readytoshed

Just curious, in your research did you find out how many sleeves in particular Dr umbach has done?

So sorry to hear your friend had problems getting her appointments - I have never had to call for an appointment - they just set up follow-ups for me and always when it is convenient for me. One of the reasons I didn't want the Band was because of all the follow-up appointments. By the time I had my surgery BC/BS wasn't covering any weight loss surgeries and I know the band was appx 16k alone and all the fills were 200+ each so in the long run it didn't make sense to me.

I don't know anything about Dr. Umbach, but I did have my sleeve surgery on October 8, 2009, by Dr Francis Teng. He is a general surgeon, however, he has been doing the sleeve surgery for the last 7 years. In my research I have found many people who have used him for many different types of surgery (including my dentist) and everyone said the same thing - he runs a tight ship, has used the same surgical team for the last 7 yrs here in Las Vegas, including his brother who is the anesthesiologist. I was a self pay and once I made the decision to go thru with the surgery I had the usual tests plus he required an echo since I previously used phen/phen . It wasn't realistic for me to travel to Mexico as I am the caretaker for my father - the cost of hiring a caretaker for at least a week, the travel, just the fear of being in another country for surgery and possible complications - it was worth it to me to stay in my own town - hospital 10 minutes from my house - an overnight stay in the hospital - wasn't cheap (25k) but Dr Teng's office follows you for 2 years and the hospital (Mountain View) follows you for 5 years - no follow-up charges by either. I figured if it extened my life a minimum of 25 years - that's a thousand dollars a year - less than 1 hundred dollars a month - I felt I was worth it. Good luck to you on your surgery with whatever doctor you select. It was the best decision I ever made. Renee

Sounds yummy ... I'm stopping at the market tomorrow to pick up pork skins!!!!

Eating slowly definately is the answer - that 20 minute stomach/brain relation is true, however, that doesn't stop some of us (me) from taking that last bite - happened to me this evening - had a 3oz lean pork chop and really wanted to get in as much protien in as I could for the day - as I put that last little bite in and was chewing I thought this is not going to go down so I ended up spitting it out - you only have to do that a few times before you know that you are full....

I am fairly new here - actually I've been lurking for a couple of months but thought I could provide some info on this subject. I was diagnosed with Graves (hyperthryoidsm) and could not be treated with meds so I ended up with the radioactive iodine treatment which means no thyroid. I had always been a big girl but after being "nuked" and the doctor I had at that time had me on many many different meds for they thyroid that is when I really started to gain weight - finally found a doctor who had a clear understanding of the thyroid and meds to treat it and got me on the right dose - in the meantime I put on about 75lbs ... I had my surgery almost 4 months ago and have lost 60lbs. I saw my endo about 8 weeks after surgery and at that time had lost 45 lbs - he was so thrilled I thought he would soil himself - his concern now is that we will need to reduce the dose of meds due to the weight loss - will see him in about a month for more labs but I guess my long tale was to explain that you can lose weight with hypothyroidism ... good luck to you!!!