Guest guest Posted April 23, 1999 Report Share Posted April 23, 1999 Felicia Lee, I am sorry you had a bad experience on your first call to Dr. R.'s office. I assure you that Dr. R. and Debbie are anything but rude and discourteous. He is in a fairly sizable practice with other surgeons, but he and Debbie are the only ones involved with the WLS. Don't let this bad experience turn you off. I can promise you that it is just a fluke, and if Dr. R. gets wind of this, I am sure you will have an apology. Give it another try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 23, 1999 Report Share Posted April 23, 1999 Felicia, When you talk with Dr. R. or Debbie, you will hopefully forget your experience from today. They are most wonderful. I have called several times when Dr. R. himself answered the phone and talked just like one of my personal friends. He DEFINITELY would not appreciate anyone talking to one of his (or could be) patients like that. I sure someone will catch h......!! Please call again so you can get to know the real Dr. R. Last spring I went to UNC while he was there and met with him. At that time, my husband didn't go with me, but my mom did. About a month ago, I met with him again, this time my husband went with me. After sort of being against WLS, I wanted him to talk hear Dr. R. After seeing him and hearing him talk and explain things, he thinks Dr. R. is the greatest and he is 150% behind me having WLS. So please, call his office again. Debbie and Dr. R. will be in the office tomorrow morning also. Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 23, 1999 Report Share Posted April 23, 1999 Felicia, I haven't had that experience with the other staff members but I guess you'll have to keep in mind that Dr. Rutlege joined a group of other physicians. Dr. Rutledge didn't even have Debbie when I had my surgery! Sorry you didn't get treated with the respect you should have. Dr. Rutledge is truely caring about this and the one and only time I've called and spoken with Debbie, she was most helpful. Take Care, Kathy === Kathy from Statesville, NC MGB W/Dr. Rutledge 1-6-99 Pre-Op weight 330 3 1/2 month post-op 268 Partners Medicare Choice/won on appeal _________________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 23, 1999 Report Share Posted April 23, 1999 Hello, I am very sorry that you did not have a good experience with our office. Please call me on my pager at any time to talk about your case (9191 470-4000) I can tell you we monitor our performance very carefully and we also obtain post op patient satisfaction surveys asking about office staff nurse hospital and my performance. I can assure you that your experience was an isolated incident. RR Rutledge, M.D., F.A.C.S. The Center for Laparoscopic Obesity Surgery 4301 Ben lin Blvd. P. O. Box 15698 Durham, North Carolina 27704 Telephone #: Fax #: E mail: Dr_Rutledge@... (Note: There is an “_” between the Dr and Rutledge:) Web site: http://clos.net Durham Regional Hospital #: Also, Please consider joining the Mini-Gastric Bypass Mailing List at http://www.onelist.com We have created a mailing list for people interested in the Mini-Gastric Bypass. It is hosted by " Onelist.com " in the Health Category. Talk with lots of other pre and post op patients and friends. Automatically keep up to date on the latest news. > questions > > > From: FeliciaLee@... > > Hi! I'm another newbie to this newsgroup. I called Dr. Rutledge > today for > the first time. I have heard such wonderful things from the > website, this > newsgroup, and from one of the post-op patients that I have been > in contact > with. I was so disappointed! The person who answered the phone was so > unfriendly and unprofessional. She told me that Dr. Rutledge was > in surgery > today, and that Debbie was out sick. She didn't even offer to take a > message! Is his only a two person office? Did they seem > unprofessional to > you? I wish there was a doctor offering this surgery in Northern > Virginia. > If anyone has any tips, or wants to just chat, I would love it > > Felicia > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Looking to expand your world? > http://www.ONElist.com > ONElist has over 115,000 e-mail communities from which to chose! > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This message is from the Mini-Gastric Bypass List at Onelist.com > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 Hi I just joined this group a few days ago after talking in length with Fiesty in a game we both play. I had a subtotal thyroidectomy performed 37 years ago and have been on 120MG of Armour since then. All my tests have come back in normal range. I have seen many doctors since we moved here in 1991. All of them say I should be off of Armour and put on Synthroid since Armour is an " out of date " medicine and that it acts like an Amphetomine. The last Dr. I went to wants me off of Armour and my doseage lowered since my TSH was 0.5 which he stated was to low. He tried to lower my doseage to 90MGS of Armour and was going to lower it 15 mgs every week til I was only on 15MGS and then put me on 50 MGS of Synthyroid. Needless to say after one week at 90MGS I couldn't get out of bed, ached all over etc...he said it was cause I was going thru " withdrawal " from Armour. He is sending me to an (excuse spelling) Endoconologist on Thursday. I would appreciate any advice on what questions I should ask the Endoconologist. I do not have a copy of the blood test they did, all I know is my TSH (I sneaked a peak when Dr. left room) and that was 0.5. Plus I'd like to know if anyone else has run into the problem of Dr.'s telling them that Armour isn't good for them, and that Synthyroid is better. Thank you in advance for any help you are able to give me. Sincerely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 sue, I too am new to this egroup. Also, I am not as educated about thyroid dis/function as many here. However, just last week my doctor after listening to my concerns, suggested that I use Thyroid 60mg (the same thing as Armour 1grain- but in Canada). She said that it would help my T3 production and help me to have more energy. Today I was a bit hyper, but I honestly think it is the coffee from my ultra cool new coffee pot. Otherwise I am feeling great. The important thing that I have learned (and again, I have only been diagnosed for a year) is that you need to use the medication that makes YOU feel good. Synthroid didn't make me feel good...but I have friends that have switched from the natural hormone and they feel much better. Also, I feel that we shouldn't have to " take a peek " when the doctor is gone. I had a doctor here that wouldn't tell me my results...after that I changed doctors. Unfortunately I am aware that in the States you sometimes can't exactly choose your doctors. I hope that you feel well soon and that you get your meds figured out. As for questions I would ask the endrocrinologist for literature about the different thyroid treatments. If s/he tells you something that doesn't jive with what you know or feel, make sure that you get it explained. In the last week I have learned more about Hashimoto's than in the last year. Blessings, Sparrow > Hi I just joined this group a few days ago after talking in length with > Fiesty in a game we both play. I had a subtotal thyroidectomy > performed 37 years ago and have been on 120MG of Armour since then. > All my tests have come back in normal range. I have seen many doctors > since we moved here in 1991. All of them say I should be off of Armour > and put on Synthroid since Armour is an " out of date " medicine and that > it acts like an Amphetomine. The last Dr. I went to wants me off of > Armour and my doseage lowered since my TSH was 0.5 which he stated was > to low. He tried to lower my doseage to 90MGS of Armour and was going > to lower it 15 mgs every week til I was only on 15MGS and then put me > on 50 MGS of Synthyroid. Needless to say after one week at 90MGS I > couldn't get out of bed, ached all over etc...he said it was cause I > was going thru " withdrawal " from Armour. He is sending me to an > (excuse spelling) Endoconologist on Thursday. I would appreciate any > advice on what questions I should ask the Endoconologist. I do not > have a copy of the blood test they did, all I know is my TSH (I sneaked > a peak when Dr. left room) and that was 0.5. Plus I'd like to know if > anyone else has run into the problem of Dr.'s telling them that Armour > isn't good for them, and that Synthyroid is better. Thank you in > advance for any help you are able to give me. Sincerely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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