hopeliveshere

aww i thought the group was going to be made on here.. i dont have a fb

its so great to see how many ny are ppl there are! im down with a playdate. i have 2 girls ages 2 and 5.

^{congrats to you katie! keep us posted on your progress.}

id like us all to keep in touch since we are from generally from the same area. im way at the beginning of the process still. I have to do all of my preop testing still. i dont have a fb either

Where ru getting your surgery ? I'm in bayside I'm getting my surgery at north shore in Nassau county

I think we spoke briefly on the hospitals board. Im using Dr. armando Castro out of NYHQ.

I am over in ridgewood now! I lived in queens most my life except for 2010-2012 i lived in greenpoint.

hey guys I am a queens girl as well! I dont think ill be looking at a surgery date until octoberish i have to do six months of weigh ins with my PCP

I asked my doctor this as well and he also told me that it depends on how much weight you have to lose. he also said that someone younger would have less loose skin than someone older as it depends on your skin elasticity. He said most of the time the biggest issue he sees is that the women will need a breast lift.

Can you request to be knocked out fully for the egd? My problem is i cant even swallow pills and i doubt ill be able to follow a command to swallow when they are inserting the scope. Im afraid i am going to panic

I am still pre-op but had to comment on this as well. Ive been asked twice recently! My winter jacket def made me look pregnant. A family member asked me and i just told them no and to piss off. Then I was at work and an older gentleman kept staring at me out of the corner of his eye and finally came up to me. He said "oh you're expecting, how nice" and he proceeded to touch my belly at this point. i just said somethng like i wasnt comfortable with that and walked away. how mortifying!

Good luck, please post your experience about this if you can. This is the one test i am terrified of and most likely im going to put it off until last.

Def check with your insurance. I have a bmi of 44.6. I do not have diabetes, hbp or sleep apnea. But i do suffer from urinary incontinence, sciatica, high cholesterol and Migraine headaches.

Im just trying to get an idea of when i might be having surgery. My final weigh in will be in september with my PCP.. So after that and all if my testing is completed by then when does the surgeon usually schedule for you to go in?

Thanks in advance

I am seeking a buddy/mentor to travel through the weight loss journey with.

I am 30 yrs old, 5'3 and 253 lbs. I am a mommy to 2 beautiful daughters (2 & 5) and work as a book keeper.

I live in queens ny and i am way at the beginning of the process.

hope to find a buddy soon!

Hello friends,

Well i had my first meeting with the surgeon this passed thursday and everything went well. He made me feel at ease as did the coordinator of the bariatric dept. (she almost made me cry when she told me ill never be in this spot again ---totally normal to get emotional right?). The surgeon answered all the questions i had.

I keep thinking that its going to be so long to have this 6months to wait ( i have to weigh in with my PCP for 6 consecutive months) but i think now its going to go really fast. I have so much to do. i want to try to get all my testing and evaluations done before i go back for my 2nd cosultation in 3 months which will be in aug. Come august ill be on my 5th of 6 weigh ins.

I have to have blood work, see a pulmonologist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist, nutritionist, psych evaluation etc etc. I think im putting off the gastro til last. im s**t scared of getting an endoscopy.

The surgeon wants me to avoid or limit my intake of cake bread rice and Pasta. so right now i practicing eating on smaller dinner plates and trying to strecth my meals out. Hope everyone is doing well!

It has nothing to do with modifications ! The doctors can never get it right with the lapband , they either tighten it too much ,or it's too loose and you will never be at the right place . The lap band is horrible . No I never met dr. Castro . Currently I am dealing with Dr. Gellman and I'm am much happier , my surgery will be in north shore hospital. And I will be getting the sleeve. Perhaps you will have better results with dr. Castro I don't know him. However Merola is not someone I would recommend .

i did indeed meet with dr castro on may 2nd. i liked him very much and he answered all the questions and soothed the fears i had thus far. as of now im proceeding with the sleeve with dr castro. thank you so much for your input and good luck to you!

^{good luck. post later if you can. mine is tomrrow! so excited}

welcome. looking forward to getting to know you. I started the process several weeks ago. i went to a seminar and got a referral and 1 of the 6 weigh ins i need with my pcp. (6 months of weigh ins stink). i have my first surgical consult tomrrow. glad to have other newbies to be around

I too am in the waiting process. I've spoken with the insurance co. and it's a green light, now I'm doing the monthly weigh-ins (for 6 freakin' months!!gah!). I'm trying to eat healthy, just to see if I can lose anything before Nov. But I cheat almost every other day (one day cheese cake, next time mini Mr. Goodbar's, and even too much macaroni and cheese). I just wish the surgery had already taken place and I was on the road to weight loss and results. **sigh**

But I have to tough it out. Don't stress too much over it. I'm sure you will call again and speak to someone when you are sober and remember all that was said! LOL

sounds like you are writing my story here. My insurance covers the suregery and the anesthesia but i have to do 6 months of weigh in as well with my pcp. I just had my first on 4/29. 5 more weigh in's to go! my first consultation is with the surgeon tomorrow. My pcp also wants me to keep a food diary of everything i eat. its been a day and i already cheated yesterday. Boo, hiss! good luck to you

Thanks all so much i will def add the questions to my list! so excited to be taking this step!

Any advice on what kinds of questions i should ask at my intial surgical consultation on may 2nd? I have a few questions in mind like asking how many sleeves the doctor/hospital has performed and has there been any complications/death under their care but thats about all i got. any help would be appreciated.

Ive been dieting since i was 15 years old (i am now 30). I have tried everything from south beach, weight watchers, slim fast, master cleanse, dexatrim, stacker 2, hydroxycut, and a few more. I had my greatest success when alli (the otc version of xenical) came out. i lost 40lbs with it but eventually put it back on and more. I never had a problem pooping my pants on it lol. as long as you stay within the guidelines you are pretty much good with that. But i recently gave alli another try in january of this year. I lost 6pounds in 1 month and that was it. Now ive put 8 pounds back on. Its time for me to get off the diet rollercoaster.

I attended the weight loss seminar this past thursday. got great information and met one of the surgeons. Finally got thorugh to my insurance company this morning and they do cover the surgery and 3 nutrtional visits.what are the nutritional visits?

I have a surgical consultation on May 2nd. very excited for that. My insurance company requires that i have a 6month drs note detailing my weight and i have to attend to bariatric support groups but that is about it. The surgeon said i need to bring a referral from my pcp when i come to the consultation. What is the referral supposed to say?

If i complete the insurance reqirements and all the testing needed how long does the whole process take?

wow thank for that info. i did meet dr merola at the seminar i went to on thursday. He did talk about the lap band and how it takes numerous modifications, which is why i was leaning toward the sleeve. i am supposed to have a surgical consultation on may 2. Did you happen to meet dr castro as well?

Congrats! glad to hear everything went well. wishing you much success.