Finding a surgeon

It is the fortune of my life that I am always in the right place at the right time. When the idea to finally seek professional help for the weight that would not leave my body struck me, I found myself living in NYC. My coworker directed me to the VERY helpful website, obesityhelp.com. It was through that site that I located my surgeon.

My search was fairly simple. I searched the doctors in my area that had really high ratings and a lot of them. I called 3. The first two had fairly rude secretaries. At the time, I was asking about a procedure still in testing called Gastric Plication. A friend of mine had it a year prior with amazing results. I wanted this surgery for the simple reason that it removed nothing and yet worked like a gastric sleeve.

The first two called wouldn't even speak to me, said a simple, "No, we don't do that," and hung up. Finally, the 3rd doctor had a secretary that did not hang up. She said it was still in clinical trials, but that the doctor would be happy to chat with me about it and booked an appointment.

I began researching him. Extensively.

What I learned made me laugh. I reached this stage of my life at 34. I had lived and worked all over the world, had many times thought about getting help but never took the step, and there was no reason that this was the time I finally made the decision to see someone.

And yet, here I was, working and living in NYC, with the ability to meet with THE #1 leading LapBand surgeon in the world. Not the country. The world. He's done more surgeries than any surgeon, of any kind, in the world. He was brought to the US from Australia to teach American doctors how to DO this surgery 20 years ago. On top of that, he himself had the surgery done 10 years prior.

Jackpot.

Still, I went to the appointment expecting a surgeon's personality. A "God Complex"ed jerk with terrible bedside manner whom I would tolerate because of his excellent resume.

What I found was quite the opposite. He is kind, generous with his time, explained everything in detail, answered all of my questions, and would not let me leave until he told me that I should be proud of myself for admitting I needed help. We spoke about Gastric Plication and he expressed his newfound concerns quite candidly. He explained each type of surgery available, discussed which he thought best for various personality types and asked what "type" of patient I was. He then told me which he thought was best for me and said I should spend time thinking about it and let him know if I would like to proceed.

A surgeon?? Human??

They do exist! It's like the holy grail, but it's real. As I write this, I've had 3 visits with him (my insurance requires 1 more before I can officially "qualify" to apply to them for coverage). Each visit he is kind, answers any questions and is encouraging.

If you're in the NYC area, visit http://thinforlife.med.nyu.edu/ and search for Dr. George Fielding.

Good luck!!