[Exhorter]

I am not sure where to put this so I am just putting it here. I am new here so I am not sure who everyone is yet. Are there any doctors or nurses who post in the formums who might can help me answer the questions below?

What do you do when you feel you have found the right surgeon, but are not impressed with the staff? I believe I have one of the very best surgeons and I have total confidence in him to perform my surgery. However I can not seem to get results with the staff. For instance when I call with a question it takes the next day for them to get back to me. Sometimes I have to recall. Then it seems they are soooooooooo busy that they seem to be short with me. Now don't get me wrong I know the man is busy!!!!!!!!!! Cause he is GOOD but my concern is what if in the future I need to contact them or the nurse and they won't get back to me. I mean it's ok when the question is only about paper work and insurance but what happens if I am in pain, or have something going on in my body after surgery and I need to get answers fast? My husband thinks maybe I should look into finding another surgeon, but as I said I am happy with him. Is this normal for the staff to be so swamped that they can not return your calls. I would say that since I started this journey to get approved for the surgery I have called them maybe 10 times since Oct 2006. It was always about info that they needed from me. I never just call to ask crazy questions that is what forums are for and you can do it without them thinking you are crazy. LOL

Has this happened to anyone else? I really do not want to have to look for another dr. I am very happy with him, but just concerned about the future.

P.S. I don't feel confortable speaking of who my surgeon is at this time due to the fact that maybe it is me and maybe the next time I see him will be better. But like even today. I called because they have told me to call them at least every two weeks to check on my case with the insurance. I called today and they said the lady was on the other line but she would have her call. That was at around 1:00p.m. I did not receive a call at all today. Tomorrow they see patients all day so I doubt I will get a call back tomorrow either. There is much more. Like they had me mixed up with another lady and they were to shred her file but instead started on mine. Why would you be shredding a patient records? So when I had my first visit at the office to see the surgeon they had me fill out another patient history that I had already faxed them three months ago. When the nurse called me back she said " I am so sorry but I am the one who messed up your file I shredded your patient history when I was in another patients file. She then said I tried to blame it on you by saying that you had not returned the history to me, but yet you were in the computer so I knew it was my mistake. Then when I went looking for you I realized I had placed your file next to the file I was shredding and I got busy and took your history out and started on it. Sorry!!

I said nothing, but I did think well at least she owned up to it but still it was a big red flag. Then when I went to leave they told me that there was an exclusion on my policy. I told them no I had check on that and they informed me to check again. I did and there was no exclusion. I guess it was the other women who had the exclusion. So that is why I have a concern. Should I???

I have talked to others who tell me as long as I trust the surgeon not to worry. That he is the main thing I need to be intrested in. That after the surgery I can pitch a fit. It's not about pitching a fit it's about trusting in those who will take care of me in the future. The other thing that bugs me is that I have gone on my surgeons website and they have lots of people who talk about the surgery and how wonderful his staff are. But there are no new post in months. So I am just wondering if they are so busy that they don't even have time to update their website. I would think someone who is not staff would do that for them. I don't want to seem like I am dissing the staff but it's my body and well being I am concerned about. The surgery that I plan to have is the Duodenal Switch so I have to have someone who knows what they are doing. He does!!!
Could it be that they are just waiting to see if I will get approved until they decided to treat me with respect?? Or maybe I am just expecting to much. Maybe I am wearing my feelings on my shoulder? Could it be?
What would you do? Should I be concerned as long as I know that the surgeon has the goods and has a great record?

[DocSanae]

Awwww (((((((HUGS))))))
I can see your concern when your records are misplaced (admittedly, it does happen) and accidentally destroyed (unfortunately, that happens, too), This may have been a 1 in 100 incident, or a 1 in 10,000 incident. However, when it happens to you, it's a 100% incident. And for some reason, I'll also admit that when a screw up happens, it seems to involve the same person. There seems to be no reason or rhyme to this.
Nevertheless, the staff should know that all the patients are jumpy, so should take utmost care in dealing with everything.
Does your surgeon have support meetings or information seminars that you've attended/are able to attend? One thing you could do is, if you know anyone else close to surgery with the same surgeon, to ask candidly if they seem to have probelms with the staff. That way, you can figure out if it is a real issue, or if it is something that will settle down once you are on your way.

[fr1endly2]

(((HUG)))
WOW thats a real tough situation that you love the surgeon
and hate the staff.
PROBLEM is we have to usually deal with the staff tons to get
thru to the surgeon. I know for me ...the warmth in my surgeons office was a big factor in my surgeon selection process. THE surgeon i went with every visit was like you were family! EVERYONE knew you by your first name, welcomed me and anytime i called pre op and post op i was always
made to feel like i was the only patient my surgeon had. SO that was very important to me....calls to the office come up alot and even post op.
I think its something you have to figure out for yourself...for me i was a big baby thru this process and needed the care all around me in the visits and calls to the office.
GOOD LUCK!
MY surgeon and his staff proven themselves time and time again when i had situations arise thru out my journey!
I know for me if the staff didnt return my phone calls pre op, that would flag me that they wouldnt be there for me post op and that wouldnt have been acceptable to me.
SO think things thru, its MAJOR sugery.

ALSO welcome to the forums and i look forward to getting to know you thru your posts. I speak from my personal experience and choices here and what i needed besides a WELL qualified surgeon who i trusted with my life!

[Spikey1341]

At my surgery center the staff is so wonderful and friendly that I felt as if they were old friends the first time I met them. And my surgeon actually has a sense of humor! I have been to others that it was, just the facts and in and out. Here they take time, and he even joked with me. He had taken my gall bladder out a year and a half before and he asked me why I didn't have this surgery then, he could have done it all at once. I told him I had been thinking about this for five years and just now felt ready to go through with it. He comes back with, "I guess it's all for the better anyway, it gave me a year and a half to practice on other people." You gotta love this guy!

I would say give them another chance to make sure it just wasn't a bad week or something. If you still don't feel comfortable talk to your surgeon.

[Exhorter]

Thanks so much for such a quick response to my questions. Doc I thank you for the info you gave. I know that things get misplaced and files get into other files. I understand that. My goodness I forget and misplace things all the time. The other day I was looking for my glasses and searching all around ....on my desk, on my head, and finally I found them on my nose. So I know that it happens from time to time. I guess the thing that got to me the most was I expected a staff that at least looked intrested in having me there. I did not get that at all. Now I feel I am a pretty nice person NO REALLY my husband and I work together to pastor a church. So I try to show love and kindness to everyone I meet. Now I do admit from time to time I can run off at the mouth but it takes being pushed and pushed to get me there. So I just kept quite that day.
But when I get responses like "you better check again because I know what your insurance company told me this morning when I called them."( this with an attitude..... so in my mind I am thinking you waited until the very morning I came for my visit to contact my insurance company) but I said nothing and told her I would contact them to see what they said. When I called them (insurance company) they said yes your dr office called this morning and this is what they were told according to what is on our computer screen. They read it all to me and gave me the name of the lady that gave my doctor the info. But it was not the name that the secertary gave to me. It was another women's name. So when I called my doc back the secertary who takes care of calling for the insurance says to me "Oh I don't think so I know what they told me and I know who it was" I guess the only thing that did go right that day was my talk to the surgeon. He is very professional, gets right down to business, filling me in on everything and taking time for my questions. I did not feel like he rushed me he just did his thing and that was it. I was very pleased.

I know that my surgeon is very famous, and has been in a movie where they interviewed him. He has been all over the news and is known for his skilled hands in weight loss surgery. This has all happened in the past year so I think his business is booming. I do trust him. I guess I will give it more time and see. I have been given many chances in my life time to give a second inpression, so I feel they deserve one as well. I just wanted to see how you all felt about what I was feeling. Thanks so much for letting me rumble on and on. It does make it nice to get it all out in the open, and hear how others feel about the situation. I have been thinking about it alot even since I wrote this to you. That perhaps something could have been going on that day in the office. I know that in my life there have been times when I have been hit hard right before a church service and tried to do my best to cope but people could still see something was wrong. Maybe they are just under stess due to the case load. I do know that his staff have been the same for many years. Because in reading the old post from at least 5 yrs the staff is still the same as now. So that is a good sign. I feel maybe it is just they are over worked at this point. We probably all feel that that from time to time. I have decided that I am going to start over and maybe instead of complainning about them I should begin to pray for them. Sounds like a winner to me

Doc yes he does have a support system for his patients. I have attended his first one, but I have not yet gone to any of the support meetings because they are all after the surgery has been done, plus it is quite away for me to drive to go there for the meetings. There is one very close by my home that I will be attending once I have surgery. It is not done by his staff but is done by patients who come together for support.

Thanks Everyone
I love this place thanks for being so kind and loving.

[LittleLisaMarie]

This is my profile from obesityhelp.com I had issues with the center i first went to because i really liked the surgeon, however i didnt feel that i would get the after care i needed once the surgery was done....so i switched..here is my story..

ObesityHelp - Gastric Bypass, LAP-BAND® System, DS and Other Surgical and Non-Surgical Weight Loss Options. - Profiles - LisaMarie's Profile

LittleLisaMarie

[Exhorter]

Thanks Lisa I will go read.

[Exhorter]

Lisa I did visit your profile. That is about some of the stuff I have had happen to me. I am going to give it another month to see how things pan out and if things are not better then I will have to go some place that I know will meet my needs for the surgery. As I said I like the surgeon and want to keep him, but then it is the staff that we deal with the most with questions and concerns that come up. Thanks for sending me your profile.

[MsVickie]

Oh dear. What a mess you have seen so far. Im a LPN. I work in a medical office. The first thing Im going to tell you is this.... they should never be to busy to take your questions. What Im referring to is the fact YOU are the patient. I have worked for a total of 4 offices. The one Im at now I have stayed at because of the atmosphere. The only reason I can even give you for the shredding of the medical record is someone who called and said OK Im not coming back. The medical community usually holds records for at least 7 years. What I mean buy this is if its been more than 7 years since your last visit they will destroy them. The reason being they have not space to store them. Can you imagine the buildings that would be sitting around if they stored every thing you have ever been seen for? There is however no excuse in shredding a medical record that was freshly done like yours.

I myself have changed my surgeon because of the fact he has moved around the United States so much. I loved his staff. When he saw me and told me were he used to practice and the fact if he had to open me up he didn't know if he could stand for the entire procedure because of a hip replacement. It made my blood curl ya know? Think about it. Why would you want a Dr. that has moved to California, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and now Virginia? Hes in his 50's. If your that good your not gonna run all over the place to work.

The questions I would ask myself is this...... Are you willing to trust the office staff? Especially after the surgery? You have to go through them to get to him. He may be a excellent surgeon but something is wrong if the staff cant keep up with him.

I work for a surgeon. Our patients come first before anything. They get there calls answered right away or we call them back within 2 hours if it can wait that long. Im lucky I know a couple of the staff at my current surgeons office. They know Im a tough old bird. LOL .

Anyways rethink it. If you have to, ask the Dr. if its normal for his staff to make you wait days for a phone call back. Remember you have a life to besides the fact they will be playing with your life afterward.

[Exhorter]

So for instance if you got a call at your office and say it was me. I left a message and told them that I had a question to see if they had received a fax that I had fax of my record. Would you think that this was important enough to receive a call back to me that day? Or would it be put off until the next day? Say I called you at around 11 that morning. Could I expect a call that day?