kkandrod

Ok, so this is totally off topic! But, I'm SOOOOOO glad to see another LA person here!! I wanted to know if you would mind messaging me about your whole experience with Dr. Merriman. I'm researching Shreveport docs and was pretty much leaning toward meeting with Dr. Norwood but after talking with my cousin who had him for her vertical band surgery, I wanted to find out about other docs and she had mentioned Dr. Merriman. I know you probably are very busy and still not 100% but when ya feel like it and have the time, I'd love to know all about everything And, congrats on your surgery, your recovery and your weight loss!!! How exciting!! So sorry you had to go through the water/meds coming back up though. I guess everything takes awhile to get used to. God bless ya! Krystal

YAY!!!! So glad to hear you're doing well!!

OHHH!!! I forgot! My husband has been praying and tonight he informed me that he feels like he is supposed to support me with this and that we should just keep researching and go ahead and go through with meeting different docs and if it's all approved by insurance to go for it. YAYYYYYY!!!!!! I told him to keep praying about it and I would too and we'd take it one step at a time :-) Praise God!! So, my prayers are now that my eyes and ears and spirit be open to what He places in my path and if He leads me differently that I not be so caught up in the excitement that I miss what He shows me and do something I shouldn't. He's my Daddy, He knows I'm good at doing that when I REALLLLLLY want something Woohoo!!!!!! I'm excited!!

AMEN lookinup!!! I agree with you whole heartedly! He gave me a perfect body, yes, I'm different and will carry weight differently and on and on but the body I have is NOT what He gave me originally. I, and I alone, took His temple and defiled it. I've done it with food, smoking and tons of other things! Praise HIM for getting me through most of the other stuff that I did to His temple and He WILL get me through this and the other stuff I have to get rid of. But, it is up to ME to ALLOW Him to do it. My Holy Father is a gentleman so He waits to be asked! He has shown me over and over in my life to never say never, and this is yet another one of those instances. I said I would never do a weight loss surgery, I would suck it up and eat right and exercise and blah blah blah. Well, here I am humbled and wanting to do weight loss surgery, lol. God did not do this to me, nor does He do bad things to ANYONE! I did this to me because I didn't let Him have control in my life and I didn't listen when He nudged me to do the right thing millions of times over these last many years. This is my fault, not His. He didn't do this to me but He WILL get me through it because I've given it to Him to take care of. So, I'm with ya on the changed attitude about weight loss surgery and I'm believing He will provide the ways for me to finally do what I need to do to get His body/temple back to where He meant for it to be. Thanks for posting on this thread lookinup! Let's pray for each other ok? I'll pray blessings, favor, healing and health for you, in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen!!

and let's just say he's less than thrilled with the idea of me having this surgery. Before surgery was brought up I asked him if he thought that my lower back issues and my arches in my feet being messed up so badly (and my knee because my lower/back hips are all out of whack) could have anything to do with the fact that my weight is in my middle, mostly in the front. He said that it could definitely play a roll in those issues. Then I told him why I asked, LOL He's all about doing everything naturally, he doesn't even like the use of tylenol or ibuprofen if it can be avoided. So, I kind of expected that from him. He asked if I had had my thryoid checked, tried the exercise and eathing healthy route and all that. I had told him that when it came time for all the paperwork to be submitted I would appreciate a letter for the insurance company explaining my issues and how they are related to or aggravated by the weight. He said make sure I have SEVERAL consultations before deciding on anything and know the ins and outs of every single aspect. So, while he may write a letter for me when it's time, he's definitely going to be reluctant, which I can understand. But, just one more thing to add to the list that could and probably would be improved by me having the surgery. Have a great day everyone!!

Hope you're doing great hugapug!! Like you and loser, I too am a pug lover!! I wish I still had my last one, he was awesome :-( They are the coolest small dog! One day I'll have another one. Can't wait to hear all about your surgery and your exciting discoveries each day!! God Bless! Krystal

Hey Carrie, I talked to some of Dr. Stevens office staff in Lafayette today. She was really nice. She couldn't give me any stats on how many sleeves he's done and his leak or complication rates but I gave her my email and asked if she could send them to me later. She said she's gonna try and get some things together. So, that's cool. You know, I wish you could just set up appts to meet with these docs instead of having to go through all this seminar stuff. I'm so impatient, LOL. I want to meet with the docs FIRST and get my questions answered then have a chance to pray about them and see where I feel like I'm meant to go. But, it's not seeming to work that way, lol. Why can't it be as easy as meeting with pediatricians was when I was searching before my son was born? THAT was simple, call, set up a meeting, talk and ask questions for 30 mins and done. Oh well, guess I'll just keep on hurrying up and waiting

So iron non sleeved is bad in a supplement, iron when sleeved is GOOOOOD!!! LOL Angel, I'm sorry I confused ya or made you wonder. I'm in the research/consult phase and I'm just trying to get my head wrapped around how everything is so different between non sleeved and sleeved. So, when I read something and it makes me think of a question, I just blurt it out right then and there without starting a new topic for it. Didn't mean to hijack your topic there

Ok, this may only apply to normal stomached people and not sleeved because of not getting in things through food as much as it's needed. BUT, my chiropractor, who is all about vitamins, told my husband the other day to always choose a multi without iron because it has been shown to cause heart problems when supplemented. He said only if you are anemic or a baby should a person ever take something with iron in it. SO, I'm assuming with all of you saying how important iron supplementation is, when you are sleeved that reasoning doesn't apply because with the small amounts of food that can be eaten, there's no way to have too much iron between the vitamins and the little bit of food? Hope that makes sense, lol.

Hey Carrie. I'm from Central LA, bout an hour away from Alexandria. Are there any docs that do the VSG in Alexandria, Lake Charles, Lafayette that you've heard outstanding things about? The ones in Shreveport haven't done that many VSG's and that's worrying me a little. Although the one I've spoken with thus far over the phone is a general surgeon and has done partial gastrectomies for reasons other than weight loss for years. LOL, I'm just sooooo concerned with making sure I'm in the best hands. I have United Health Care through hubby's job and I'm thinking that there are other docs in Louisiana that would be considered in network besides just the ones in Shreveport. I'm an hour from Alex, 2 from Lake Charles and 3 from Lafayette so having it done down that way would still be doable for after care and such. Anyway, let us know how everything goes! I know it will all be great for ya! Looking forward to getting to know ya! God Bless, Krystal

Anyone here with UHC through Shell Exploration and Production Co? I called the insurance company and gave them the code for the VSG, it came up partial gastrectomy, not VSG and she had my member ID and stuff so I assume she was looking at the correct policy info in regards to what Shell has set up with them. She said that was an approved procedure with medical notes. But, then when I asked if there were any other histories like weight or anything like that needed she said no but if it was for weight loss that would be a completely different story and code. So, I'm like totally confused, LOL I have heard from others with BMI's lower than 40 that PCOS is considered a co-morbidity, anyone know if thats true???

Hey Carrie! I'm not sleeved, YET I'm just starting the process and next week have checkups with my Primary Care doc and my OB/GYN since I have PCOS and hope to have both of them write whatever kind of letters have to be written when submitting all the paperwork for approval. Then, I guess it's on to meeting with surgeons. I'm having FAITH that all the doors will be opened for me when it gets down to the nitty gritty of getting insurance approval. I don't want any other kind of surgery so I know that my docs are going to have to make a killer case for why VSG is the only kind I should have and then God's going to smile on that killer case and soften the hearts of the "approvers" at the insurance company, lol. Anyway, I saw you were from Louisiana so I wanted to say hey since I'm a LA girl too :-) All my stuff will be going on in Shreveport unless I find out there's just a world renowned VSG surgeon somewhere else in the state, lol. Somebody speak up if there is!! Best wishes on everything!! Can't wait to see all your updates and I bet you'll be in surgery before you know it with you being self pay and not having to jump through the insurance hoops!! Be blessed!! Krystal

Hi Stacy!! LOL I totally agree with you on Him blessing us with our intelligence. I think that's why I found VSG in the first place. So, now I've made the decision of my own free will, but I want His blessing on it before going through with it. Trust me, me and my intelligence have made alot of decisions that were NOT in His plans for me and they have always blown up in my face because I did not let Him have control of the situations. He didn't cause these things to go wrong, I did because I didn't invite Him to be in control of them. So, we are just making sure that my decision is in accordance with His will cuz I sure don't want this one blowing up in my face, lol

Praise God LAN2k for what He did for you with the surgery!! It's so good to see others who know who is in control, but we have to ask Him to be first! I'm thinking I need to not only see my PCP, who I know will be on board (he's who mentioned WLS to me to begin with about 2 years ago, but also my OB/GYN because of the PCOS and he has a longer weight history on me, including losses and gains. I never thought about an Orthopedic doc. I know my Chiropractor has done scans on my feet and I need orthotic in soles in a major way. You think I should include something from him too if he thinks it's weight related? I work for him now, lol, so I don't think that would be a problem. I also saw a cardiologist a couple years back who ran all kinds of tests on me but didn't find anything major wrong. Just that I have a little bit of backflow in one of my valves but he didn't say anything needed to be done about it. So, I don't know if I need to contact him or not to include anything when everything is sent in. The surgery scares me, actually the getting over the surgery and past the risk of complications scares me but then I remember that if God is in control He will protect me and heal me. Plus, it's gonna take God giving me favor with the Insurance company to even get approved. But, I know He will if this is His will!! As far as my sweetheart, I know he is researching as much as he can while at work and he has even talked to one of his best buds out there. Of course, his friend is skinny and his wife is too, lol, so he said he doesn't know how he'd feel if it were his wife, he said he thinks he'd have a hard time. But, my hubby knows he can't base his decision off of someone who isn't anywhere near the situation we are in. So, prayer and research and waiting is what we can do for now. I'm SO ready to go next week to my PCP! Then it's wait again for an appt with whoever he refers me to. I'm gonna call today and see if I can get an appt with my OB/GYN for the same day or the next week so I can get that out of the way, it's past my yearly checkup time with him so that'll be the chance I need to talk to him about it all. Thank you so much for your reply! I love talking to others who rest their cares on Him and believe in His power to make things happen for us. I've seen it over and over and over in my life and I know He's not going to stop answering our prayers. Looking forward to continuing this journey!! Be blessed! Krystal

Girl, I'll be saying a prayer for everything to be ok with that low BP and for your quitting. I'm proud of you for being brave enough to do it!! Up til now, as stupid as it is, I never took the thought of quitting seriously. Now I'm like "whatever, if it means I can have surgery to finally lose this weight, I'll quit" LOL How selfish am I? Sheesh, LOL Wow, me putting that into words just now is kind of an eye opener on the whole subject. Just goes to prove how addicted I am. All the risks to myself and my family were not enough for me to take quitting seriously. But this surgery is making me want to do it. Kinda sad isn't it. Hmmm.....well, I'm off to do some soul searching now, lol. Talk to y'all soon. Tiffykins, keep us updated on the low BP girly. Krystal

Oh Melly! I'm so sorry I scared you with my post!! I have only seen a few people out of the many, many, many who post here and at OH that have had leaks or complications period. I'm just so obsessed with this whole thing that I want every single detail about every single thing that could possibly, or not so possibly, go wrong, lol. Tiffykins, I tell you what, you amaze me girl!! You have been through it!! And come out so well on the other side. You are blessed and you are a blessing to others!! Yeah, after reading from you and some of the others about the whole smoking thing, I'm scared to death to keep smoking and have the surgery. When I finally meet whatever surgeon my PCP sends me to, I'll find out if he requires it to do the surgery but will more than likely quit beforehand regardless of if it's a requirement or not. I know you said that you smoked so had you quit when you had the sleeve surgery done? I haven't seen many people post about smoking on here so I don't know if most of the ones that smoke were smoking pre-op or if they quit and then picked it back up awhile after surgery or if they stayed quit. I know one thing, I pray I quit well before hand because I'd hate to go right up to surgery and quit and go through withdrawals from that and food at the same time. Could you imagine? OH MY, my poor family!! LOL I'd have to be in prayer constantly for sure cuz He's the ONLY thing that could get me through those things! Well, He is anyway but ya know what I mean Thanks for the responses!!!! Krystal

Thanks y'all for the responses!!! So, I was talking to him tonight and he seems to be coming around, maybe, lol. He said, "I don't know baby, part of me wants to tell you to go for it because I know it's what you really want to do but the other part of me is still thinking about how crazy having 85% of your stomach cut out seems." It's an improvement y'all! LOL Bless his heart. As far as not wanting someone else to make this decision for me, I understand those sentiments. But, I also know that when I really want to do something, even though I seek the Lord's guidance for everything, I sometimes mistake my fleshly desires and reasons as His answer. In our marriage, when it comes to things that will affect not just the one person but the whole family, we both make sure and pray for God's answer, not ours. So, when I said that if my husband felt like he was led by the Lord to not be for this, I would have to really take that seriously. I know this may not make much sense to some, lol. But, I just wanted y'all to know I'm not married to some control freak or anything, lol. He's an amazing man who I trust with my life and who I know seeks the Lord's guidance in everything too and if he felt to his core that God was not giving him peace about this, I would have to listen because I trust him and know him well enough to know that he wouldn't just say that to keep me from doing something, it would be, literally, the God's honest truth. Trust me, I'm spoiled ROTTEN and he would bend heaven and earth to give me anything I ask for and has, 'til now:wink0: And will with this too if we are both given the green light from Above. :thumbup: Ok, so obviously, y'all know more about me now. Hope ya didn't mind that little marriage bio there, lol. Thanks again for all the replies! I really hope to get to know y'all alot better! You ladies are some amazing and strong women!! I spent an hour or so reading over the NSV's thread. SO inspiring, heartwarming and funny!!! Oh I PRAY that I get to be posting on there soon with my little ticker in my signature!! Hey, maybe my hubby's quote up there at the top of this post could be considered my first little NSV huh? LOL Have an awesome night ladies and fellas!! God Bless y'all! Krystal

I've been obsessed with this site and OH for the last week or so. And, I know that leaks are uncommon but I've also read about a few who have had them and one or two who are dealing with MAJOR stuff because of them not healing. My question is, how many of you who had leaks after surgery know the leaks were caused from being revised from another surgery? Ok, so there's more than one question, LOL. Second one is, those of you who had leaks that were not caused by damage done from the band or from whatever it was that you were revised from, were they the surgeons fault or was it something that just happened without a known cause? I am a smoker, and if I get approved for surgery I do plan on quitting beforehand. But, because of being a smoker for 17 years now, I have to cough from time to time and sometimes even have coughing fits if I have or am getting over a cold. I have a 6 year old so I'm constantly getting exposed to his little colds he brings home from school and usually end up sneezing and coughing alot and I'm freaking out over that happening right after surgery and winding up in a horrible situation. Basically, if someone who's never had any other WLS surgery does the VSG and follows the diet to a tee, they have pretty good odds that a leak won't happen right? I know alot depends on the surgeon. But, leaving the surgeon out of the equation. The one I'm looking at hasn't done a ton of VSG's but has been doing bypasses for several years and has been a general surgeon for many years and has had to do removal of parts of the stomach due to cancers and things. So, I'm hoping that if he's who my pcp refers me to, he's got an awesome handle on the whole thing. Anyway, just looking for leak experiences with the whole back story, no matter what they may be. And, I just want to say that I'm so glad you are on the other side of that experience!!! And if you are still going through it, I pray for your healing!! Thanks in advance and God Bless!! Krystal

So, as some of you know, I'm in the research phase. I feel, as of now, that VSG is an awesome option for me. I have 80 lbs to lose but a BMI of around 36 so I don't even know if my insurance would approve me. BUT, just pretending they did, I still have the husband hurdle to cross. He is the most amazing man and I am so thankful God brought us together but bless his heart, he totally does not get why I need to do this. He says that he just doesn't understand why I would need to get 85% of my stomach cut out to lose weight when if we would just knuckle down and eat right and exercise we could lose our weight. What he is forgetting is that I have been overweight my whole life. He met me at a time when I was my smallest, size 10'ish and that was only because I had went through a divorce and was partying and not eating. As SOON as we started dating and I quit living that lifestyle (and for my whole life before that) I started gaining weight. I got up to 211 and found out I had PCOS and did Atkins and lost down to 180'ish and got pregnant. After our son was born, I basically starved and did diet pills and got down to around 175 for a wedding and after that ballooned back up to 212. Did weight watchers for about 6 months and got back down to around 185. When I slowly backed off weight watchers I gained and wound up around 226. And I gained weight every time FAST, no 10 lbs a year for me. More like 10 lbs a month and it wasn't because I was just eating horrible. If I'm not doing a strict diet all the time, I'm gaining weight. That's how my body works. And, because of the PCOS, 90% of my excess weight is around my middle. That scares me. I can't sleep on my back anymore, my knee kills me, my hips hurt me, my ribs hurt and everything behind my ribs hurts because of all the fat being in my stomach area. I feel like crap all the time. We want to have another child and I know that losing weight when you have PCOS does help with conceiving and the diet that you have to eat with the lower carbs and stuff is perfect for PCOS. So, even though I don't necessarily have the co-morbidities to go along with my 36 BMI I think that with my waist measurement and the PCOS that I am a good candidate. But, even with all that my husband still doesn't get it. I've told him to go look up risks involved with excess abdominal fat and even maybe some husband's perspectives on different sites. But other than that I don't know what to do. I absolutely would not go against him if he said that he did not feel good about me doing it. But, I do want to make sure he fully understands everything before he forms his final opinion. Part of me thinks he is scared about the risks to me as well as us not being able to make going out to eat our fun thing to do on date night and maybe even a little worry about how I may act/dress once I got skinny and hot, lol. He's precious and I love him so much and I just want him on board. But, I also know that I want him to do the research and pray about it and if the Lord gives him the gut feeling that I shouldn't do it, then I wouldn't do it. Ahhhh, so much to think about. I guess I just needed to vent a little. Because in the end, even if he said to go for it, the insurance company is still a factor. They won't even tell me if they approve VSG period, just that WLS are covered but they want a 40 BMI or 35-39.9 with two co-morbidities, and unless PCOS and hurting hips/knee or reflux counts, I don't meet that. And, we can not/will not self pay. If anyone has any info/sites for me to share with hubby, let me know. He's at work and can't access any type of message board websites on their network. Just regular websites. Thanks and God bless! Krystal

Ok, so I haven't gotten a for sure doctor yet. I want to go to my PCP first and have him refer me to one. BUT, I am going to ask him about this one doctor who did the lap band on a friend of mine and he came highly recommended. I called this doctor's office and spoke for a long while with the desk and she answered a ton of questions for me with no problem at all. And I felt ok with him being the one that I might be referred to. After reading about making sure your doc has done 300 or more VSG's I'm second guessing myself. This doc has only done 10 to 15 VSG's for weight loss. BUT he is also a general surgeon and has been doing similar surgeries to the VSG for stomach cancer and other reasons for many, many years. She said he loves the VSG surgery and would love to be doing them more than any other WLS but hasn't because there are only a couple insurance companies that cover and around here, most are not going to have the money to self pay, so that makes sense. Cuz I'm not going to be able to self pay if my insurance declines me because my BMI isn't 40. Anyway, he has had zero complications from the VSG's he has done. So do I take comfort in that and the fact that he is also a very, very experienced general surgeon who has done a ton of surgeries involving the stomach and even removal of part of the stomach? Or do I write him off completely as a choice because he's only done 10 to 15 VSG's? Thanks in advance and God bless! Krystal