015 Dr. Appointment Blitz

After completing the six months of doctor supervised weight loss, Jimmy was scheduled to go in for what we have affectionately deemed the “doctor appointment blitz”! Our blitz was on July 10, 2012. What it entailed were back to back visits with the Surgeon, Dietician, Physical Therapist, and Psychologist. Basically it was everyone you needed and wanted to see to finish getting your insurance approval.

The blitz lasted for approximately five hours. During that time we collected a TON of information, answered a plethora of questions and were given various tests to determine Jimmy’s physical and emotional/mental preparedness for his WLS. The best thing about the whole experience is that this team of blitzers will be helping Jimmy prepare for his surgery, file his insurance paperwork, performing his surgery (ok just the surgeon) and helping him with adjusting to a new diet and exercise program. So it was really great to get a chance to finally meet these people.

During our Dr. Appt. Blitz we also learned that for Jimmy’s safety and a possible transitional weight loss method, Dr. Hornbostel (Jimmy’s surgeon) would like Jimmy to consider doing the gastric sleeve surgery. It will help him to lose weight quickly without the complications of replumbing of the small intestine (on a person Jimmy’s size) that the gastric bypass would include. He is confident that Jimmy will do well with the sleeve and should Jimmy need an additional weight loss push in a year or two the gastric bypass will still be open to him since Dr. Hornbostel will be pursuing the gastric sleeve as a treatment for Jimmy’s acid reflux. The only additional thing we have to do to qualify to have the gastric sleeve as an acid reflux treatment is to have an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy) to prove that Jimmy has a hiatal hernia which is causing his reflux. We even scheduled his EGD for July 17th before we left the office.

All in all, we have nothing about great things to say about Dr. Hornbostel and his team. They really took their time with us and made sure that we understood what we were getting ourselves into. They were realistic with us about the positives and the negatives of the WLS and they are prepared to go through them with us. All in all it was one of the best Dr. Appointments we have ever had.

Over the next several posts I will be talking about some of the specific appointments that Jimmy went through and our experiences through it all.