Sharon/ Dialing for PCPs!

[Guest guest]

Hi Sharon,

If someone weren't comfortable making the phone calls for whatever

reason, they could try something I did 5 years ago.

I was at my wits end with my ever increasing weight. I felt the

assistance from my current PCP was not helping (nutrition consults and

counseling) and I knew I needed to do something.

I wrote a letter introducing myself, my lifetime of weight problems

and everything I had tried to date and my strong desire to find

*something* that wouldn't let me down this time. I gave my height

and weight (didn't know what a bmi was back then).

Then I used a mail merge program to send it to every single possible

PCP on my insurance's list of PCPs to choose from. After that I

pretty much, just waited. I got a whole lot of phone calls and some

letters. Some doctors said they would love to meet me and work with

me to find a solution. Other doctors 'referred' me to a collegue in

the weight loss area of expertise. The same 2 or 3 names kept

popping up. I then felt as if I knew *who* the true specialists in my

region were. When one of these doctors called and asked me to come

in, I made an appointment, and switched to have him be my new PCP.

This was the doc who originally recommended VBG to me. Had he not

left the area, I'm sure he would be very DS friendly. The PCP I have

now was the younger doc who took over my bariatric doc's practice

(but bringing little bariatric expertise besides his own 'struggle'

with weight).

Why don't I just try this campaign again to find a new PCP? Well, I

could, but I already did it once in this geographic region. It is a

lot of work for the slight chance there will be a new bariatric

'mover and shaker' who is not pushing the RNY.

While this method is a lot more work than phoning around, it can

actually be less time consuming. The patient can state their case

once and only the docs who really give a sh** will bother getting

back. From there the selection can be narrowed down tremendously.

Just a thought.

Terri Hassiak

BMI 60

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=H980366398

5/19/01 surgery date CANCELLED due to " Out-of-Network " Ins. Denial

email(no spaces): bunsofluff @ hotmail.com

> > I don't know if this will help at all but I was in

> > the same situation - My

> > PCP would not recommend me for any WLS. So, I got

> > out my trusty insurance

> > directory with participating Drs. and one by one I

> > called each office and

> > asked to speak or leave a message for the Dr. to

> > call me back. I was very

> > honest. I explained that I was looking for a Dr.

> > who was WLS friendly and

> > one who would be willing to recommend and clear me

> > for surgery if it was

> > medically necessary to have it. I did not have a

> > very hard time and after

> > about 1 dozen or so calls I found a Dr. who

> > basically said if I was morbidly

> > obese and I had tried just about everything and felt

> > no alternative except

> > for WLS he would agree. Of course he said come in

> > and lets talk. He gave me

> > a complete physical, spoke to me for a good 15

> > minutes about what WLS

> > actually is and scheduled a full blood work-up, gave

> > me a referral to a

> > pulmonologist (sp?) for a complete lung/breathing

> > exam -- (I have asthma) and

> > basically said we'll call you when we hear from the

> > lab and pulmonologist.

> > He recommended WLS about 2 weeks later.

> > Resa

> > Open DS 2-12-01

> > Dr J Macura, Staten Island, NY

> > down 48 lbs a/o today(3 mo anni)

> >

>

>

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