"I really was thankful my insurance chose Cottonwood Hospital . . . I truly had wonderful experiences with all of my nurses, the nurses were really responsive, and the room was private, and big enough to house many visitors :) I felt that my care here was excellent, and the staff was great! "
"10/30/02 - I'm now officially a 'post-op' patient of Dr. Simper's so I thought I'd update this again. Dr. Simper didn't spend a lot of time with me in the hospital, but he did check in everyday and see how I was doing. And, of course, the most important part . . . I can't say enough good things about his surgical skills. The surgery went great, without a hitch. My surgery (Lap RNY) lasted just about 2 hours, and I was out of recovery and in my hospital room only 45 minutes after that. I've had very, very, very little pain, and only mild discomfort . . . I can't not even put into words how shocked I am at how great I feel!
10/07/02 - I have the pre-surgical orientation at Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians today -- from what I understand this is a 2 hour or so meeting where they talk about lifestyle changes, restrictions, the chewing thing, no gulping water, weight loss expectations, recovery time, I think you also weigh in and measure or something like that. I'm really excited about it!
10/04/02 - Well, I met Dr. Simper yesterday, and I really did like him. I found that I really trust him, and I feel super comfortable about having the surgery Lap now. The office staff was really nice, and I especially liked Gwen, the lady who schedules the surgeries . . . she was so cheerful and funny. I'm feeling so good about my decision to do this! I liked how confident Simper was about the Lap surgery . . . he said "If you ask me which one's best, I'd say Lap . . . if you asked Dr. Halverson, he'd say open. And we're both right, you want your surgeon to be doing the surgery he's most confident in and comfortable with." So, anyway, it will be Lap surgery, and I'm really happy about that!
9/17/02 - I haven't met with Dr. Simper yet, but I've been to the "Surgical Solutions" orientation meeting, and dealt a little with his staff. The staff seems genuinely helpful and compassionate, but really hard to get information from in a timely matter. Everyone I've talked to there seems really nice, but it's hard to get a person on the phone who can actually help answer your questions. I know they're REALLY busy, but it seems to be compounded by the fact they're a little disorganized or something . . . they had my paperwork for exactly 5 weeks before anything was turned into my insurance company . . . and all my insurance company requires is a phone call to start the approval process! Anyway, besides the time issues, the Rocky Mountain Associate Physicians seems like a great place to get the surgery done. After care (and pre-care for that matter) seem really thorough and well planned . . . and I've heard nothing but good about all the doctors there. I'll update this when I get further along."
"I really warmed up to Dr. Priest immediately. I felt comfortable discussing things with her that no doctor had taken the time to ever discuss with me before."
