Obesity clinic at Mayo Clinic

Starting December 1st, 2008, a new obesity clinic at Mayo Clinic will be opening its doors within the new polyclinic facility.
It’s shaping up to be quite an impressive launch—we're looking at a full multidisciplinary team featuring endocrinologists, along with dietitians and psychiatrists brought in as needed.
For anyone living in Chicago or the surrounding areas, getting started should be straightforward; you'll just need a referral for the obesity clinic from your primary care physician.

We all know the new Obesity Treatment Center is officially open, but I’m curious to hear from anyone who has actually been there, checked it out, or perhaps even received some guidance from them...
If anyone can shed some light on how their program actually functions, please share. It would be incredibly helpful for those of us considering taking the plunge.

At the start of the year, there was all this massive hype everywhere about the new Obesity Treatment Center opening up at Rib. Now, I’ve been scouring the internet and various forums, but I can't find a single mention of it anymore. It's like it just vanished. I can't find anyone sharing their actual experiences there, either. So, I guess I'm asking: does anyone actually know if this center is even operational? Has anyone here actually gone there and have some kind of experience to share?? 😕 🤷

Thanks for the link, Megan King15, but I’ve been on that site a hundred times and there isn't a single thing about that center. I'm starting to think the whole thing was just an advertisement and doesn't actually exist.

Does seriously nobody know anything about this? Has really no one even been there???
Someone? Anyone? 🙄

Hello, is there really absolutely nothing anyone knows about this???? 😕😕😕

electricangler16 said:Helloooo, is there seriously absolutely nothing anyone knows about this???? 😕😕😕

I would suggest checking in with your primary care physician; from what I’ve gathered, they can actually issue a referral for those kinds of services.

Thanks for the heads-up, Betty Thomas8, but I didn't actually say I was signing up for that so-called Weight Watchers. They sent me to an endocrinology appointment at the Mayo Clinic first. 🙄
And yeah, I went back in early May 2009, but then they scheduled my follow-up for November 26, 2009. 😲 In the meantime, I tried to find someone who had actually been there just to get an idea of what to expect. But honestly? I couldn't find a single soul who had used them. I searched Google, posted on a few different forums, and still—nothing. Zilch. 👎
I mean, this whole thing is starting to feel pretty weird to me. ☕
Also, you're right about the referral. You have to get a referral from your primary care doctor to even get sent to the endocrinologist in the first place. 👍

electricangler16 said:Thanks for checking in, but I didn't actually say I was signing up for that so-called Obesity Treatment Center right away. They sent me to an endocrinology consultation at Mayo Clinic first. 🙄
I went back in early May 2009, yet I wasn't even scheduled for my initial appointment until November 26, 2009. 😲 In the interim, I tried to track down anyone who had gone through their program just to get a sense of what to expect. However, I couldn't find a single soul who had been there. I scoured the internet and posted on several forums, but to this day, absolutely nothing—not a word, nothing! 👎
It’s all starting to feel increasingly bizarre to me. ☕
And you're quite right about the referral; to get into the "Center," your primary care physician has to write a referral specifically for an endocrinology exam first. 👍

Good grief, that is just awful! A six-month wait!

As for that weight loss program, a colleague at work mentioned it to me. She was saying they design a complete diet based on your specific lab results and might prescribe certain medications if necessary. I didn't press her for details, so I'm not entirely sure if she was referring to Mayo Clinic or some other clinic altogether. I'll look into it a bit more deeply and let you know.

👋Thanks a ton, Betty Thomas8. This actually sounds pretty promising :klap:. I’m really looking forward to your next update. Definitely let me know if it turns out not to be Rib; I suppose I could always try a different Obesity Treatment Center if they take a more systematic approach to weight loss. Honestly, when I first started, six months felt like an absolute eternity, but now it's almost here. I guess I'm just learning how to be patient 🙂 because fighting these extra pounds is such a long, grueling process.
Also, please write back and tell me if it actually helped your colleague—like, were there any real results?
Best, 👋

Hey electricangler16, I’m not sure exactly how much you're looking to lose, but if it's a significant amount, you should really check out the forum threads on gastric bands, sleeve resections, or gastric bypass. There are plenty of guys and girls there who started with massive amounts of weight to lose—I'm talking 110, 130, or even 150 pounds. The record holder is David, who dropped 235 pounds and hit his goal weight perfectly. Personally, I lost 100 pounds in 8 months after getting a band, and I feel amazing—just like everyone else in those groups. Take a look at those topics; it might give you the motivation to go the surgical route. It's a healthy way to drop the weight, and more importantly, it's the easiest way because you're under a doctor's supervision the whole time. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

I really hope this Weight Watchers program is more effective than the treatment I went through at the Mayo Clinic four years ago. Back then, it basically just boiled down to a strict 1,200-calorie diabetic diet and constantly popping Xenical and Reductil... I only had three check-ups the entire year, and that was it. If they actually provide full follow-up, monitoring, and real support, then I truly believe you’ll see better results than I did! Best of luck!

So... since they actually have specialized treatment at the Mayo Clinic's GI department, and everyone knows that's a thing, I think it's worth looking into. If I'm right, the main guy to see is Dr. Zeljko Krznaric—he’s really dedicated to this field. It might be best if you headed over to the Mayo Clinic, maybe check the first floor? They have an office there, so you could probably just ask around over at the second-floor internal medicine unit to get some info.

Karen Williams59 and Carol Price79 - thanks for reaching out 👍. Since I'm already scheduled for November 26th with Dr. Cortez over at Endocrinology (maybe > was thinking of him?), I guess I'll just find out what's going on myself pretty soon enough 😲.
Lisa Thompson - thanks for the advice. I've got about 65 to 90 pounds of extra weight to lose (depending on how you define an ideal weight, I suppose), so I'll go ahead and read through those threads to get familiar with the methods. Maybe that's my path too, 🙂.

Hello!
I see you've been looking for some information regarding this "new" Weight Watchers. I hope this info proves useful to you; please accept my apologies for just now noticing this thread.
I was actually referred there about 4 or 5 months ago. I dealt with an incredibly long waiting list; despite signing up the moment they began operations, I still had to wait an extensive amount of time to be seen. To clarify the process, your primary care physician issues a referral to an endocrinologist, and that referral is what directs you to this specific center. To be perfectly honest, my experience was quite underwhelming. I arrived for my 1:00 PM appointment to find two people ahead of me, with each individual spending roughly 20 minutes with the doctor. When it was finally my turn, the doctor asked if I had brought any previous medical records (since I have consulted endocrinologists in the past), and I politely informed her that I had not. I intentionally did not bring them, as I had fully expected and hoped for a comprehensive review of my history to be conducted on-site. However, she actually seemed offended that I hadn't provided my prior results myself.🤷 😕 She proceeded to ask several general questions regarding my weight, lifestyle, place of employment, job duties, dietary habits, exercise routine, and any existing health issues. She noted all of this down, and then the consultation concluded. Following that, she simply handed me a booklet containing printed advice and a schedule for various clinics where one is expected to attend lectures once or twice a week. In essence, everything is handled in a mass, group setting. 😕 Additionally, one is required to go upstairs to the clinic at the Mayo Clinic every single week just for weigh-ins. 😕 That was the extent of it. Nothing special, and nothing particularly substantive in my opinion. Yes, she did offer me certain weight loss pills, but those naturally come with numerous side effects! 🙄
After my appointment, the waiting room was completely empty. It was quite perplexing to me how they can manage such long lead times for appointments when there was absolutely no one else in the waiting area at that time!!! 🤷
In any case, a massive 👎 for this "endeavor" of opening the Obesity Treatment Center!!

👋 Thanks so much Olivia Rivera!!! Finally some actual facts. I really appreciate you responding. I’m heading there next Thursday, so this info arrived at just the right time. You wouldn't believe how long I've been searching for someone who had actually been there before.🙄
I have to say, I’m not exactly shocked by your experience. I’d already started thinking for myself that it probably wasn't much to write home about. If it were any good, people would be raving about it or complaining loudly, but honestly, there's just nothing to say.😢 I mean, I expected them to at least run some tests to see if my issue was medical, but now I know better than to hope for that. Thank you again; at least I’ll be slightly more prepared for the disappointment. 😢
Since you've reached out, tell me—what did you do after that? Are you going for follow-ups up north? Or did you try to handle things on your own??
Best regards 👋

Hello! So, I've got my appointment scheduled for November 18th over at Rib... and I was just wondering... when I was booking everything, they mentioned I'd need to bring some medical results along with me...

Hannah Bishop said:Hey! So, I have an appointment scheduled for November 18th at Rib... and I'm actually pretty curious. When I booked it, they mentioned I need to bring some kind of test results along with me....

That's just great.👍 Could you please let me know how it went? And what exactly do they need besides a referral? What kind of tests are we talking about here???😲 I guess I'm hoping you'll check back in. Thanks in advance!🙂

You are very welcome! I truly wish I could offer you more encouraging news regarding my experience, but I was also under the impression that Weight Watchers would be something entirely different. In the end, it feels like nothing more than a mediocre department designed to funnel money into our healthcare system. 🙄
When I attended my appointment there, I did not bring any prior medical records; however, after reading the post by Hannah Bishop, I realized they actually require you to bring your own documentation. As I mentioned in my initial post, I INTENTIONALLY chose not to bring any previous test results because I fully expected—and was convinced—that they would perform all the necessary testing on-site so that I would have "fresh" data ready to go. Unfortunately, that was not the case at all. It honestly makes little sense why an endocrinology referral is even required if they aren't going to conduct any significant testing and simply spend the time listening to you talk. 😕
Furthermore, I have no intention of traveling up there for follow-up appointments. The idea of driving all that way just to step on a scale or sit through some trivial lectures about diet and lifestyle is simply unappealing. I can easily find much better information online whenever I feel the need to research something, and I am certain those resources will be superior to anything presented in one of their seminars. ☕ Consequently, I believe the entire process is quite a waste of time!! 👎
Regarding my attempts to handle this independently... in a sense, I have already taken action. After years of being misdiagnosed, I decided to see this through to the end, regardless of the difficulty, to finally secure a concrete diagnosis and proper treatment for my hormonal issues, which were the underlying cause of my weight gain. 😢 Our healthcare system is, as we are all well aware, in a state of absolute catastrophe, and for years, I was merely brushed off with nonsense like, "It’s just PCOS; just take these pills and you'll be fine." It was not fine. Since then, everything has worsened, and my thyroid has been steadily declining. So, here I am... I am focusing on resolving my hormonal health first, and once that is managed, I will address the weight. ☕

Hey everyone. I might be able to shed some light on why you're being sent to an endocrinologist or why they're asking for your medical records. Usually, the referral happens because weight gain can be tied directly to hormonal imbalances. My advice? See an endocrinologist or an internist first. Once you've cleared them and confirmed everything is normal, then you can head over to the Weight Watchers. Plus, you'll actually have the paperwork they'll want to see. You can try any method you like, but if there's even a minor hormonal issue lurking under the surface, nothing you do will help you lose the weight. Good luck.