adamsmom

December 5th, 2008 So a lot went on this week: I now have my appointment for my EKG on the 11th--that's Thursday. I have my group appointment and chect x-ray on the 15th--the following Monday. My dietician appointment is on the 23rd, and my psych eval is n the 29th. All that will be left to do will be my one-on-one consult and then schedule the surgery. Quite honestly, I never expected things to go this quickly. I switched PCP in October, which went in to effect on November 1st. I saw my new PCP on Nov 11. and now I'mthis far along already. I am now beginning to think that my surgery will be scheduled sooner than I can take time off work to get it done. This is not a good time to be taking time of for "elective surgery". I must wait until school is out for spring break. With the current budget crisis, people are losing thier jobs right and left. I want to keep mine and not piss anyone off. ANyway, this has moved bvery quickly. If anyone's interested, my health insurance is with HealthNet HMO. :thumbup:

December 5th, 2008 So a lot went on this week: I now have my appointment for my EKG on the 11th--that's Thursday. I have my group appointment and chect x-ray on the 15th--the following Monday. My dietician appointment is on the 23rd, and my psych eval is n the 29th. All that will be left to do will be my one-on-one consult and then schedule the surgery. Quite honestly, I never expected things to go this quickly. I switched PCP in October, which went in to effect on November 1st. I saw my new PCP on Nov 11. and now I'mthis far along already. I am now beginning to think that my surgery will be scheduled sooner than I can take time off work to get it done. This is not a good time to be taking time of for "elective surgery". I must wait until school is out for spring break. With the current budget crisis, people are losing thier jobs right and left. I want to keep mine and not piss anyone off. ANyway, this has moved bvery quickly. If anyone's interested, my health insurance is with HealthNet HMO. :thumbup:

Congratulations! You deserve all the best. SOunds like your boyfriend needs to take a hike!

Met with my BF for coffee and a bagel this morning--as we have done for more than a decade. Decided to tell her that I was going forward with the surgery. I have insurance approvals for everything but the surgery so far: group health education, psych eval, dietician consult, surgeon's consult. Blood work is done, and the EKG will take place on the 11th. She was pleased. I was surprized. She said she wished she had the courage to do it too. She also said that my mother had said she hoped I would "do something" afetr I casually mentioned it a couple of months ago. Good to know I will have mum's support too. I've not told her because I thought she'd be against it too. I'm kinda of wondering though: my approvals mentioned above, give me until about mid-January to get done. If I jump all these hoops with flying colors, then presumably I'll be eligible for surgery by the end of January. I thought the process would take longer and was planning to get the surgery during summer vacation. If I could get it sooner, then WOW!:thumbup:

Met with my BF for coffee and a bagel this morning--as we have done for more than a decade. Decided to tell her that I was going forward with the surgery. I have insurance approvals for everything but the surgery so far: group health education, psych eval, dietician consult, surgeon's consult. Blood work is done, and the EKG will take place on the 11th. She was pleased. I was surprized. She said she wished she had the courage to do it too. She also said that my mother had said she hoped I would "do something" afetr I casually mentioned it a couple of months ago. Good to know I will have mum's support too. I've not told her because I thought she'd be against it too. I'm kinda of wondering though: my approvals mentioned above, give me until about mid-January to get done. If I jump all these hoops with flying colors, then presumably I'll be eligible for surgery by the end of January. I thought the process would take longer and was planning to get the surgery during summer vacation. If I could get it sooner, then WOW!:thumbup:

SO, I am on this journey of weight loss--have been for more years than I wish to remember. I think I was first conscious of my weight when my horrible aunt Miriam told me I was fat at the age of 9. I was not fat, I just wasn't emaciated looking like her daughters. I dieted through my entire teenage years to stay at 115 lbs and thought I was fat then. I emigrated to America from England at the age of 17 and began to gain weight. Maybe I was depressed about leaving my friends and everything I knew about home. Maybe I couldn't adjust my eating to a more sedentary lifestyle in America--always traveling by car instead of by foot. Eating lots of unhealthy processed foods intead of foods cooked by scratch. Whatever the reason, I began gaining--added a good 20 pounds in my frst year. Through college, the pounds crept on. At 160 pounds, I cried and joined weight watchers for the first time. From that point on I gained and lost, gained it back and then some. Did WW, Nutri System, Jenny Craig, all the others. Got married in 1993, weighing 175. Had my first child in 1995 and had ballooned up to 292 by the time I came home from the hosptial. Lost the 1st 52 pounds by myself, then joined WW again and eventually lost another 66 pounds to get down into the 180's, but the weight crept back on. When I got pregnant with my 2nd child, I was back up to 205. I had struggled with discovering my 1st child is autistic, has a heart condition, is borderline mentally retarded. and has a host of other problems. Stress was my middle name. 2nd child came along in 2000 on July 4th. He too had major health problems at birth and I left the hosptal after having him, weighing 285. After 8 years of trying WW more times than I can count and not getting any lower than 255, I am now back up to 286 and know this weight isn't going to go anywhere. 6 months ago if you had suggested weight loss surgery to me I would have given a resounding NO. I know a few people who'd had gastric bypass and they are now dead or have horrible side effects. I watched AL Roker seem to gain back some of his weight after his public WLS. I read Carne Wilson's books--this was not for me. Then I saw a TV commerical about the lapband and decide to read up. I became more interested and made up my mind to get a lapband in OCtober. I have been working towards that goal ever since. First, I researched surgeons in my area and found that the only one covered by my medical group will only do surgery in a hosptial where I'd had surgery before. The nursing staff were awful and I didn't by choice want to be at their mercy again. In order to get the surgeon with the best reputation, at the hospital with the best reputation, I had to change medical groups and my PCP--I had been with the same PCP for almost 20 years. This will also mean that I have to give up the gynecologist whom I've been with for 15 years and my breast surgeon. Added to the sacrifice is that the first hospital and surgeon are 15 minutes away from my house, the new ones are over an hour away. Add to that that I already work 30 minutes away from home in the opposite direction, I will have some long commutes to make my appointments. But this is the biggest health decision I have ever made in my life and I want to get it right the first time. My change in PCP was not in effect until November 1st, but I had an appointment on the 11th, and got my referral to the surgeon of my choice. I am going for the group seminar on December 15th, and just got insurance approvals in the mail today for my psych eval and dietician consult. Things are moving right along. I am so jazzed about this, I wish it could have been done yesterday! Realistically, I should be able to get the surgery the 1st week in June as I will have completed all of my requirements by then and school will be out for the summer (I am a vice principal). Ambitiously, however, I could possibly get the surgery in March because I geta 2-week spring break and I could possibly have all of my requirements done by then, too. It was kinda weird yesterday--Thanksgiving. It was at my house and we had all this food. My best frind and her family was there, along with a cousin she just found on the Internet--she never knew this cousin existed. Her cousin has he same first name and she came with her husband. SO we're at my house for thanksgiving, a long standing tradition--and we have way more food than the 9 people present need. There's me--almost 300 lbs, my husband--skinny, though says he could lose 10, my firend--probably in the 230s-240s, her husband--bit of a beer gut and just found out he's pre-diabetic, so trying to watch his sugar as he piles on more cranberry relish--my friend's cousin--bigger than me by a god 20-30 pounds, and her husband, the biggest human being I have ever seen in person! I'm not kidding when I say this guy is probably in excess of 500 pounds! I hope I was surreptitious enough when I watched how he moved from place to place in the house, the effort it took for him to get up from a chair, the fear that he would break a kitchen chair when it disappeared underneath him. I was both fascinated and sympathetic. If I feel depressed about my weight, how must he feel? How does his size affect his life negatively? How did he get to be this size? Did he stress out about meeting us, wondering if we would judge him? Could I possibly get that big if I don't do something drastic? At one point in the evening, he and his wife rationalized th amount of food he was thowing down because this was his "last Hurrah" before he started a diet. How many time Ihave I said that? Here I am secretly trying to practice chewing my food to a pulp, and taking small bites and there's this other guy across from me having one of several last hurrahhs! Here I am thinking, I'll never be able to eat like this next Thanksgiving, and this guy is complaining that the dessert plates I put out weren't big enough to fit the wedge of cake he'd cut for himself. There were 4 people in my house that qualify for WLS at dinner yesterday, I am the only one going for it--I don'y discuss it with my best friend because she's very negative about it. Fortunately, I have a very supportive husband who would love me if I weight 85 or 885, but wants me to be happy and healthy and is supporting my decision for WLS>

SO, I am on this journey of weight loss--have been for more years than I wish to remember. I think I was first conscious of my weight when my horrible aunt Miriam told me I was fat at the age of 9. I was not fat, I just wasn't emaciated looking like her daughters. I dieted through my entire teenage years to stay at 115 lbs and thought I was fat then. I emigrated to America from England at the age of 17 and began to gain weight. Maybe I was depressed about leaving my friends and everything I knew about home. Maybe I couldn't adjust my eating to a more sedentary lifestyle in America--always traveling by car instead of by foot. Eating lots of unhealthy processed foods intead of foods cooked by scratch. Whatever the reason, I began gaining--added a good 20 pounds in my frst year. Through college, the pounds crept on. At 160 pounds, I cried and joined weight watchers for the first time. From that point on I gained and lost, gained it back and then some. Did WW, Nutri System, Jenny Craig, all the others. Got married in 1993, weighing 175. Had my first child in 1995 and had ballooned up to 292 by the time I came home from the hosptial. Lost the 1st 52 pounds by myself, then joined WW again and eventually lost another 66 pounds to get down into the 180's, but the weight crept back on. When I got pregnant with my 2nd child, I was back up to 205. I had struggled with discovering my 1st child is autistic, has a heart condition, is borderline mentally retarded. and has a host of other problems. Stress was my middle name. 2nd child came along in 2000 on July 4th. He too had major health problems at birth and I left the hosptal after having him, weighing 285. After 8 years of trying WW more times than I can count and not getting any lower than 255, I am now back up to 286 and know this weight isn't going to go anywhere. 6 months ago if you had suggested weight loss surgery to me I would have given a resounding NO. I know a few people who'd had gastric bypass and they are now dead or have horrible side effects. I watched AL Roker seem to gain back some of his weight after his public WLS. I read Carne Wilson's books--this was not for me. Then I saw a TV commerical about the lapband and decide to read up. I became more interested and made up my mind to get a lapband in OCtober. I have been working towards that goal ever since. First, I researched surgeons in my area and found that the only one covered by my medical group will only do surgery in a hosptial where I'd had surgery before. The nursing staff were awful and I didn't by choice want to be at their mercy again. In order to get the surgeon with the best reputation, at the hospital with the best reputation, I had to change medical groups and my PCP--I had been with the same PCP for almost 20 years. This will also mean that I have to give up the gynecologist whom I've been with for 15 years and my breast surgeon. Added to the sacrifice is that the first hospital and surgeon are 15 minutes away from my house, the new ones are over an hour away. Add to that that I already work 30 minutes away from home in the opposite direction, I will have some long commutes to make my appointments. But this is the biggest health decision I have ever made in my life and I want to get it right the first time. My change in PCP was not in effect until November 1st, but I had an appointment on the 11th, and got my referral to the surgeon of my choice. I am going for the group seminar on December 15th, and just got insurance approvals in the mail today for my psych eval and dietician consult. Things are moving right along. I am so jazzed about this, I wish it could have been done yesterday! Realistically, I should be able to get the surgery the 1st week in June as I will have completed all of my requirements by then and school will be out for the summer (I am a vice principal). Ambitiously, however, I could possibly get the surgery in March because I geta 2-week spring break and I could possibly have all of my requirements done by then, too. It was kinda weird yesterday--Thanksgiving. It was at my house and we had all this food. My best frind and her family was there, along with a cousin she just found on the Internet--she never knew this cousin existed. Her cousin has he same first name and she came with her husband. SO we're at my house for thanksgiving, a long standing tradition--and we have way more food than the 9 people present need. There's me--almost 300 lbs, my husband--skinny, though says he could lose 10, my firend--probably in the 230s-240s, her husband--bit of a beer gut and just found out he's pre-diabetic, so trying to watch his sugar as he piles on more cranberry relish--my friend's cousin--bigger than me by a god 20-30 pounds, and her husband, the biggest human being I have ever seen in person! I'm not kidding when I say this guy is probably in excess of 500 pounds! I hope I was surreptitious enough when I watched how he moved from place to place in the house, the effort it took for him to get up from a chair, the fear that he would break a kitchen chair when it disappeared underneath him. I was both fascinated and sympathetic. If I feel depressed about my weight, how must he feel? How does his size affect his life negatively? How did he get to be this size? Did he stress out about meeting us, wondering if we would judge him? Could I possibly get that big if I don't do something drastic? At one point in the evening, he and his wife rationalized th amount of food he was thowing down because this was his "last Hurrah" before he started a diet. How many time Ihave I said that? Here I am secretly trying to practice chewing my food to a pulp, and taking small bites and there's this other guy across from me having one of several last hurrahhs! Here I am thinking, I'll never be able to eat like this next Thanksgiving, and this guy is complaining that the dessert plates I put out weren't big enough to fit the wedge of cake he'd cut for himself. There were 4 people in my house that qualify for WLS at dinner yesterday, I am the only one going for it--I don'y discuss it with my best friend because she's very negative about it. Fortunately, I have a very supportive husband who would love me if I weight 85 or 885, but wants me to be happy and healthy and is supporting my decision for WLS>

So, I'm doing a happy dance, sorta. I have my "seminar" or whatever that is on December 15th. I will get weighed and photgraphed for my "before" shot during that session and the doctor will talk about AGB and RNY. I got a nice surprise in the mail today:letters from insurance company saying that my surgeon's office requested that they cover my psych eval and nutritionist consult and I gt approved--I thought I was going to have to cover that myself. 2 steps closer to thinness! Yippee!!

What a bummer! Have you considered writing to your psych guy exactly what you wrote here on this post--sounds like you didn't have an opportunity to speak up for yourself at the eval. Also, you could try getting a 2nd opinion. I have been reading some books on band sugery. There's one by Robert W. Sewell and Linda Rohrback: Weight Loss Surgery with the Adjustable Gastric Band--the book goes into everything, but there's also a section on what the psych folks are looking for during the eval--what they want to hear you say. If you haven't read this book you can find it online from Barnes and Nobles. Good Luck!

the colonic sounds like a very good suggestion. I'll keep that inmind for myself. Nothing like being squeaky clean inside and out!

Well done, Michelle! I am a vice principal in California. It would be great to stay in touch. Could be that you and I will get banded pretty close together.

Just have to report that I'm one baby step closer to getting my band, although it's still a ways away! Last month, I made the decision to change PCP so that I could get the surgeon I wanted. I had to wait for Nov. 1st for that to go into effect, then had to schedule an appoinment with my PCP. I saw my new PCP for the first time today. What a doll! I was so worried that she'd be judgmental or lecture me about trying a diet first, and crap like that--Like I got to be 286 pounds yesterday. But she was sweet and impressed that I had researched all bariatric procedures and the local surgeons and understood the process. I would like to get banded at the beginning of June because I work for the school system and I'll have the whoe summer to reuperate and learn my new way of eating. Now, I have my referrals for blood work and a referral to the surgeon of my choice. One baby step closer to my goal!!!

I won't miss... sore feet sore knees sore hips sore back high blood pressure finding clothes to fit feeling embarrassed feeling judged arms the size of two hams not swimming in public feeling ugly feeling guilty about allowing myself to get this way asthma snoring lack of energy fatigue not wanting to fly on a plane

thanks for the positive post--glad to hear you're doing well. Good luck!

If I thought everone in my family would be supportive of this I would tell hem--ditto for friends. I think they will br nrgative and try to talk me out of it--this I need even less than not having support. At work, I do not dicsuss personal stuff: business and personal stuff do not mix. I will get a doctor's note if i need to take time off, but my employer does not have the right to have all the details.

get a new surgeon. I am still shopping for a surgeon. I did not get a good feeling about the one covered by my medical group, so i changed medical groups and Pcp. I have to wait to Nov. 1st to start the stupid 6-month diet garbage--all it's for is to put off and discourage people--nothing to do with what's best for the patint. hang in there.

Hi, The Sutter guys in the Sacramento area are Steven Patching--his office is on Howe Avenue, and he does his surgeries in the Sutter hospitals in downtown Sacramento, and Dr. Waldrep at Sutter Roseville. Both have lots of positive reviews, but Waldrep has COUNTLESS rave reviews. Everyone loves him! I have alos read reports of Sutter Roseville's bariatric department treating patients like they're in a spa!

OK, first of all, if your "old lady" is getting banded through insurance, she has probably had to jump through a lot of hoops to get to this point. She could have changed her mind several times along the way, but apparently she hasn't. If on the other hand she's a self-pay patient, this is a lot of money and she must really want to do this. You talk as if you are the one getting banded. Just because she can't eat the way she used to doesn't mean that you can't. And wouldn't you rather she ate little bits with you for many years to come rather than live a shortened life because of her weight--then you'll have no one to eat with. Have you considered what things you may be able to do together after she sheds those excess pounds? travel, dancing, outdoor sports, improved sex? She needs your support now more than ever, and it seems that you are concerned about how this surgery might negatively impact you, rather than how it will improve her quality of life. Sorry if I seem harsh, but if my "old man" said the things you're saying, I'd be very hurt. You should be happy for her that she wants to change her life and get healthy. Is there risk involved? Yes, but probably not as much risk as staying 100 pounds or more over weight. Will there be pain? Sure, but I live with knee and back pain every day of my life because of the weight, not to mention high blood pressure, asthma, and the hernia I had, as well as the emotional pain of feeling fat and unattractive. I am willing to take a little post-surgical pain for a new lease on life, and I bet your "beautiful, fabulous, brave lady" is too! Just my 2 cents. Peace out!

I know many of you out there feel OK about telling coworkers about your WLS. I do not. I feel that I will be judged and I also feel that this is a very personal decision. I plan to get my surgery during vacation time: Christmas, if I can swing it by then. I get 2 weeks off and could feasibly get back to work with no one knowing, except that some of my job requires being on my feet for extended periods of time and some heavy lifting. I know people will ask when they see the weight oming off, and I plan to say that I am on a serious diet. What have some of you done to hide your surgery? COuld I say I had gall bladder surgery???:crying:

Here's my dilemma: One surgeon, whose info meeting I attended yesterday, is 15 minutes from my house, as is the hospital/support group meetings/nutritional appts, etc. he is in my current medical group. I want to be successful, so attending support meetings is important--if they're close by, I'll be more likely to attend. This guy has done about 400 WLS. The only positive testimonials I can find are on his own website--although I haven't read anything negative either. The other surgeon is an hour away, has done over 2000 surgeries, not in my medical group, although I can change it no problem--just takes more time. I have read countless positive testimonials about this doctor. However, I can't drive an hour away all the time--I have a busy fulltime job and kids and a husband and a life. I want to make the best decision. have any of you gone through this? What did you choose to do? :tt2:

Check with your doctor first. You can be excused from fasing ffor medical reasons--I had a snack during YK when I was pregnant. God understands

Thanks, Deepinfl. I will check out the other guy's seminar this coming Saturday. It's a schlep, but probably worth it in the long run. I'll let you ll know how it goea

Hey Lana24, I am in the process of considering Dr. Koura in South Sac--Methodist Hospital. He charges a Program Fee of $750.00. It is a rip off! However, Mercy San Juan is a much better hospital than Methodist--I have been hospitalized at both --had both of my kids @MSJ--much better care than Methodist. have you considered Dr. Waldrep at Sutter Roseville?

good suggestion--I will attend the other surgeon's seminar. ANother con for the guy nearby is that i have had surgery at the only hospital he uses before and the nursing staff were awful. :thumbdown:I was ignored, even when I pulled the emergency cord because my IV popped out and medicine and fluids were squirting all over the place. :mad2:Whenever I would get a visitor, nurses started coming out of nowhere, fawning over me and acting like I was the only patient in the hospital. :cursing:The reviews of the other hospital are great. :tongue2:They have a special department for bariatric patients and many times previous patients have said it was like being at a spa! :thumbup:Pro for the nearby hospital: they give you self-control IV pain meds, where as the place an hour ago only gives liquid pain meds. I am no fan of pain--can deal with so much, but not a martyr!:tt2:

congrats on getting approved. I am just beginning the process and with everything they want you to do before approval, it's just daunting. I can understand your fear, though--this isprobably the biggest decision in your life. For me, it's bigger than getting married, buying a house, or having kids--this is somewhat uncharted ground for most people; hence, the skepticism. I say keep cioming to the boards for support and only discuss it with people you know will be supportive. Good luck and congratulaions :tt2: