning:( DONT use a telephone calling card from ANY
UPMC payphone! The kinda card where you enter ZERO your home number and
pin. They use a rip off phone company where the local rate is over $2.50
per minute. I found out the hard way with a $50 phone bill one month when
some friends had WLS, made calls from family waiting area. The post gazette
did a story on this but didnt use my name since my wife works for UPMC.
<P> The care you will get from the surgeons and staff is world class!
— bob-haller
April 11, 2004
http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/mdcomments.php?N=1048640908&ID=1078508278<P>
His patients comments all pleased with their care
— bob-haller
April 11, 2004
I just returned home from having my surgery at UPMC Shadyside, with Dr.
Anita Courcoulas. I had lap RnY done on Tuesday 4/6/2004. We came home
Good Friday. (We live 3 hrs away). I was taken care of so well at the
hospital. Everyone was great. They went out of their way (nursing staff)
to make sure I was clean and comfortable. The Doctors were there at all
different hrs. I seen Dr. C twice and her assistant dr, (can't remember
his name) about 6 times...all different times of the day.
<P> I went through some extream back pain the night of my surgery
and the day after, but they tried to make me feel better and tried
different things. Finally when I had my upper GI (Leak test) all cleared,
they were able to give me liquid apin meds that really helped my back at
that point.
<P> Good luck with your surgery and know that you are in good hands
at UPMC.
— Pookie B.
April 12, 2004
I had my lap RNY with Dr. Ramanathan on 2/16/04 at Magee hospital. I was
back to work in a week which I think says ALOT about his skills as a
surgeon. (The cold I got after the surgery was worse than the surgery
itself.) Check out my profile, there are more details on my experience
there. I checked him out thouroughly before I went ahead with the surgery.
I work in healthcare and deal with patient safety on a daily basis...I am
picky. I have no regrets and feel that he is a top notch surgeon. I would
recommend him to my family or friends with no hesitation. His follow up
care has been very good. He really listens to your questions/comments and
takes all of the time needed to answer them. Thumbs up for Dr. Ramanathan!
— Lorraine W.
April 12, 2004
My brother had his surgery last year at Magee with Dr. Mattar. Everything
went great and he has lost about 135lbs and has been keeping it off and is
very healthy. So last summer I contacted them about doing this surgery for
myself. I had my seminar in November and finished all of my pre-op testing
in December. It finally went to my insurance company for review last month.
On March 26th I was told by my insurance company that I was approved for
surgery. So I called to schedule an appointment with Dr. Mattar and I was
told that what I got was not approval, it was only pre-determination and I
couldn't schedule an appointment. So I called my insurance company to see
what I needed to do. I was told that with the pre-determination I should be
able to see the surgeon and get a surgery date. I would, in fact, need the
surgery date before I could get pre-certification from the insurance
company. She told me there is nothing more that I can do. So it seems that
we have come to an impass. My surgeon won't schedule me without
pre-certification and my insurance won't give pre-certification without a
surgery date scheduled. I talked to my PCP who recommended trying it with
another doctor. I saw him and he gave me a surgery date of May 13th pending
insurance approval. I am hoping that the insurance company and UPMC resolve
things and I can get scheduled there before then. I really wanted to have
my surgery there with them because I was right there with my brother and
saw how great everything went. But my PCP speaks highly of the other doctor
too. So I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens. I guess the
bottom line is that if you have the time and patience to wait, UPMC will
take great care of you.
— Donna F.
April 15, 2004
WOW . . . I was not aware there were so many of us from Pittsburgh on this
site. I'm having surgery on May 4th with Dr. Bueneventura at UPMC
Presbyterian. My journey began on February 20th and received approval from
insurance this past Wednesday (less than 24 hours after being submitted).
I'm really excited and would love to hear from other from Pittsburgh. My
email address is either [email protected] or
[email protected]
Good Luck!
— NancyJo
May 1, 2004
I am also having my surgery with Dr. Ramanathan on June 8, 2004. My
surgery will be at Magee's. Thanks for posting this question, I enjoyed
reading the replys and getting the reinforcement they provided.
— Shelley S.
May 1, 2004
I hope all of you pittsburgers will come to this wednesday 7pm support
group meeting at montefiore! EVERYONE ias welcome no matter who your
surgeon is! Dr Schauers group is a friendly meeting and I love meeting
people from here. May 5th 2004 e mail me [email protected] for questions,
— bob-haller
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