Question:
Where do you start?

Hello everybody! I wanted to let you all know how very inspiring you are. I have been considering having this surgery done for a year now and I have been lurking here for about 2 weeks now. I have sooooooo many questions! To those of you who have had the surgery already, WHERE DO YOU START? I do have the approval from my family Doctor, and I am not too worried about insurance. But my family Doctor will not reccomend a Surgeon. I spent a few days going over alot of the information available here on this site and I picked a Doctor who I would have liked to perform my surgery, however he is no longer accepting new patients. The other Doctors lited who are in my area are not "Board certified", so I am not as enthusiastic about approaching the procedure with them. Any advice? Also, where would I find on of these "support groups" I keep reading about? Thank you all sosososo very much! XOXO    — imtoni (posted on April 30, 2003)

April 30, 2003
Toni - Dr. Noel Williams and Dr. Steven Raper at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania are two of the best bariatric surgeons around. Dr. Raper (my surgeon) only does open RNY's while Dr. Williams (my wife's surgeon - her RNY is next Tuesday) does lap RNY's. HUP has a Yahoogroups.com mailing list with almost 180 members. Here's the URL for HUP's Bariatric Program: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/surgery/bariatric/main.html Please feel free to look over my profile and e-mail me via the profile if you need any additional information on Dr. Williams or Dr. Raper...JR (open RNY 07/17/02 -172 pounds)
   — John Rushton

April 30, 2003
Dr.Curci in doylestown was my surgeon. Hes a great man, and we have a support group every third tuesday of everymonth and every 1st sunday of every month at the hospital in the cafe. Tuesday's start at 7 and sundays start at 2....great support group! This support group is not only for curci patients...everyone is welcome! I know curci has a long waiting list but I felt it was worth it with him. Contact me if you have any questions!
   — sandrac131

April 30, 2003
When you say they are not 'board certified' what do you mean? There is no board certification for bariatric surgery. There is an association for bariatric physicians, but they don't certify for bariatric surgery. There are many good general surgeons who don't belong to the ASBS(American Society for Bariatric Surgeons). One of the best things to do is look at the Find A Doc (click at the top of this page) and then click on your state. Look for doctors who are in your geographic area and then you can contact some of their patients.
   — garw

April 30, 2003
I offended my surgeon when I first met him because i asked if he was board certified. Like you, I wanted one that was. He informed me that there is no certification board for bariactric surgery. There is an association of bariatric surgeons that they all belong to. None are "board certified"
   — Delores S.

April 30, 2003
My surgeon was Dr. Matthew Kirkland (Pennsylvania Hospital) _ He only does open RNY, and I was VERY pleased with his work. He had a much shorter waiting time for the surgery, and did not require a psych exam. I found him very detailed and he answered all of my questions before the surgery - I am 7 months post op and down 130 pounds !!! I feel GREAT !!
   — GPoynor

April 30, 2003
Dr Williams and the program at HUP do come highly recomended but they have a VERY LONG waiting list. I called last November and couldn't get an appointment until June. I decided to go with Dr Gail Wynn in Wilmington, DE. I was seen for the first time in a matter of months, I did have to wait for the place her office does pre-surgical clearance with and then when I got that done she had to go off and have a baby 3 weeks early but I will be heading to the other side on July 1st. She does Lap-RNY and LapBand.
   — Beth E.

April 30, 2003
You need to start with your insurance, get a list of network surgeons that do the gastric bypass, and if they do not have any on the list, call them and ask them to give you names of surgeons that they will approve. Also, make sure that your insurance approves this procedure, then get a letter of medical necessity from your pcp or any doctors that you are seeing. It helps if your pcp is in your insurance network. This is a great web site for information, go to the library section, there are tons and tons of answers to your questions.
   — cindy