"I attended a WLS seminar with my friend who was interested in getting the lapband or sleeve and I went with her for support. I did not have my WLS here - I had Gastric bypass in 2008 and am very happy with the outcome.
At the seminar, was the first I heard of the possibility of revision, so I did some research and saw Dr Atkinson as a patient and had an Endoscopy done to check out my pouch and stoma at Desert Springs. I was not sure what that hospital would be like, but it was some of the best customer service EVER and I have worked in healthcare most of my life.
After my test, there were some challenges and mixups with the scheduling to discuss the test outcome which was finally resolved and all was okay. Neither the staff nor I held any sort of grudge and we all moved on...
The best part for me with this practice so far is that I did get connected with their support groups and attend their Nutrition 101 class, which was really good. There is a lot of info presented in a short amount of time, excellent handouts and the nutrition does a great job of redirecting the participants so we stay on track. I was surprised to see many of the attendees there were somewhat "checked" out and not paying attention; for me I am a big believer in advocating for my own body and not depending on anyone to do it for me. I want to be healthy and prevent problems; not have to fix problems after they crop up.
The support groups are also great, but you really get out of both the classed and the groups what you are willing to put into it. The support group run by Dr A is very good, the same for the emotional group run by the therapist and the nutritional group run by the dietician and the "catch-all" group, also run by nutritionist. I did not know what to expect, but they are very good and I am so glad I found the groups. I am still considering the Mind over Eating - the refresher after 5.5 yrs postop has really help me to refocus and get back on track.
They have a retail area that is now open during the support/classes which is soooo convenient."
