May 04 2008
Still trying to get better
This morning my weight is 340 lbs. That’s 68 lbs. lost so far.
I am finding that, despite this terrific weight loss, most days I feel like I wish I had not had the surgery. The complications I’ve had have been extremely discouraging. I feel like I’ve been sick for the last 3 weeks and I still don’t really feel quite right. I have no energy and have a lot of pain and discomfort in my abdomen. I can’t help but think there is still something wrong.
Also, I am quickly losing faith in Dr. Wade Barker and his staff. They just don’t really seem to care. Any time I need to make an office visit, the wait is always at least 2 to 3 hours. For example, last Thursday, I had an appointment scheduled at 11:30am to see Dr. Barker. I was there at 11:15. I sat in the waiting room until 2:05pm before they finally called me back. When they did call me back, one of his assistants came to talk to me for a few minutes, then I had to sit there for another 15 minutes waiting for Dr. Barker to show up. That day I was late picking up my daughter from pre-school; she cried because she was scared. It made me feel so very angry at Dr. Barker and his staff. They simply have absolutely no consideration for their patients at all, which I think speaks volumes about their practice overall.
If you are someone in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and you are considering bariatric bypass, I would strongly urge you to consider another practice beside Dr. Wade Barker. His practice has clearly grown too quicly and beyond his capacity to manage. I’ve read that he is a brilliant surgeon, and I don’t doubt it, but he’s simply spread too thin. Another thing to think about…Dr. Barker didn’t even perform my surgery, one of his attending surgeons did, this kid named Bobby. Sure, Dr. Barker was there, but just observed. Whoever performed the surgery, the result was an abcess on my colon. Then, the extremely poor care that I received at Pine Creek Medical Center resulted in that infection spreading to a secondary infection in my abdominal wall cavity. These are all facts.
Speaking of Pine Creek Medical Center (in Dallas), it’s the worst hospital I have ever seen or visited. Avoid it like the plague. If you are a patient of Dr. Barker and he wants to perform your surgery their, ask him if there is any way it could be done somewhere else, for example Doctor’s Hospital, which is right next to his practice. Pine Creek is utterly horrible, in my experience.
I am going to try to start writing regularly again. This has been a very difficult experience and I just haven’t felt like writing about it. Hopefully the fact that I am getting past that now is an indication that I am getting better…