Has anyone dealt with the Kane Center or Alexian Brothers Hospital ?

[amartyn1 74]

ok i had my consult this evening :smile: and it went great !!! because i have my insurance approval and my prereqs done i am able to be fast tracked through i do have to see a pulmonoligist and then pre op tests ...Yaaa oh ya i have a support group meeting i have to attend on saturday :thumbup: all of this is easy to do .. the hard work will start with the liquid diet and then surgery ... that is the time that my life style will change forever BUT for the better .. I am very excited hopefully within 3 weeks i will be an honorable member of the bandster group

[sndycnrd 1]

Congratulations Annette! I am glad to hear that it all worked out for you. How long before surgery does the liquid diet start. I started my 3 month diet so I am right behind you.

Edited October 2, 2009 by sndycnrd

[sndycnrd 1]

Annette or Kris,

Any new updates? I went for my first visit for my 3 month diet. I told my pcp - that went better than I had expected. Last time I talked to her she wasn't happy about it. She was more receptive today and said that she has a couple of patients who had the surgery, lost weight and then gained it back. She said unless I was ready to make lifestyle changes I should forget it. I told her I was ready and that most likely it would happen in January. She was ok with that.:frown:

[JenFenRen 0]

FYI - For those of you going to Alexian Brothers... have you considered Central DuPage Hospital? I got banded there on 9/21 and everything went fantastic. I have spent A LOT, and I mean A LOT, of time in hospitals due to an ill family member, and I can say BY FAR, that CDH has the best patient care in the area. It is not as close as Alexian Brothers is for me, but it was definitely worth the extra 10 minutes.

[amartyn1 74]

Sandy ,

Hi and good evening -- thankfully monday is almost over . well last update was my surgical consult last thursday . Then this past saturday i attended a post surgical support group meeting at Alexian Brothers Hospital. It was actually pretty good - you actually get to here "issues" that Banders are having. This was actually a prereq with in your 30 days pre surgery. I will give the office until Wednesday to call before i call -- i may also call and schedule my pulmonogy appt. Per Dr. Guske - i pretty much just have to start the pre op stuff - UGI and Abdominal ultrasound and blood work. Then the wonderful 2 weeks of protien shakes. If you think the waiting is hard were you are at... just wait until you get to this point :eek: but i am keeping myself busy with work and other "healthy" updates - ie going to the dermatologist to get some moles removed ect ... i will keep you and everyone else updated as to were i am at .. i just want to have my date ... Soon that will be here!!!

ps - Sandy , can you please tell me how to get the ticker up ??? the link i found here has been suspended becaue of inactivity :frown: thank you

[sndycnrd 1]

Jen, Glad to hear that you are so pleased with your doctors. That is soooooo important! Thanks for the info but like you, I am happy where I am. Have you gotten to mushies yet? We would love to have you check in with us. It is great to hear from people in the area.

Annette, Be sure to keep us posted. Right now, I am living through you. With each step you tell me about I feel a little more comfortable because I know what lays ahead for me. As far as the ticker - double click on mine (or any ones ticker) and a new window will open at the website where you design your ticker. After you pick out the options you want you finish the ticker. Then copy the code from the ticker and paste it in your signature line (found under user cp in the toolbar at the top of every page).

[amartyn1 74]

Just out of curiosity -- who did you see at CDH -- I am a bit frustrated with the kane center ..... please read my post after this one :wink2:

Annette

[amartyn1 74]

Sandy

Hi - just thought i would give you an update ..... and maybe you can live a little vicariously through me , so maybe you can understand my frustrations..... I called the kane center today since i have not heard from them and was told by the Dr that i would hear something from the Insurance person Monday or Tuesday .... and i happen to get the same old song and dance on my voicemail..... " we wont get your chart for 2 -2 1/2 weeks and then we will call you and tell you what you need to do before we submit to your insurance company" thank you have a good day .... what the hell === excuse my language , but there is NO human touch with this office .... i called her back and left her a nice voice mail and stated again that i have been approved, i have done everything they asked of me and i was told that i would be fast tracked and that Dr G would process this since i have gone through the process already ..... I truly feel like it is just a mill house of people -

Sandy please understand , and hopefully when you are at this point you will.... after you have been working really hard at this for over a year , and then because of suggestion you change BUT you are one of those rare people that have everything done and your mindset is there to have this done and then all you get is the run around you get a bit frustrated . I guess i also get a bit frustrated because i know how the patients are treated in the offices i manage and i would never tolerate the coldness that i get from the Kane staff --- Dr G was wonderful , his medical assistant was phenomenal but the front staff .... well ..... the warm and fuzzies just aren't there :wink2:

[JenFenRen 0]

I am doing great on mushies. My weight loss has stalled, but I think that is due to the fact that I have diabetes. I have some fish in the oven right now :wink2:

Please note that I am not trying to take any business away from your Dr's. I am just really pleased with Central DuPage Hospital and Dr Vallina.

Again, I have spend oodles of time in hospitals with family members, and I have previously worked in the medical field (NOT at CDH in case you were wondering), and I can honestly say, without exception, that these people are GREAT!

Dr Van Vallina - 630-933-6745

[JenFenRen 0]

Oh yes, and I am so excited to talk to other ppl from my area!

[amartyn1 74]

Jen

Thank you - i understand what you are saying ... actually had i stuck with my original surgeon i would be having surgery next week .... thus this is kind of adding to my frustration .... enough about that - and yes CDH is a wonderful hospital -- -i worked there for 4 years on the neuro spine unit --oooggghhh some 20 years ago and my sis had her twins there 3 yrs ago and they were in NICU for 6 weeks -- the nurses and staff make you feel at home :wink2: it is nice . The sx's at the Kane center are wonderful and so are there medical assistants ... and the weird thing is .. i have never "jumped" from one MD to another before in my life i am a little weirded out , but i am not comfortable with some issues.... i agree it probably was the best thing to change from my first sx, but the whole lack of warm and fuzzies or even caring has bothered me a bit ... I realize they are a busy facility but are you really that busy that you can not talk with consideration to a patient ???

[sndycnrd 1]

Annette,

Your frustration is certainly understandable. You are excited and the wait is hard. I understand what you are saying. The doctor and the nurse were great but the front desk could use a big dose of friendlyness. I haven't had a lot of interaction as I am still in the 3 month diet stage but I noticed the lack of warm and fuzzy when I went for my seminar. I had chalked it up to the fact that there were many people there and maybe they were stretched.

I hope you hear from them soon. You have waited a long time and this is all new and exciting for you. Just try to remember that you are one of many that they deal with everyday. That doesn't excuse it but I may help you to understand there situation.

[amartyn1 74]

Sandy

HI - hope you are doing well ! Well i have my date - i am being banded on November 17th at St. Alexius Medical Center. i am very excited and a bit nervous . i started the required Protein shakes on Saturday - i received the phone on Friday at lunch time . The Protein Shakes do fill you up , i got through 3 of them yesterday , only because i wasn't home. they also allow you to have broth, sugar free Jello and sugar free Popsicles. i did have a beef broth last night just to feel like i was eating something , but honestly i did not really need it. they ask that you have 4-5 shakes a day so today i am going to try and plan out a schedule to get them all in plus the Water they want you to drink. On Monday i go and have my pre-ops done -- the blood work, cxr, and upper GI . and then really surgery is a week from Tuesday. I will keep you up to date on my progress. the hardest part at the end is the waiting . I am not sure how to start a new thread with pulling you name to it so any help with that would be great

[babecakes 0]

Hi Annette,

Hope you remember me.

I'm so happy that you finally got your surgery date:biggrin: and, well, I will b having my surgery on Nov 24. Yeyyyyy for both of us! :w00t:

So, seems that you and I will be recuperating from the surgery almost at the same time.

I have already done my pre-op test and my surgery will be peformed at Stanford Hospital. I do have to have my pre-op appointment on Nov 11. I have already started my shakes:blushing:

There is one change though, I have opted to go with the Gastric Bypass. The reason is because I'm looking for a more permanent life change. I feel that if I would go with the band, there is always that risk of falling off the wagon.You know what I mean?

Anyways Annette, I do wish you the best on your surgery, I will stay in contact with you to see how are you doing.

God bless you!

Babecakes

[sndycnrd 1]

Annette, I’ll bet you are thrilled! Congratulations and best wishes. I sent my email to you via a private message. That way if you want to reach me you can. If you come up with a new thread title be sure to let me know.

I have tried several different shakes to see which I like. Did they recommend anything or can you just pick what you like? I got a call from the insurance lady last week too. She must have been a busy girl. Anyway she wanted me to make my shrink appointment as I was close to being done with my 3 month diet. I told her I was confused because I would not be done until the end of Dec. She told me no that I would be done at the end of Nov. She told me that they have you make 4 appointments to be on the conservative side but that my insurance required 3 visits not 3 months. I must have misunderstood; I thought 3 months would mean 4 visits. She told me to keep the 4th appointment for the time being just in case I need it. I have my shrink appointment on Tuesday. I plan to stop by the office while I am there on Tuesday (the shrink is in the same building) to see what else I need to do. It does seem like they are keeping track of me. She knew about the diet appointments. I think I will stop by anyway just to satisfy my curiosity.

The waiting will be over before you know it!