Re: decision almost made

[Guest guest]

,

I understand how you feel but one has to take into account how many

other patients your surgeon might have. My surgeon operates out of

three hospitals - one in Manhattan which was where I was living at

the time of my surgery and two in Long Island. Well obviously the

Manhattan one was a more convenient hospital but I was also told that

after the surgery I would be visited by his associates rather than by

him because he would be too busy operating out of the other hospitals

to be able to afford the 40 minute drive to Manhattan. Fair enough I

said. I'll do it in Long Island then. Well he was there for me right

after I woke up and then when I was discharged 24 hours later. In

between that time his surgical assistant (who was a Harvard graduate

and fantastic) came to check in on me every four - six hours and one

of his associates came to check in on me the morning after my

surgery. Thankfully it was one of his asssociates that I knew and

that is also highly regarded in the field. Had it been the other

younger associated who is quite rude I would have been quite upset. I

also had to choose between this surgeon and another one who would

have been able to operate on me in Manhattan and would have checked

up on me daily after my surgery (he expected me to stay in hospital

for 3 days). Well I ended up going for the more busy surgeon

regardless because he came highly recommended, he performed more

surgeries than other one did and personally I really liked his

bedside manner, even though he couldn't necessarily be by my side all

the time. So my advice is to try to look at things objectively - how

many patients does this surgeon have? Is he going out of his way to

have you operated in Oklahoma City? How do his credentials compare to

the other surgeon? What are his associates like?

Good luck!

Sara

Surgery 6/6/05

>

> Well, as you all know, I have been trying hard to make a decision

as to which surgeon to use . Well, today I called surgeon #1. I

asked him about doing my surgery at a hospital in Oklahoma City

(since it is a better hospital) and the secretary said that he could

do that. But, after the surgery he would have to send one of his

associates (also a OM surgeon) to check in on me daily because it

would be difficult for him to get up there to see me. His office is

approx. 40 minutes away from the hospital I want to go to. Well, that

sorta hit me wrong since I am paying (or my Insurance company rather)

VERY GOOD MONEY for him to do surgery on me. I think that with all

the money he is getting for this surgery, he could afford to make the

drive daily, or at least one other time before I leave the hospital.

He has applied for a 3 day stay on my insurance. The secretary said

he would not see me again after the surgery until I came in to the

office for a followup visit. That sorta sucks, don't you think? I do!

> Opinions/experience would be greatly appreciated

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I had one of the best surgeons in Canada do my surgery in Toronto, but

didn't really see him post-op until a week later (in his office). The

day of surgery, he was doing a second surgery, so he was busy. The day

after surgery, the resident surgeon came to see me, and I think

possibly my surgeon came the following day, but it wasn't all that

necessary for him to see me, as far as I was concerned - he did a

great job. The resident could have taken care of any problems - he

certainly did answer a few questions for us.

As long as there are no immediate complications, I don't think it's an

issue that you can't see the surgeon who worked on you.

By the way, it's an hour's drive for me to go see my surgeon from

where I live.

Hope that helps,

[Guest guest]

,

When I had my surgery it was mainly the assisting surgeon who came to see how

I was doing, he kept my surgeon updated on my progress.

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