Dr Simper in Salt Lake, Utah

[Amey]

Has anyone used Dr Simper for a lap band to DS revision? The office has all my paperwork and their insurance person is trying to get ahold of my ins to see why exactly I was denied and how to get me approved. The approval for my crap band removal expired but I guess it can be reinstated. They have been really good to always take my phone calls. Just wondering what other people's experience is and what I can expect. I'm an out of state patient too stop I know that makes a difference. TIA

 

[Amey]

Too stop = too so

Stupid auto correct!

 

[TakeIII]

Good Morning Amey,

I had my crap band removed and revised to a DS by Dr. Simper in October. I too traveled to Utah (from Colorado) for my surgery. I was not impressed at all by their insurance facilitator. She was nice, but I didn't feel like she was really invested in helping me. Luckily I have fantastic insurance and they were actually more proactive in reaching out to me to get me fully approved and ensure any pre-reqs. were complete.

I personally liked Dr. Simper. I only met with him once prior to surgery for my consultation. He took about an hour to talk with me about the procedure, possible issues that he might encounter, and long term expectations. Be aware, he does not believe in pain meds after leaving the hospital. If I recall correctly his standard script is for about 10 Vicodin to go home with. I saw him again the day of surgery and briefly confirmed what he would be doing. After surgery he checked on me daily in the hospital. I haven't seen him since I left the hospital. Standard protocol does include a follow up visit, however, I was not experiencing any complications, therefore I didn't find the value in returning to Utah.

Their nutrition advice was RYN focused, so I just did the smile and nod. Their vitamin advice is dismal as well. I started with the Vitalady regime and have been tweaking what I take based on my labs. If I would have followed their guidelines. I would have been in trouble already with my iron, protein, D, and a couple of others. He also does not feel that it is necessary to draw labs until you are one year out. I have gone to my PCP to get those ordered. They will encourage you to buy their bariatric ADEK vits that they sell in house. I would politely decline. They are a complete waste of money.

Hope that helps. If you have other questions I can answer, please don't hesitate to ask.

Tina

 

[newanatomy]

I live in Idaho and traveled to Dr. Simper in Utah for my virgin DS which was performed laparoscopic. You can read many previous posts regarding Dr. Simper and his office on here by using the search function but, if you have any specific questions, we will be glad to help. He is a good cutter. That is why you go to him. The office and policies are a grin and bear it deal.

 

[Amey]

@TakeIII. How long did your surgery take and how long were you in the hospital? Not sending me home with pain meds is not cool with a 5 hour drive home... Were you in a lot of pain after you got home? How long before you were able to go to work? I'm only going to be able to take a week off from work.

 

[Amey]

And who do you have for insurance?

 

[Amey]

The search feature is only letting me search by member posts not keyword. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[newanatomy]

Click on search, then "more" and search by keyword. Hope that helps!

 

[TakeIII]

@TakeIII. How long did your surgery take and how long were you in the hospital? Not sending me home with pain meds is not cool with a 5 hour drive home... Were you in a lot of pain after you got home? How long before you were able to go to work? I'm only going to be able to take a week off from work.

Hi @Amey , my surgery lasted about 3.5 hours. I was in the hospital for 4 days. Unfortunately, we had to reschedule our flights because we originally only planned for 3 days. BUT, I was much more comfortable knowing I could be someplace that professionals were there to look after me, than going home too early. I was having some significant unexplained pain which they decided they wanted to keep an eye on for an extra day.

My largest incision split open the day I got home which resulted in me having to go see a general surgeon as my PCP was not comfortable treating me. Ultimately, there was really nothing that could be done, as they are not able to re-suture that far out from surgery. I just had to keep it clean and covered until it closed up (which took quite a bit of time - around 6 weeks).

I was off work for 2 weeks, and then returned part time beginning week 3. I work from home, so it is much easier to stop and rest if necessary. I will be honest, I typically bounce back pretty quickly, but I would not have been able to go back to work after a week. Even part time from home was taxing after two full weeks off. The pain was significant, but not unbearable. I think my back hurt as much as abdomen due to the fact mobility was so limited. As everyone says, walking really helps!

Dr. Simper is very strict with regards to the pain meds. Many individuals from this site suggested that I request them from my PCP. I ended up getting an additional script from the general surgeon I was seeing for my incision.

I have United Healthcare.

Hope that helps!

 

[Amey]

That helps a lot! My PCP will be ok with pain meds I'm sure. I had my csection incision open up a week after surgery so I'm familiar with letting a gaping hole heal on its own. I have no choice but to come back to work after a week... Both for my job and financially. I took yesterday off because I broke my foot and I'm trying to put out fires and clean up messes. I can't imagine what a week would be like. I'm much more comfortable with 4 days in the hospital than 2 like I had heard. Christina at Dr Simper's office has been really helpful and had always taken my calls... I have never had to leave a voice message which means a lot to me.

As long as it's not worse than an open hysterectomy I think I'll be ok... I had one on a Wednesday and was released from the hospital on Friday and went to work on Monday. I'm just praying for no complications!!

 

[southernlady]

The search feature is only letting me search by member posts not keyword. Am I doing something wrong?

Depends on the keyword. It HAS to be a total of 4 characters so it won't find words like DS or RNY. For words shorter than 4 characters, try using what is called a Wild Card which is the * So to search for RNY, type RNY* to search for DS it would be DS** That is much of the problem. The other issue may be a word TOO common...like searching for food or diet which might bring up almost all the posts we have.

 

[Charris]

That helps a lot! My PCP will be ok with pain meds I'm sure. I had my csection incision open up a week after surgery so I'm familiar with letting a gaping hole heal on its own. I have no choice but to come back to work after a week... Both for my job and financially. I took yesterday off because I broke my foot and I'm trying to put out fires and clean up messes. I can't imagine what a week would be like. I'm much more comfortable with 4 days in the hospital than 2 like I had heard. Christina at Dr Simper's office has been really helpful and had always taken my calls... I have never had to leave a voice message which means a lot to me.

As long as it's not worse than an open hysterectomy I think I'll be ok... I had one on a Wednesday and was released from the hospital on Friday and went to work on Monday. I'm just praying for no complications!!

Dr. Simper has a Christina too. Dr. K's main go to person is Christina. But anyways. I had an open revision Oct. 30 2013 and then I had an open hysterectomy in July 2014. FOR ME THE RNY REVISION TO DS was 1 million times worse than my hysterectomy. However there are things that may be the reason for that. Dr. K had to clean out adhesions for 3.5hr before he could even start the revision. Then since I'm on pain management they did not calculate the amount of pain meds I should have been getting appropriately. Buy the time they did the pharmacy said oops what I had been getting in comparison to what I had been taking on a daily basis for YEARS was the equivalent of a baby aspirin.

 

[Amey]

I'm having a laproscopic band to DS revision. I can imagine an RNY top DS would be about the most painful thing I could think of. I'm glad they got your pain meds figured out. I'm a woose when it comes to pain. I had to get a nerve block in my arm pit when I had hand surgery. I'm usually on one the anesthesia wears off and can wrap my head around it. But when I can't think straight the pain takes over.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

I think Dr. Simper needs to have a nice huge abdominal surgery and be limited to his own pain management regimen. Doctors like that piss me off.

 

[Amey]

I'm so glad this was mentioned. My PCP is amazing. I will definitely be talking to her about this and asking for pain meds when I get home. 10 pills REALLY?!? I used more than that for a root canal!