Hello all,

I am strongly considering having the band done by Dr. Finks, who was highly recommended by my PCP as a first rate surgeon. Has anyone else been a part of their new program at U of M in the last two years? At the seminar, I was informed that they had only done 130 bands between the two surgeons, but a lot of gastric bypass procedures. I know the risk is significantly lower with the band, but this group is pretty new to the game, so I'm trying to find someone with experience working with them.

Thanks!

Now they are saying they've done 130? About a month ago I called to ask how many bands they've done and I was told a number MUCH lower than that.

A little background: My insurance only paid for me to go to either UM, Hurley in Flint or Beaumont when I was approved last year. Now they've dropped Beaumont and only pay for UM or Hurley. I had called and made appointments and went to the info sessions for a couple of the Beaumont docs, to Hurley and had called UM to ask about the band as the only online info I could find was RNY related. The lady last year told me they had done 2 bands. TWO. I called again about a month ago to ask if their info session covers bands and to find out how many they've done since then and for the life of me I cannot remember the number, but I want to say it was about two dozen. Amazing they've gone from a couple dozen to 130 in a month or so.

The program is pretty new, not that that is bad at all, and Birkmeyer is a really experienced laparascopic doc, Finks is quite new to the game, only been really doing it about four years. I've heard stories of folks who thought Finks was an a$$, but I take that with a grain of salt.

I still don't think UM would be my choice for a band, they haven't done enough. And their entire website is still devoted to bypass. What will they offer you with a band that is geared toward your goals? Or do they lump the care for a band with the care for a bypass? It should be different, but many surgeons don't distinguish between the two and we bandsters get the short end of the stick.

Does UM still charge you to get signed up to their site?

The last question I would have for them is since UM is a great academic institution, would ANY residents or fellows be operating on me? I would ONLY want either preferably Birkmeyer or Finks operating on me. Especially if they've placed so few bands. You don't want someone who isn't really experienced themselves teaching someone else who has no experience (on you).

While the band is significantly lower in risk than the bypass, it also requires a lot of skill to place it in exactly the right spot. You don't learn that from a couple of bands, that is something learned over time.

I was pretty happy with Hurley's program. If they are an option, you might wish to check them out.

I talked with the U around a year ago and they told me that they hadn't done any bands yet.........and that it was a very long process to get approved. That was all I needed to know.

Thanks for the info faith. They did explain at the seminar in May that they were now doing three bands every Monday and RNY bypass on Wednesdays, so they could concievably do a dozen bands a month. Maybe the secretary miscommunicated the information to you about the dozen lapbands.

Dr. Birkmeyer was at the seminar and I asked some very pointed questions about the band and if revisions could be done to RNY should there be complications from the band. He explained that he and Dr. Finks were both present for every band operation and that they were the ones doing the procedures - together.

I also heard from my PCP that Dr. Finks was very... meticulous and to the point. I assumed from that description (knowing my PCP) that althought the man was a very talented surgeon, but had little to no patient skills. Thus, I'm interpreting that I can expect to find the man abrasive, but my procedure done with the highest level of skill. A small price to pay for a job well done, as I do not expect to talk much to the surgeon anyway, and really only care that the job is done correctly the first time.

As I am a UM patient for several other specialities, my PCP suggested I might find that the coordination of care would be far easier to implement as I am in their system and have been for more than a decade. Should any of my other physicians require information or need to see me in the hospital after my procedure for any reason, I would be in the best place possible, as all records are kept electronically. As I am diabetic, and other things, I do feel if there was an emergency, I would rather my own endocrinologist be available for that situation than another doctor. In effect, I would be more comfortable with UM as a hospital, even if it meant that I had to work with a practice that had less 'practice'.

As far as them quoting the 130 lapbands, I did believe Dr. Birkmeyer when he gave that information. He realized that it was a small number, but immediately gave the statistics of their complication rate (which was a blood clot in one patient with a history of clotting), and the fact that they were relatively new to the procedure, but that they supported Lap Band as it was a good choice for so many patients. If you take into consideration the fact that they could do a minimum of 12 procedures a month, they can easily rack up the 130 he quoted. It is clear, however, that they are far more skilled at RNY due to the fact they have done so many of those surgeries over the last few years.

I actually watched the Lap Band surgery online, and found it is really not very complicated. After hearing from my PCP the intense, lifesaving procedure that Dr. Finks completed on one of his family members, this procedure should be easy for them. I do wish I could find someone that had the Lap Band from them so they could confirm the costs, and any 'surprises' that they experienced along the way, as it is expensive anyway you look at it.

I find it slightly irritating that each program requires you to attend their seminar, even if you have sat through several. It's the same info over and over, and boring if you have heard it more than once. I really do not find it necessary to sit through another, and Hurley is requiring the same as the others. It was illuminating, however, during one I was at last spring, they were actually trying to convince people that they would need to purchase their supplements directly from their program ONLY, and should they not follow their specific program using THEIR supplements, you would be asked to find another doctor. That was unacceptable!

Hello again!

I just got off the phone with UM and found out a few interesting details.

They no longer require a fee to become a part of their program. Evidentally the fee used to be required due to the Remedy MD software/online reporting they were using for patient/doctor correspondence. They no longer use this program, so the fee has been eliminated.

Dr. Finks did his Fellowship in Laproscopic surgery in WA state, of which an extensive part of the training was in Gastric Banding. As I had a Fellow participating in my hysterecomy in Dec at UM with no complications or worries, this training would be sufficient for me to feel that he is proficient at the procedure. If necessary, I'm sure his credentials would be forwarded upon request which would allow anyone to get references from his Fellowship program in WA.

The UM program will not use my date of referral from the PCP as the 'start date' of the six months they require for the doctor supervised weight loss program THEIR program requires. This is separate from the insurance requirement, and additionally, they require you loose 5% of your baseline, which is 15 lbs for me, before surgery. I was hoping to use the referral date, as I wanted to schedule the psych, nutrionist, medical eval, etc. all on the same day and it would require up to 8 weeks in advance of the appt to schedule those together. At $4 a gallon, it would be worth it to wait, however, they do not want the 'packet' sent in any earlier than 3 months after the beginning of my doc supervised weight loss (required before you are admitted into the program), which sets me back a month if I want to minimize my trips south. So.... I could have the surgery several weeks earlier if I'm willing to drive the 2 1/2 hrs several times instead of once. Since I want to minimize my out of pocket ($2400 year), I will have to make a bunch of trips south to make sure this is accomplished before 12/31/08.

I also found out that they are not a Center of Excellence, but are eligible for patients of Blue Network now. They must do a minimum of 100 lapbands a year to get that ranking, and while they are on target to get that distiction for this calendar year, it still means that any Medicare patients cannot use UM for their bariatric surgery. Should they successfully complete the 100 required surgeries during the 2008 calendar year, and because they have already met the other requirements, they would be considered a Center of Excellence starting in 2009. This is all according to the person I talked with this afternoon of course...

I hope this helps anyone else interested in UM for their Lap Band make their decision on whether to investigate UM Bariatric as a possible program. I tried to think of all the questions I could, but I'll admit, I was most interested in the questions that directly affected me individually.

It was interesting to find out that just over a year ago they were still trying to get approval to become a bariatric program for gastric banding. They had to do 3 surgeries before approval, but who would want to be those first three people???? Both doctors had done the gastric band in other hospitals before, not together, but still... It wouldn't have been me as the guinea pig!

hi...i can't speak to u of m, but i highly recommend port huron lap band center. i was just banded 5/23, and they are amazing. good luck with your decision and let me know if you have Qs.

Hello
I'm part of the U of M program. I've been to 2 support meetings. I find that there is a push for the gastric bypass, maybe because there is never lapbanders at the meetings. Everything is geared for the bypass people. You do have to remember that during the discussions about how great the bypass is. Make your own decision, you have to live with the result.
2 support meetings are a requirement and I liked them. They were very informative. I really learned alot. I'm hoping to get my date soon. Just gotta get another test for an infection. I found out that I had an infection that I didnt know that I have. I'm glad that I'm an U of M patient and that they are very diligient.
I hope that after my surgery that I remember to go to support meetings and help newbies.

Can anyone list the contact info for Dr. Finks? I googled but there are several Dr. Finks. Thanks!

Here is the office # 734-647-6685