No Turning Back

July 27, 2012 - “Man, it’s cold. Why is it so cold?” Strangely, that’s about the only thought going through my mind as I was wheeled into the operating room. I vaguely remember a few folks busily tending to their tasks at hand, and all I could think about is how cold it was. I remember two young ladies talking to me, but I don’t really remember everything that they said. I was about to ask them how the surgeon was going to get this done when his fingers are frozen stiff. But that was about the time she told me that I was going to sleep.

Flashback to November 2011. I was sitting in a seminar conducted at the Bariatric Center of Kansas City, led by Dr. Stanley Hoehn. This was the first step in the process of a surgery that would forever change my life. I was there primarily at the recommendation of my primary care physician, Dr. Louis Christifano. (I could write a dozen pages on why he is a fantastic doctor, but that’s another story.) The seminar lasted a couple of hours and was pretty much what I expected. At the end of the night I had not changed my mind, and wanted to move ahead.

The next six months were filled with supervised diet visits required by my insurance company, as well as sessions with Dr. Sabapathy (BCKC’s psychologist), pre-procedure testing, and educational sessions . BCKC is a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. The COE is a requirement of my insurance, and I would not think of using a facility that is not a COE. My personal experience with BCKC is despite the COE certification, they have quite a few areas to improve. More on that later.

“Man, that hurts. Is it supposed to hurt this bad?” When I woke up in recovery all I could think of was the extreme sharp pain in the left side of my stomach. I looked for Sigourney Weaver to shoot whatever was about to erupt from my mid-section. Two things happened that helped me lose this thought. First, they hooked me up to the morphine. Second, they wheeled in another patient who was screaming at the staff to stop his pain. I soon told them I felt great, only so it would get me away from this hysterical man and up to see my family. One of the staff that was becoming a target of his tantrum was more than happy to take me to my room.

My procedure was at Shawnee Mission Hospital in Overland Park, KS. My experience there was exceptional. The staff was absolutely fantastic. I truly felt that my comfort and recovery was a priority. Maybe all hospitals are this way. I hope so.

It’s now 11 days later. Recovery is moving forward. I still have the pain in my left side. It’s likely muscle/nerve related as this was where they removed a portion of my stomach as well as where my drain was placed. I have no regrets for having the procedure done, but I am looking forward to a more normal life. I guess I still have to define that. That’s all part of the journey.

Lastly, I wanted to share my thoughts on the process and my doctors:

Dr. Hoehn – I first met Doctor Hoehn at the seminar. He had someone on his team formally introduce him, and entered the room to applause. I found that unnecessarily pompous and ceremonial, but it’s his show. Other than that, I really have not been able to form an opinion of the man. In the 7 months since I have been a patient in his process, I had a combined total of 20 minutes (maximum) conversation with him. That was during two appointments. I expected to see him before surgery, but did not. The rest of the time is spent with his staff. I assume he is just too busy to spend much quality time with his patients.

That being said, I can say that a personal relationship is not nearly important as having the best possible care. And every bit of research I did told me that Dr. Hoehn is one of the best. I’d rather have the best doctor that I rarely speak with over a mediocre doctor that talks my ear off.

Case Management –The practice assigns a specific member of their staff to serve as your case manager. Their primary function is to make sure that you meet all of the pre-surgery requirements, and they serve as liaison with the insurance company. My case manager was all over the first part of that, but really struggled with the insurance company. My insurance company had changed requirements shortly after I started the program, and dropped the six month supervised diet. It took at least 4 weeks and numerous phone calls to get her to file the authorization request, and only did so after I had the insurance company set up a three way call with her to explain that she can submit the request. I guess that the reason she can’t things straight is that she is overworked.

Dr Sabapathy – I’m not much of a fan of introspective analysis where you can pinpoint all of your problems to specific cause. But I will say that I found the time I spent with him to be very valuable, and critical to my long term success. I found him to be a very approachable guy, and very good at what he does.

I think 95% of any issue or frustration that I experienced with BCKC comes down to communication. They tend to be slow, and often incomplete. I’ll blame that on how busy they are. But that’s still no excuse.

Would I recommend this procedure to others? So far, absolutely yes.

Would I recommend BCKC  to others? For sure. Despite my frustrations, they have an excellent program. And nobody’s perfect.