dbqueen

First of all, thank you to all of you who have posted in this thread thus far! It was so refreshing to find folks who can comment on these issues in such an articulate and intelligent way.
I was totally (and pleasantly) surprised when I went to the "informational seminar" at my surgeon's office near the end of last year. The message was, "obesity is a disease, WLS is a treatment." No blame! As someone with a healthcare background (clinical pharmacist turned biostatistician), I was familiar with this "new way of thinking." That seminar was the first time I had heard any professional providing healthcare for bariatric patients actually articulate the concept. It really blew my mind!
The psychological aspect of this journey toward whole body health is so important! I have worked with several different mental health counselors over the past 20 years. The first three were somewhat helpful but did not have a clue how to address my emotional eating issues, even though that is what I told them I needed to work on. Two years ago, I started working with a clinical psychologist who really "gets it." I wasn't contemplating WLS at the time -- I still thought that I could do it myself with a little help. After six months of biweekly visits, I realized that I did need to have WLS, and then hit a wall with my insurance company.
The insurance company requires that you go through a year of monthly 20 minute phone calls with a nice, but totally clueless, nurse reading questions off a script that did not seem to pertain to preparation for WLS. You also had to participate in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig for a year. Both my clinical psychologist and I agreed that I was ready NOW, but there was no way to penetrate the bureaucracy to see if a waiver was possible. So I gave in, and endured the stupidity for several months -- until about a year ago. My husband and I decided to move nearer to my family and bought a house in NH in June. I was hoping we would be able to move before the end of 2014, so I would not be "in town" to follow through with the program and have my surgery here in VA. That gave me the excuse I needed to quit the stupid insurance program. I think that's what they wanted in the first place!
When it became apparent that we would not move until April 2015, I looked into the possibility of having a VGS as a self pay patient. Long story short, when I went to see the surgeon in whose "program" I was enrolled about this option, he unceremoniously accused my of "jumping the line" and said that the wait would be good for me -- I could learn better habits. Then he said he would not talk to me further and walked out of the exam room. As he was walking out the door, he said that he would refund my copay. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! At that point I looked into having the surgery done with the other bariatric group at another local hospital, and the process has gone smoothly -- I had a VGS done on 2/19 and I a recuperating well.
I talked with my clinical psychologist about my interaction with surgeon #1, and she was speechless. She does a lot of the psych evals for patients for both of the local bariatric surgery groups and knows all of the surgeons. She said it was totally out of character, but totally unacceptable. However, Karma gave me a chance to tell surgeon #1 how I felt. I had lower right quadrant pains and was running a bit of a fever and thought I might have appendicitis, so my husband took me to the ER. They admitted me for a couple of days of IV antibiotics for right ascending colitis. While I was in the hospital, the surgeon on call for GI surgery was none other than surgeon #1! By the time he arrived, I was feeling better and I also knew that he would be coming to see me. I was prepared. He said, "You look familiar -- have we met before?" I said, "Yes, I came to see you about self pay WLS a couple of months ago and you kicked me out of your office." He seemed a little stunned and then admitted that he recollected the interaction. No explanations, no apologies, but I feel as if I got my message across. I hope he never does anything like that to another person!
I have been ashamed of my appearance for almost my entire life. After growing up as a "fat kid" I was able to get down to a "normal" weight for about 5 years in my mid to late 20's, but once I got married and my husband started having a lot of health problems, I turned to food for consolation and the rest is history. The hardest part about all of this was that I felt that as a clinical pharmacist, I should have known better and should have been able to get my eating under control. As the years went by, I started developing all of the expected illnesses, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and a boatload of allergies, depression, and sleep apnea. The thing that lit a fire under me last fall (other than feeling that I was in fact ready and could afford the self pay option) was that my HgA1c's were starting to creep above normal and my BP was no longer controlled by 3 meds. The fact that I knew we'd be moving in April and I did not want to have to go through the whole approval process in a new location weighed on me as well.
I think I have gone on long enough in this post -- I hope it hasn't been "TMI." Thanks for listening, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

Dianne -- Congrats on your new knees and your improved health! That's great news From what I have heard, the rehab for knee replacement surgery is pretty tough. Hope it is going well for you.
I know what you mean about needing help with crave breakers. I, too, am a stress eater. I was doing great until we moved about 3-4 weeks ago. My whole life seems to be in a state of chaos. I've almost got the first floor done, but then there's upstairs and the basement to deal with. At least I am walking around a lot and climbing the stairs multiple times a day! The sleeve prevents me from eating a lot of my prior favorite foods, but I have found a few "silder" foods that I have been trying to avoid. I have had variable success. At least I have not gained any weight -- I'm just not losing
Let's try to keep up the posting on this thread so we can help each other! -- Carol

Welcome, Dianne and Dan! It's been a while since I last posted -- we moved to Durham about 3 weeks ago and we are STILL knee deep in unpacked boxes. Most of the hard work is done, but there is still a lot left to do. I'm hoping to get on to "real life" mode in another 2 weeks at the most.
I am 10 days shy of being 3 months out from my surgery. I had a totally uneventful surgical and post surgical experience and continue to do well physically. Getting enough Protein and fluids in has never been a problem. I did really well with weight loss the first month, hit a 3 week stall, and have done reasonably well in the last month. I guess all of the stair climbing and constant walking around involved in packing and unpacking helped! I have noticed that since I have been on "real" food, I have had a tendency to revert back to some of my prior bad behaviors. Being in a state of household upheaval has not helped the process! Now that things are beginning to get back to normal, I am going to redouble my efforts to get back on track and to start exercising on a regular basis.
I hope everyone is doing well and that we can make this string a more lively place and support each other in our journey! -- Carol

First of all, thank you to all of you who have posted in this thread thus far! It was so refreshing to find folks who can comment on these issues in such an articulate and intelligent way.
I was totally (and pleasantly) surprised when I went to the "informational seminar" at my surgeon's office near the end of last year. The message was, "obesity is a disease, WLS is a treatment." No blame! As someone with a healthcare background (clinical pharmacist turned biostatistician), I was familiar with this "new way of thinking." That seminar was the first time I had heard any professional providing healthcare for bariatric patients actually articulate the concept. It really blew my mind!
The psychological aspect of this journey toward whole body health is so important! I have worked with several different mental health counselors over the past 20 years. The first three were somewhat helpful but did not have a clue how to address my emotional eating issues, even though that is what I told them I needed to work on. Two years ago, I started working with a clinical psychologist who really "gets it." I wasn't contemplating WLS at the time -- I still thought that I could do it myself with a little help. After six months of biweekly visits, I realized that I did need to have WLS, and then hit a wall with my insurance company.
The insurance company requires that you go through a year of monthly 20 minute phone calls with a nice, but totally clueless, nurse reading questions off a script that did not seem to pertain to preparation for WLS. You also had to participate in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig for a year. Both my clinical psychologist and I agreed that I was ready NOW, but there was no way to penetrate the bureaucracy to see if a waiver was possible. So I gave in, and endured the stupidity for several months -- until about a year ago. My husband and I decided to move nearer to my family and bought a house in NH in June. I was hoping we would be able to move before the end of 2014, so I would not be "in town" to follow through with the program and have my surgery here in VA. That gave me the excuse I needed to quit the stupid insurance program. I think that's what they wanted in the first place!
When it became apparent that we would not move until April 2015, I looked into the possibility of having a VGS as a self pay patient. Long story short, when I went to see the surgeon in whose "program" I was enrolled about this option, he unceremoniously accused my of "jumping the line" and said that the wait would be good for me -- I could learn better habits. Then he said he would not talk to me further and walked out of the exam room. As he was walking out the door, he said that he would refund my copay. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! At that point I looked into having the surgery done with the other bariatric group at another local hospital, and the process has gone smoothly -- I had a VGS done on 2/19 and I a recuperating well.
I talked with my clinical psychologist about my interaction with surgeon #1, and she was speechless. She does a lot of the psych evals for patients for both of the local bariatric surgery groups and knows all of the surgeons. She said it was totally out of character, but totally unacceptable. However, Karma gave me a chance to tell surgeon #1 how I felt. I had lower right quadrant pains and was running a bit of a fever and thought I might have appendicitis, so my husband took me to the ER. They admitted me for a couple of days of IV antibiotics for right ascending colitis. While I was in the hospital, the surgeon on call for GI surgery was none other than surgeon #1! By the time he arrived, I was feeling better and I also knew that he would be coming to see me. I was prepared. He said, "You look familiar -- have we met before?" I said, "Yes, I came to see you about self pay WLS a couple of months ago and you kicked me out of your office." He seemed a little stunned and then admitted that he recollected the interaction. No explanations, no apologies, but I feel as if I got my message across. I hope he never does anything like that to another person!
I have been ashamed of my appearance for almost my entire life. After growing up as a "fat kid" I was able to get down to a "normal" weight for about 5 years in my mid to late 20's, but once I got married and my husband started having a lot of health problems, I turned to food for consolation and the rest is history. The hardest part about all of this was that I felt that as a clinical pharmacist, I should have known better and should have been able to get my eating under control. As the years went by, I started developing all of the expected illnesses, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and a boatload of allergies, depression, and sleep apnea. The thing that lit a fire under me last fall (other than feeling that I was in fact ready and could afford the self pay option) was that my HgA1c's were starting to creep above normal and my BP was no longer controlled by 3 meds. The fact that I knew we'd be moving in April and I did not want to have to go through the whole approval process in a new location weighed on me as well.
I think I have gone on long enough in this post -- I hope it hasn't been "TMI." Thanks for listening, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

First of all, thank you to all of you who have posted in this thread thus far! It was so refreshing to find folks who can comment on these issues in such an articulate and intelligent way.
I was totally (and pleasantly) surprised when I went to the "informational seminar" at my surgeon's office near the end of last year. The message was, "obesity is a disease, WLS is a treatment." No blame! As someone with a healthcare background (clinical pharmacist turned biostatistician), I was familiar with this "new way of thinking." That seminar was the first time I had heard any professional providing healthcare for bariatric patients actually articulate the concept. It really blew my mind!
The psychological aspect of this journey toward whole body health is so important! I have worked with several different mental health counselors over the past 20 years. The first three were somewhat helpful but did not have a clue how to address my emotional eating issues, even though that is what I told them I needed to work on. Two years ago, I started working with a clinical psychologist who really "gets it." I wasn't contemplating WLS at the time -- I still thought that I could do it myself with a little help. After six months of biweekly visits, I realized that I did need to have WLS, and then hit a wall with my insurance company.
The insurance company requires that you go through a year of monthly 20 minute phone calls with a nice, but totally clueless, nurse reading questions off a script that did not seem to pertain to preparation for WLS. You also had to participate in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig for a year. Both my clinical psychologist and I agreed that I was ready NOW, but there was no way to penetrate the bureaucracy to see if a waiver was possible. So I gave in, and endured the stupidity for several months -- until about a year ago. My husband and I decided to move nearer to my family and bought a house in NH in June. I was hoping we would be able to move before the end of 2014, so I would not be "in town" to follow through with the program and have my surgery here in VA. That gave me the excuse I needed to quit the stupid insurance program. I think that's what they wanted in the first place!
When it became apparent that we would not move until April 2015, I looked into the possibility of having a VGS as a self pay patient. Long story short, when I went to see the surgeon in whose "program" I was enrolled about this option, he unceremoniously accused my of "jumping the line" and said that the wait would be good for me -- I could learn better habits. Then he said he would not talk to me further and walked out of the exam room. As he was walking out the door, he said that he would refund my copay. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! At that point I looked into having the surgery done with the other bariatric group at another local hospital, and the process has gone smoothly -- I had a VGS done on 2/19 and I a recuperating well.
I talked with my clinical psychologist about my interaction with surgeon #1, and she was speechless. She does a lot of the psych evals for patients for both of the local bariatric surgery groups and knows all of the surgeons. She said it was totally out of character, but totally unacceptable. However, Karma gave me a chance to tell surgeon #1 how I felt. I had lower right quadrant pains and was running a bit of a fever and thought I might have appendicitis, so my husband took me to the ER. They admitted me for a couple of days of IV antibiotics for right ascending colitis. While I was in the hospital, the surgeon on call for GI surgery was none other than surgeon #1! By the time he arrived, I was feeling better and I also knew that he would be coming to see me. I was prepared. He said, "You look familiar -- have we met before?" I said, "Yes, I came to see you about self pay WLS a couple of months ago and you kicked me out of your office." He seemed a little stunned and then admitted that he recollected the interaction. No explanations, no apologies, but I feel as if I got my message across. I hope he never does anything like that to another person!
I have been ashamed of my appearance for almost my entire life. After growing up as a "fat kid" I was able to get down to a "normal" weight for about 5 years in my mid to late 20's, but once I got married and my husband started having a lot of health problems, I turned to food for consolation and the rest is history. The hardest part about all of this was that I felt that as a clinical pharmacist, I should have known better and should have been able to get my eating under control. As the years went by, I started developing all of the expected illnesses, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and a boatload of allergies, depression, and sleep apnea. The thing that lit a fire under me last fall (other than feeling that I was in fact ready and could afford the self pay option) was that my HgA1c's were starting to creep above normal and my BP was no longer controlled by 3 meds. The fact that I knew we'd be moving in April and I did not want to have to go through the whole approval process in a new location weighed on me as well.
I think I have gone on long enough in this post -- I hope it hasn't been "TMI." Thanks for listening, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

During one of my consults with my surgeon (not sure if it was pre- or post-op) I asked him: "Why did you choose to do bariatric surgery?" FYI, this guy is a general surgeon in his 40s who also started doing bariatric surgery, I'm guessing, about 10 years ago. He does other kinds of surgeries too (he operated on my husband for something else), but has done literally thousands of WLSs and is the surgeon who's rated the #1 WLS surgeon in our city.
He answered: "I really wanted to do bariatric surgery because I figured out early on that it's the work I can do that really changes people's lives more than any other kind of surgery I could possibly do for them. This surgery literally changes their lives. Even if I operate on them for cancer and have a great result, they just go back to the life they had before my surgery. But with WLS they come in here for the first consult, sometimes barely unable to walk from the waiting room to the examination room. And a year later they're out there running for exercise, looking great, feeling great, able to work again, getting married, playing with their children, and in the full swing of everything life has to offer."
(Sniff. Seriously!)

First of all, thank you to all of you who have posted in this thread thus far! It was so refreshing to find folks who can comment on these issues in such an articulate and intelligent way.
I was totally (and pleasantly) surprised when I went to the "informational seminar" at my surgeon's office near the end of last year. The message was, "obesity is a disease, WLS is a treatment." No blame! As someone with a healthcare background (clinical pharmacist turned biostatistician), I was familiar with this "new way of thinking." That seminar was the first time I had heard any professional providing healthcare for bariatric patients actually articulate the concept. It really blew my mind!
The psychological aspect of this journey toward whole body health is so important! I have worked with several different mental health counselors over the past 20 years. The first three were somewhat helpful but did not have a clue how to address my emotional eating issues, even though that is what I told them I needed to work on. Two years ago, I started working with a clinical psychologist who really "gets it." I wasn't contemplating WLS at the time -- I still thought that I could do it myself with a little help. After six months of biweekly visits, I realized that I did need to have WLS, and then hit a wall with my insurance company.
The insurance company requires that you go through a year of monthly 20 minute phone calls with a nice, but totally clueless, nurse reading questions off a script that did not seem to pertain to preparation for WLS. You also had to participate in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig for a year. Both my clinical psychologist and I agreed that I was ready NOW, but there was no way to penetrate the bureaucracy to see if a waiver was possible. So I gave in, and endured the stupidity for several months -- until about a year ago. My husband and I decided to move nearer to my family and bought a house in NH in June. I was hoping we would be able to move before the end of 2014, so I would not be "in town" to follow through with the program and have my surgery here in VA. That gave me the excuse I needed to quit the stupid insurance program. I think that's what they wanted in the first place!
When it became apparent that we would not move until April 2015, I looked into the possibility of having a VGS as a self pay patient. Long story short, when I went to see the surgeon in whose "program" I was enrolled about this option, he unceremoniously accused my of "jumping the line" and said that the wait would be good for me -- I could learn better habits. Then he said he would not talk to me further and walked out of the exam room. As he was walking out the door, he said that he would refund my copay. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! At that point I looked into having the surgery done with the other bariatric group at another local hospital, and the process has gone smoothly -- I had a VGS done on 2/19 and I a recuperating well.
I talked with my clinical psychologist about my interaction with surgeon #1, and she was speechless. She does a lot of the psych evals for patients for both of the local bariatric surgery groups and knows all of the surgeons. She said it was totally out of character, but totally unacceptable. However, Karma gave me a chance to tell surgeon #1 how I felt. I had lower right quadrant pains and was running a bit of a fever and thought I might have appendicitis, so my husband took me to the ER. They admitted me for a couple of days of IV antibiotics for right ascending colitis. While I was in the hospital, the surgeon on call for GI surgery was none other than surgeon #1! By the time he arrived, I was feeling better and I also knew that he would be coming to see me. I was prepared. He said, "You look familiar -- have we met before?" I said, "Yes, I came to see you about self pay WLS a couple of months ago and you kicked me out of your office." He seemed a little stunned and then admitted that he recollected the interaction. No explanations, no apologies, but I feel as if I got my message across. I hope he never does anything like that to another person!
I have been ashamed of my appearance for almost my entire life. After growing up as a "fat kid" I was able to get down to a "normal" weight for about 5 years in my mid to late 20's, but once I got married and my husband started having a lot of health problems, I turned to food for consolation and the rest is history. The hardest part about all of this was that I felt that as a clinical pharmacist, I should have known better and should have been able to get my eating under control. As the years went by, I started developing all of the expected illnesses, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and a boatload of allergies, depression, and sleep apnea. The thing that lit a fire under me last fall (other than feeling that I was in fact ready and could afford the self pay option) was that my HgA1c's were starting to creep above normal and my BP was no longer controlled by 3 meds. The fact that I knew we'd be moving in April and I did not want to have to go through the whole approval process in a new location weighed on me as well.
I think I have gone on long enough in this post -- I hope it hasn't been "TMI." Thanks for listening, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

First of all, thank you to all of you who have posted in this thread thus far! It was so refreshing to find folks who can comment on these issues in such an articulate and intelligent way.
I was totally (and pleasantly) surprised when I went to the "informational seminar" at my surgeon's office near the end of last year. The message was, "obesity is a disease, WLS is a treatment." No blame! As someone with a healthcare background (clinical pharmacist turned biostatistician), I was familiar with this "new way of thinking." That seminar was the first time I had heard any professional providing healthcare for bariatric patients actually articulate the concept. It really blew my mind!
The psychological aspect of this journey toward whole body health is so important! I have worked with several different mental health counselors over the past 20 years. The first three were somewhat helpful but did not have a clue how to address my emotional eating issues, even though that is what I told them I needed to work on. Two years ago, I started working with a clinical psychologist who really "gets it." I wasn't contemplating WLS at the time -- I still thought that I could do it myself with a little help. After six months of biweekly visits, I realized that I did need to have WLS, and then hit a wall with my insurance company.
The insurance company requires that you go through a year of monthly 20 minute phone calls with a nice, but totally clueless, nurse reading questions off a script that did not seem to pertain to preparation for WLS. You also had to participate in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig for a year. Both my clinical psychologist and I agreed that I was ready NOW, but there was no way to penetrate the bureaucracy to see if a waiver was possible. So I gave in, and endured the stupidity for several months -- until about a year ago. My husband and I decided to move nearer to my family and bought a house in NH in June. I was hoping we would be able to move before the end of 2014, so I would not be "in town" to follow through with the program and have my surgery here in VA. That gave me the excuse I needed to quit the stupid insurance program. I think that's what they wanted in the first place!
When it became apparent that we would not move until April 2015, I looked into the possibility of having a VGS as a self pay patient. Long story short, when I went to see the surgeon in whose "program" I was enrolled about this option, he unceremoniously accused my of "jumping the line" and said that the wait would be good for me -- I could learn better habits. Then he said he would not talk to me further and walked out of the exam room. As he was walking out the door, he said that he would refund my copay. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! At that point I looked into having the surgery done with the other bariatric group at another local hospital, and the process has gone smoothly -- I had a VGS done on 2/19 and I a recuperating well.
I talked with my clinical psychologist about my interaction with surgeon #1, and she was speechless. She does a lot of the psych evals for patients for both of the local bariatric surgery groups and knows all of the surgeons. She said it was totally out of character, but totally unacceptable. However, Karma gave me a chance to tell surgeon #1 how I felt. I had lower right quadrant pains and was running a bit of a fever and thought I might have appendicitis, so my husband took me to the ER. They admitted me for a couple of days of IV antibiotics for right ascending colitis. While I was in the hospital, the surgeon on call for GI surgery was none other than surgeon #1! By the time he arrived, I was feeling better and I also knew that he would be coming to see me. I was prepared. He said, "You look familiar -- have we met before?" I said, "Yes, I came to see you about self pay WLS a couple of months ago and you kicked me out of your office." He seemed a little stunned and then admitted that he recollected the interaction. No explanations, no apologies, but I feel as if I got my message across. I hope he never does anything like that to another person!
I have been ashamed of my appearance for almost my entire life. After growing up as a "fat kid" I was able to get down to a "normal" weight for about 5 years in my mid to late 20's, but once I got married and my husband started having a lot of health problems, I turned to food for consolation and the rest is history. The hardest part about all of this was that I felt that as a clinical pharmacist, I should have known better and should have been able to get my eating under control. As the years went by, I started developing all of the expected illnesses, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and a boatload of allergies, depression, and sleep apnea. The thing that lit a fire under me last fall (other than feeling that I was in fact ready and could afford the self pay option) was that my HgA1c's were starting to creep above normal and my BP was no longer controlled by 3 meds. The fact that I knew we'd be moving in April and I did not want to have to go through the whole approval process in a new location weighed on me as well.
I think I have gone on long enough in this post -- I hope it hasn't been "TMI." Thanks for listening, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

First of all, thank you to all of you who have posted in this thread thus far! It was so refreshing to find folks who can comment on these issues in such an articulate and intelligent way.
I was totally (and pleasantly) surprised when I went to the "informational seminar" at my surgeon's office near the end of last year. The message was, "obesity is a disease, WLS is a treatment." No blame! As someone with a healthcare background (clinical pharmacist turned biostatistician), I was familiar with this "new way of thinking." That seminar was the first time I had heard any professional providing healthcare for bariatric patients actually articulate the concept. It really blew my mind!
The psychological aspect of this journey toward whole body health is so important! I have worked with several different mental health counselors over the past 20 years. The first three were somewhat helpful but did not have a clue how to address my emotional eating issues, even though that is what I told them I needed to work on. Two years ago, I started working with a clinical psychologist who really "gets it." I wasn't contemplating WLS at the time -- I still thought that I could do it myself with a little help. After six months of biweekly visits, I realized that I did need to have WLS, and then hit a wall with my insurance company.
The insurance company requires that you go through a year of monthly 20 minute phone calls with a nice, but totally clueless, nurse reading questions off a script that did not seem to pertain to preparation for WLS. You also had to participate in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig for a year. Both my clinical psychologist and I agreed that I was ready NOW, but there was no way to penetrate the bureaucracy to see if a waiver was possible. So I gave in, and endured the stupidity for several months -- until about a year ago. My husband and I decided to move nearer to my family and bought a house in NH in June. I was hoping we would be able to move before the end of 2014, so I would not be "in town" to follow through with the program and have my surgery here in VA. That gave me the excuse I needed to quit the stupid insurance program. I think that's what they wanted in the first place!
When it became apparent that we would not move until April 2015, I looked into the possibility of having a VGS as a self pay patient. Long story short, when I went to see the surgeon in whose "program" I was enrolled about this option, he unceremoniously accused my of "jumping the line" and said that the wait would be good for me -- I could learn better habits. Then he said he would not talk to me further and walked out of the exam room. As he was walking out the door, he said that he would refund my copay. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! At that point I looked into having the surgery done with the other bariatric group at another local hospital, and the process has gone smoothly -- I had a VGS done on 2/19 and I a recuperating well.
I talked with my clinical psychologist about my interaction with surgeon #1, and she was speechless. She does a lot of the psych evals for patients for both of the local bariatric surgery groups and knows all of the surgeons. She said it was totally out of character, but totally unacceptable. However, Karma gave me a chance to tell surgeon #1 how I felt. I had lower right quadrant pains and was running a bit of a fever and thought I might have appendicitis, so my husband took me to the ER. They admitted me for a couple of days of IV antibiotics for right ascending colitis. While I was in the hospital, the surgeon on call for GI surgery was none other than surgeon #1! By the time he arrived, I was feeling better and I also knew that he would be coming to see me. I was prepared. He said, "You look familiar -- have we met before?" I said, "Yes, I came to see you about self pay WLS a couple of months ago and you kicked me out of your office." He seemed a little stunned and then admitted that he recollected the interaction. No explanations, no apologies, but I feel as if I got my message across. I hope he never does anything like that to another person!
I have been ashamed of my appearance for almost my entire life. After growing up as a "fat kid" I was able to get down to a "normal" weight for about 5 years in my mid to late 20's, but once I got married and my husband started having a lot of health problems, I turned to food for consolation and the rest is history. The hardest part about all of this was that I felt that as a clinical pharmacist, I should have known better and should have been able to get my eating under control. As the years went by, I started developing all of the expected illnesses, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and a boatload of allergies, depression, and sleep apnea. The thing that lit a fire under me last fall (other than feeling that I was in fact ready and could afford the self pay option) was that my HgA1c's were starting to creep above normal and my BP was no longer controlled by 3 meds. The fact that I knew we'd be moving in April and I did not want to have to go through the whole approval process in a new location weighed on me as well.
I think I have gone on long enough in this post -- I hope it hasn't been "TMI." Thanks for listening, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

First of all, thank you to all of you who have posted in this thread thus far! It was so refreshing to find folks who can comment on these issues in such an articulate and intelligent way.
I was totally (and pleasantly) surprised when I went to the "informational seminar" at my surgeon's office near the end of last year. The message was, "obesity is a disease, WLS is a treatment." No blame! As someone with a healthcare background (clinical pharmacist turned biostatistician), I was familiar with this "new way of thinking." That seminar was the first time I had heard any professional providing healthcare for bariatric patients actually articulate the concept. It really blew my mind!
The psychological aspect of this journey toward whole body health is so important! I have worked with several different mental health counselors over the past 20 years. The first three were somewhat helpful but did not have a clue how to address my emotional eating issues, even though that is what I told them I needed to work on. Two years ago, I started working with a clinical psychologist who really "gets it." I wasn't contemplating WLS at the time -- I still thought that I could do it myself with a little help. After six months of biweekly visits, I realized that I did need to have WLS, and then hit a wall with my insurance company.
The insurance company requires that you go through a year of monthly 20 minute phone calls with a nice, but totally clueless, nurse reading questions off a script that did not seem to pertain to preparation for WLS. You also had to participate in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig for a year. Both my clinical psychologist and I agreed that I was ready NOW, but there was no way to penetrate the bureaucracy to see if a waiver was possible. So I gave in, and endured the stupidity for several months -- until about a year ago. My husband and I decided to move nearer to my family and bought a house in NH in June. I was hoping we would be able to move before the end of 2014, so I would not be "in town" to follow through with the program and have my surgery here in VA. That gave me the excuse I needed to quit the stupid insurance program. I think that's what they wanted in the first place!
When it became apparent that we would not move until April 2015, I looked into the possibility of having a VGS as a self pay patient. Long story short, when I went to see the surgeon in whose "program" I was enrolled about this option, he unceremoniously accused my of "jumping the line" and said that the wait would be good for me -- I could learn better habits. Then he said he would not talk to me further and walked out of the exam room. As he was walking out the door, he said that he would refund my copay. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! At that point I looked into having the surgery done with the other bariatric group at another local hospital, and the process has gone smoothly -- I had a VGS done on 2/19 and I a recuperating well.
I talked with my clinical psychologist about my interaction with surgeon #1, and she was speechless. She does a lot of the psych evals for patients for both of the local bariatric surgery groups and knows all of the surgeons. She said it was totally out of character, but totally unacceptable. However, Karma gave me a chance to tell surgeon #1 how I felt. I had lower right quadrant pains and was running a bit of a fever and thought I might have appendicitis, so my husband took me to the ER. They admitted me for a couple of days of IV antibiotics for right ascending colitis. While I was in the hospital, the surgeon on call for GI surgery was none other than surgeon #1! By the time he arrived, I was feeling better and I also knew that he would be coming to see me. I was prepared. He said, "You look familiar -- have we met before?" I said, "Yes, I came to see you about self pay WLS a couple of months ago and you kicked me out of your office." He seemed a little stunned and then admitted that he recollected the interaction. No explanations, no apologies, but I feel as if I got my message across. I hope he never does anything like that to another person!
I have been ashamed of my appearance for almost my entire life. After growing up as a "fat kid" I was able to get down to a "normal" weight for about 5 years in my mid to late 20's, but once I got married and my husband started having a lot of health problems, I turned to food for consolation and the rest is history. The hardest part about all of this was that I felt that as a clinical pharmacist, I should have known better and should have been able to get my eating under control. As the years went by, I started developing all of the expected illnesses, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and a boatload of allergies, depression, and sleep apnea. The thing that lit a fire under me last fall (other than feeling that I was in fact ready and could afford the self pay option) was that my HgA1c's were starting to creep above normal and my BP was no longer controlled by 3 meds. The fact that I knew we'd be moving in April and I did not want to have to go through the whole approval process in a new location weighed on me as well.
I think I have gone on long enough in this post -- I hope it hasn't been "TMI." Thanks for listening, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

Hi, Debbie -- I'm Carol. I just went for the 2 week follow up with my surgeon and have "graduated" to soft mushy foods. I'm getting a little tired of Protein shakes, so that's a good thing! You asked about my preferences about the Protein Shakes -- I have pretty much stuck with Premier Protein (chocolate and vanilla) and the Atkins shakes (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, mocha latte, and french vanilla). They are all 11 oz., but the Premier Protein shakes have 30 g Protein per serving while the Atkins ones only have 15 g. For these first two weeks, I've been drinking 2 of each daily -- I use the Premier Protein shakes for Breakfast and dinner and the Atkins ones for lunch and an afternoon snack. That's 90 g of protein. I found that I was feeling a little shaky (no pun intended) when I took in 75 g protein/day. The 90 feels just right.
The choice in shakes (like so much of this whole journey) is largely a personal preference. I've always had a cast Iron stomach and have met very few foods I do not like, so I have not had any trouble. My husband tried one of the shakes and said it tasted terrible -- good thing he doesn't need to lose weight I tried several others, but settled in with the Premier Protein and Atkins brands because I liked them the best. I also used the shakes during the 2 week pre-op "liver shrinking" diet I was required to undertake. The only difference between then and these first 2 weeks was that I ate "real" food for dinner (3-4 oz. lean protein and 1-2 c. cooked veggies). I actually lost more weight in the 2 weeks pre-surgery (19 lbs) than I have post surgery (11 lbs). That seems counterintuitive, but I am 60 years old and while I am more active than before, I am still a bit sedentary. Our house is not that big, so there is only so much walking around inside you can do! We at least have two floors, so I am trying to go up and downstairs at least 5-6 times a day. Once spring finally arrives, I can walk around the neighborhood. I'll be going back to work on Monday, and I can do a good bit of walking around the office. I'm a biostatistician and sit in front of the computer all day, so I am going to have to work on developing some better activity habits at work!
One more thing about the shakes -- the "already prepared" ones are more convenient and a little more expensive. I belong to a Facebook group of folks that had gastric sleeve surgery in February, and it seems to me that a lot of the folks who say they can't tolerate the protein shakes are using the powdered ones that need to be mixed before drinking. Again, it's all about personal preference!
I have had absolutely NO problems taking in enough liquid. Some of my Facebook colleagues have had lots of trouble, others have not. Everybody seems to react differently. At first plain old Water (especially iced water) did not sit well with me. I have been drinking lots of fruit flavored herbal teas and have done well with them. I have especially enjoyed the Celestial Seasonings assorted herbal fruit teas (the blueberry and peach are my favorites). I have also been drinking a lot of Bigelow's herbal teas -- I Love Lemon, Orange Spice, and Mint Medley are my favorites. Today I had my first "real" coffee (i.e., with caffeine) and it was fabulous. I'm not supposed to be drinking caffeine at this point, but I tolerated it well.
As for having food problems -- tonight will be my first real food since before I had surgery. I think I am going to have scrambled eggs with a bit of low fat cheddar cheese, and some freeze dried chives. I'll let you know how that goes down! I have bought some unflavored Protein powder to "spike" low fat/no sugar puddings (there are lots of yummy flavors!) and oatmeal (which I plan to have for Breakfast tomorrow). I should be fine based on my past history, and I am not expecting any troubles.
I hope you find this helpful! I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have as you undertake your journey back to good health!

First of all, thank you to all of you who have posted in this thread thus far! It was so refreshing to find folks who can comment on these issues in such an articulate and intelligent way.
I was totally (and pleasantly) surprised when I went to the "informational seminar" at my surgeon's office near the end of last year. The message was, "obesity is a disease, WLS is a treatment." No blame! As someone with a healthcare background (clinical pharmacist turned biostatistician), I was familiar with this "new way of thinking." That seminar was the first time I had heard any professional providing healthcare for bariatric patients actually articulate the concept. It really blew my mind!
The psychological aspect of this journey toward whole body health is so important! I have worked with several different mental health counselors over the past 20 years. The first three were somewhat helpful but did not have a clue how to address my emotional eating issues, even though that is what I told them I needed to work on. Two years ago, I started working with a clinical psychologist who really "gets it." I wasn't contemplating WLS at the time -- I still thought that I could do it myself with a little help. After six months of biweekly visits, I realized that I did need to have WLS, and then hit a wall with my insurance company.
The insurance company requires that you go through a year of monthly 20 minute phone calls with a nice, but totally clueless, nurse reading questions off a script that did not seem to pertain to preparation for WLS. You also had to participate in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig for a year. Both my clinical psychologist and I agreed that I was ready NOW, but there was no way to penetrate the bureaucracy to see if a waiver was possible. So I gave in, and endured the stupidity for several months -- until about a year ago. My husband and I decided to move nearer to my family and bought a house in NH in June. I was hoping we would be able to move before the end of 2014, so I would not be "in town" to follow through with the program and have my surgery here in VA. That gave me the excuse I needed to quit the stupid insurance program. I think that's what they wanted in the first place!
When it became apparent that we would not move until April 2015, I looked into the possibility of having a VGS as a self pay patient. Long story short, when I went to see the surgeon in whose "program" I was enrolled about this option, he unceremoniously accused my of "jumping the line" and said that the wait would be good for me -- I could learn better habits. Then he said he would not talk to me further and walked out of the exam room. As he was walking out the door, he said that he would refund my copay. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! At that point I looked into having the surgery done with the other bariatric group at another local hospital, and the process has gone smoothly -- I had a VGS done on 2/19 and I a recuperating well.
I talked with my clinical psychologist about my interaction with surgeon #1, and she was speechless. She does a lot of the psych evals for patients for both of the local bariatric surgery groups and knows all of the surgeons. She said it was totally out of character, but totally unacceptable. However, Karma gave me a chance to tell surgeon #1 how I felt. I had lower right quadrant pains and was running a bit of a fever and thought I might have appendicitis, so my husband took me to the ER. They admitted me for a couple of days of IV antibiotics for right ascending colitis. While I was in the hospital, the surgeon on call for GI surgery was none other than surgeon #1! By the time he arrived, I was feeling better and I also knew that he would be coming to see me. I was prepared. He said, "You look familiar -- have we met before?" I said, "Yes, I came to see you about self pay WLS a couple of months ago and you kicked me out of your office." He seemed a little stunned and then admitted that he recollected the interaction. No explanations, no apologies, but I feel as if I got my message across. I hope he never does anything like that to another person!
I have been ashamed of my appearance for almost my entire life. After growing up as a "fat kid" I was able to get down to a "normal" weight for about 5 years in my mid to late 20's, but once I got married and my husband started having a lot of health problems, I turned to food for consolation and the rest is history. The hardest part about all of this was that I felt that as a clinical pharmacist, I should have known better and should have been able to get my eating under control. As the years went by, I started developing all of the expected illnesses, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and a boatload of allergies, depression, and sleep apnea. The thing that lit a fire under me last fall (other than feeling that I was in fact ready and could afford the self pay option) was that my HgA1c's were starting to creep above normal and my BP was no longer controlled by 3 meds. The fact that I knew we'd be moving in April and I did not want to have to go through the whole approval process in a new location weighed on me as well.
I think I have gone on long enough in this post -- I hope it hasn't been "TMI." Thanks for listening, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

dbqueen - thank you for sharing. I found your post very interesting and not long at all. I like to read other people's stories. We all got to this point in our lives for different reasons. I suspect that in addition to being a volume eater (it takes a lot of food for me to reach satiety) I am also an emotional eater (later in my life - I am 64).
But my story is different. I was a skinny kid, a skinny teen (116 lbs at 5'5") and 122 lbs at marriage at age 22. I never thought about food. I ate when I was hungry. Stopped when full and stayed skinny. But in my late 20's I started putting on some weight and panicked and joined Weight Watchers and that's when the dieting - and yo yo dieting started and here I am at 64 having dieted for over 30 years and contemplating my SECOND weight loss surgery.
When I started to put on weight in my 20's it was like a switch was flipped. And the genes took over. Both parents, brother, 3 of 4 grandparents, maternal aunt, all three of her kids - all obese. Some of these people were thin at one point - others obese almost from birth. And the one daughter of my obese aunt has two adult kids - a thin boy and a daughter who is her clone and has been obese almost from birth. I am the 4th person in my family to have WLS. On my dad's side - his brother had 4 kids. My dad's brother was short and not overweight. 3 of his 4 kids were normal weight. The last one - a girl - got the paternal grandmother genes (who I mentioned previously) and was obese her whole life - and had gastric bypass many years ago.
There is no way to look at my family and not see the gene impact.
However, I have not discounted my emotional eating. My husband and I were both diagnosed with cancer 11 months apart and while I have survived mine, he died of his almost 10 years ago. A very stressful time then and now for me. Having to watch my young husband slowly die of this dreadful disease took its toll on me. I still have a lot of anger for what it took from him and me. I am in therapy.
I am so glad you didn't go with surgeon #1 and were able to tell him what he did to you. There are so many in the medical field who really shouldn't be.
Sounds like you are doing well except for the colitis. I think your medical problems will resolve over time.
Good luck with your move.

I didn't do powders at all. I am far too lazy.

I'm a self pay patient with Dr. Schroder, Dr. Brengman's partner! My surgery date is coming up soon -- 2/19.

Have you tried doing Kegel exercises? I find them to be very helpful. Here's something to get you started:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/womens-health/in-depth/kegel-exercises/art-20045283
Good luck!