YOICKS!!

[Guest guest]

Hi, everyone! It's the newbie again! :::smiling:::

OK...yesterday I saw a Dr. Lester stone, who, I

knew does not perform the d/s; however, he's local and

had been very highly touted as a fantastic and superb

RNY surgeon...in my humble opinion, he's a horse's

patootie! Very rude, very crude and very anti-age

(and possibly women)...we seemed to take an instant

dislike for one another (although he appeared to like

my d/h...hmmmmmm...wonder what that's all about???

anyway, I digress...I think he also was deeply

offended that I was well-prepared with research and

fully knew and understood all he intended to impart.

I also had a list of about 50 or so questions, (not

all of which did I ask), with the final one " Why don't

you perform the duodenal switch? " to which he replied:

" Because I'm perfectly happy doing what I do. " CAN

YOU BELIEVE THAT JERK??

Anyway, the " YOICKS " in my Subject, is referring as

well to the fact that I called to make an appointment

with Dr. Gagner, of Mt. Sinai in New York, and the

real scoop re: insurance is that he DOES accept

insurance for the procedure, but that's it. He DOES

NOT accept insurance for the $300 consult. Grrrrr.

I did, however, make an appointment for a consult with

his associate, Dr. Herron, who does accept insurance

for the consult.

THE VERY FIRST APPOINTMENT IS MARCH 7TH!!!!! I'm not

a happy camper. Any advice as to what I can do to

prepare for the consult? Prepare for the inevitable

(I believe) insurance fight? My insurance is Aetna/US

Healthcare, and it's an HMO...

Any advice for this down and sad little (in my dreams

little!) newbie???

VERY pre-op

VERY anxious now that I've finally made the decision

VERY sad about the whole damned situation!

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi, .

> " Because I'm perfectly happy doing what I do. "

At least what he said is better than what my local RNY guy told me in

response to the same question: " I don't know; I just don't do it. "

> CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT JERK??

Yes.

> Anyway, the " YOICKS " in my Subject, is referring as

> well to the fact that I called to make an appointment

> with Dr. Gagner, of Mt. Sinai in New York, and the

> real scoop re: insurance is that he DOES accept

> insurance for the procedure, but that's it. He DOES

> NOT accept insurance for the $300 consult. Grrrrr.

> I did, however, make an appointment for a consult with

> his associate, Dr. Herron, who does accept insurance

> for the consult.

No comment here. I'm partial to Gagner, myself.

> THE VERY FIRST APPOINTMENT IS MARCH 7TH!!!!! I'm not

> a happy camper. Any advice as to what I can do to

> prepare for the consult? Prepare for the inevitable

> (I believe) insurance fight? My insurance is Aetna/US

> Healthcare, and it's an HMO...

Yes. Please read my very recent post to Dee about " opinions,

please. " The post describes the tactics I'm using with my insurance

company. Also, if you want to get a surgery date during the consult

appointment to speed things up (which may NOT always happen), have

all of your test results in hand at the time of the consult, or

better yet, make sure that you've faxed them in and confirmed receipt

well before consultation time. Gagner wanted my EGD and pathology

reports, blood work, psychiatric clearance, and, uhh, something

else? They were done and in my chart when I met with Gagner.

> Any advice for this down and sad little (in my dreams

> little!) newbie???

Don't be sad, my dear. Try to be patient. Or, if you're like me and

can't be patient, be aggressive as all hell (but nice to the powers

that be) and make it happen a little faster!

Best,

Dr. Gagner, NYC

lap BPD/DS

11-20-01

highest weight: 309

surgery weight: 293

current weight: 273