Question:
I travel on the road approximatly 10 months out of the year

I need to find a surgeon or program that will work with me . I do have an appointment set at baylor medical center in Dallas at the end of August, but business may force me to put the date off. What is going to be the best way to approach this problem    — williampechal (posted on June 4, 2005)

June 3, 2005
I am not sure what the actual issue is. Are you being sent out of town, state, country or do you need a doctor that will work around your business schedule? My feeling is that you need to make a decision and go with it. If you need this surgery, the longer you wait, the more you are going to need it. God's blessings to you and your journey!
   — David B.

June 4, 2005
Hi William (great name, by the way - that's my son's name!), I had my surgery with Dr. Aniceto Baltasar in Alcoy, Spain - I was a self-pay patient, and not only got the surgery I was truly passionate about (BPD/DS) but a world-recognized leader in the field of bariatrics as my surgeon, but a post-op lifestyle that has been mind-blowingly GREAT, livable, flexible, and filled with incredible liberties! (And of course, as all grown-ups know - with liberty, also comes responsibility!) I do labs with my local doctor, get hard copy on everything, email it to my surgeon - who will comment on anything that needs adjustment. I email or phone my surgeon if I have a question or just want to chat (he's a totally nice guy on top of it all!) - he responds generally in less than 24 hours if it's email, or is just a telephone call away. When his patients leave Spain after surgery we get his home phone number, his cell phone number, the hospital phone number, his fax number, his personal email address, etc. He wants patients to stay in touch - and makes himself 100% available! So - when I read your question about your need for flexibility I thought, "Gosh - what a wonderful thing it is that I have such a thing!" I sometimes take it for granted! And thought I'd write. Choosing a surgeon and surgery that make your day to day real life livable is a very, very important part of this whole amazing WLS journey. I travel a lot, too. My surgery makes traveling a breeze - it's so livable and user friendly! Yes, I have to make sure I eat enough, take my vitamins every day, and take responsibility for following-through with my labs, etc. But every other post-op has to do that, too. If you haven't yet, it would be helpful to find a local support group that you can attend - find post-ops of every surgery you can - find out how they feel about their surgeries - see what their lives are like months and years post-op - and research like crazy! Make sure you're 100% confident that you've chosen the right surgery and surgeon for you - and then go for it! BTW, I've lost 210 lbs, a wheelchair, diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, gerd, stress incontinence, etc., etc., etc. And - of course, regained my life. Hope this helps some. Please let me know if I can answer any questions, okay? Blessings, dina
   — Dina McBride

June 4, 2005
I think it might help to approach this is in a business-like way. You may be able to have some flexibility in making the initial appointments but once the ball starts rolling you're going to have to make your srugery your #1 time commitment. Then yuu can return to your job healthy and ready to go! Livvt
   — [Deactivated Member]

June 4, 2005
You didn't say which type of WLS you are having, but never the less the same aproach is needed for all these types of procedures. Make sure that it is your number one prority and that you follow through with your surgeon's directives. Your success will greatly depend on your efforts and the time you put into following your Dr's post op care. If you should have a post op challenge, then it will greatly help if you haven't far to come to get treatment. When you are recovered and on your way to health and have reduced some weight, you will enjoy your work and life activities so much more. Good luck on your WLS and I wish you the very best of outcomes. Remember, The operation is only half the fun, Motivation get's the whole job done."
   — Lise K.

June 5, 2005
William, I also travel a lot and found a surgeon in Houston(Dr.Jayakumar) who can generally get you in within a two week time period. Several times I had to change my preop appointments around because of my schedule and they (at Neweigh) were very flexible. How many preop appointments you have will depend greatly on your insurance requirements. I had Aetna and they required a 3 month physician supervised preparatory program (it was really just bi-monthly weigh-ins, one mtg with a nutritionist/dietician, plus 2 group support mtgs.). But depending on their insurance, some people get approved almost immediately or if you are self-pay, you could be scheduled as soon as you have your preop work-up completed. Of course, the preop workup which is usually an EGD, psychiatric evaluation and cardic clearance can be re-scheduled if needed, but it will of course, just take longer to get cleared for surgery. I know how it is though, you will need to take time off for surgery and it is important that you maintain your business committments as much as possible, leading up to surgery. You can do this without it having a negative impact on your business. I think Dr. Jayakumar has such a incredible oranization at Neweigh that it allows him much more flexibility than other surgeons. So I guess my advice is look for a surgeon that has a very organized office staff that has this entire preop program down pat and is very involved with the whole process. Then find out how long the test results are good for and what is the time frame you have to work in all these tests. Best of luck.
   — pammatria

June 5, 2005
William, i forgot to add that I also looked at what was the slowest time of the year for me at work and when taking off would have the least impact on my business. That ended up being the time between Christmas and New Year. So I scheduled my surgery for 12/29. 12/27 would have been even better but it was booked. I usually took off that week anyway so I only really only needed to take off the first week of January which is also a very slow time for us. Good Luck!!
   — pammatria