adamsmom

I'm on March 10tjh, too. Going to TJ to get sleeved by Dr. Kelly.

Looking for anyone else who is a March Sleever for some encouragement. Have my date finally after starting the process 18 months ago, getting sidetracked and finally going for the gold Have a date of March 10 and getting ready to start my 2 week pre op liquid diet... This seems like such an obstacle for me, though I know it is for the me to have a safe surgery... Any thoughts, words of wisdom to get through these next 2 weeks???
Thanks--Jenn

I now have my financing and will be able to move foward with my surgery with Dr. Kelly on March 10th! Just so, so happy that this is finally becoming a reality for me! I have already purchased plane tickets and I'm ready to move to the next, healthy stage of my life! Yay me!

That's so awesome, very thrilled for you!!
:cheer2:

I now have my financing and will be able to move foward with my surgery with Dr. Kelly on March 10th! Just so, so happy that this is finally becoming a reality for me! I have already purchased plane tickets and I'm ready to move to the next, healthy stage of my life! Yay me!

My sister and I just scheduled through Trish with Dr Kelly for March 9th also!! Can't wait to meet you!! DD

Sorry they did this. If you are obsese enough to qualify for WLS then I hate to break it to you, but the success rate of those who do the diet/exercise/will power route is barely 3%, depending on what stats you look at. Reseach has proven that we cannot treat this disease by will power alone, and diets don't work. Good luck to you, dear.

Right, ALM didn't mind continuing to book for Dr Kelly long after the incident in June that everyone is now bringing back up again. Suddenly they can't in good conscious refer potential patients to Dr Kelly. They were more than happy to endorse him as long as it benefited them in some way. They were happy to try to associate their current Dr with Dr Kelly by saying he was trained under him, which he wasn't. They were happy to let people think Dr Kelly and this other Dr was associated together as a team, which they were not. They were happy to use Dr Kellys name with other Dr until they got this Dr's name out on these forums and build up a clientele, anyone who's been around these boards any length of time knows that Dr Garcia just showed up on these boards a few months ago. I'm not saying anything bad about him, because I know nothing about him other than the fact that I've been on these weight loss surgery boards for 7 yrs and I am just now seeing his name. So if it were me personally, no I wouldn't use a Dr that just appeared on the scene. I wouldn't know if that meant that he had just started doing the VSG or what. It would make me think that is the case, and I preferred someone with a lot of experience. Dr Kelly still has an extremely good complication rate for the number of procedures that he has performed, and drudging up incidents from the past to continue to try discredit a Surgeon, or his patient coordinator is ridiculous. I had hoped now that ALM isn't working with Dr Kelly that the drama and BS would die down and we wouldn't have to see folks like GOTTAGO posting this kind of nonsense on the board. Speaking of, I encourage anyone that is in research mode of these Dr's to please look at the content of members such as GOTTAGO and you will find that all their posts are either discrediting Dr Kelly or promoting ALM. They aren't here to seek or offer support for anyone on their weight loss journey. It's apparent they are working for ALM or the surgeon or hospital he uses. Go to GOTTAGO's profile, click on content, and you'll see what I mean. Don't take anyone else's word on anything, not even mine. Do your own research. If you don't feel comfortable with Dr Kelly for whatever reason, then by all means DON'T have surgery with him. But why try to manipulate other people and their decision unless you have some kind of ulterior motive. Why spend all your time trying to talk people out of a surgeon. Let's hear about who you ended up choosing and what YOUR EXPERIENCE with a different Dr is, that is what we are all suppose to be doing.

Who are you telling not to be silly? That's rather condescending, because people are here to do research on a very serious surgery. I don't think it's silly at all, but a seriously legitimate question. What recent death are you referring to?
I try not to point out deaths and complications of other Surgeons when people ask questions, and try to focus on my actual experience with my surgeon. But we both know both of the surgeons in this discussion topic have had a death and complications because they BOTH have done thousands of procedures. And it is quite normal to have a few complications when doing a high number of surgeries, but they BOTH are considered to have a low complication rate despite this. Dr Kelly has never lied to me, has he personally lied to you? It would be nice if we could keep the hearsay and rumors to a minimum, and unless it's happened to you personally, you really don't know these things as fact.

Spoke to Dr. Kelly, and to Trish... and ....... I GOT MY DATE!!! March 9th!!!!!
I'm crazy excited and suddenly NERVOUS!! Not about the surgery... just.. well... it's such a big step, but there's no turning back now..
@HBskinnygirl.. congrats on a successful surgery!

I am also booking directly through Dr. Kelly, and am having my surgery on 3/15. I am looking forward to going, and am glad to hear about so many positive things about him and the hospital.

OMG! adamsmom, this is awesome to read! I have been so upset about all this and hubby is upset cuz we "might have all this money sitting around to use" and really dont need it.
Thank you so much for the reassurance! I am planning on getting all the info that you suggested and I have even "stolen" forms from other insurance companies to have the doc fill out for me. THANK YOU!!

Hi all, I'm brand spankin' new here, and considering Jerusalem Hospital. I know there are many posts floating around about this, that, and the other, but I really want to get to some people who have had, or are going to have the surgery there. I have been approved for March 1st, but am trying to get work things in order before I submit my deposit.
By the way, I'm a 33yo Woman from Texas, 5'9", and 275 :-( I have no ACL in my left knee, and my feet hurt because of my weight....along with many other things. I dream about having this surgery, and how it could improve my quality of my life. I'm active by nature, and love hiking, dancing, biking, swimming, etc.
Enough about me, I'm looking forward to meeting you all!
~Shannon

I moved to a new PCP after I had surgery. My old PCP had a terrible manner with patients and the office staff left a lot to be desired. A friend told me a story about his doctor. My friend is morbidly obese and his doctor gave him suggestions and asked that he lose 5 lbs before their next visit (3 months later). My friend didn't lose the 5 lbs and the doctor laughed with him and said "Man, 5 lbs is just one good s***!" If you know me and my friend, we had a great laugh over this and the next day I asked to switch to this doctor.
Fast forward to my first appointment. I am having trouble with my left knee. He does the exam and asks about prior surgeries. I told him that I had VSG. He was interested and said "With who?" I smiled and told him I went to Dr. Aceves in Mexico! He smiled and asked me why I chose Dr. A. I rattled off all my reasons and he asked how much I had lost. I told him 49 lbs in almost 4 months. The doctor gave me a big smile and said "that is fantastic! I am glad you made the decision that was right for you."
I have to see him again in 6 weeks for my knee and I will bring him my records from Dr. A just so he has a copy. I truly believe that if your current PCP isn't going to partner with you in this journey and share your enthusiasm then you have to find a doctor who will.
Good luck!

OP you are going to lose all that weight and GAIN your self esteem back mama! Then you will realize that verbal/emotional abuse does not have to be put up with. Your kids deserve better than that. Having 2 parents together but unhappy and Dad treating Mom like crap is not a positive thing for them. Having a Mom who is happy, content, and respects herself is so much better for them.
Good luck and just know that you don't have to live like that.

My husband is pretty good, although he has said a stupid thing (or 2 or 3...)(I will be married 30 yrs this yr). The first time he talked disrespectful to me, I was shocked and took it. Then I started taking different approaches like I say to him "Let me get this right, that's how you talk to YOUR WIFE, the ONLY one that truly loves you, no matter YOUR shortcomings? Or You are talking to me like I am a piece of S**T?" How would you like it if I spoke to you like that? OR I'm glad your so perfect and then I point out one of his shortcomings, Or "I may be fat, but I can change. I guess you are just nasty. Maybe you should work on that". Or I have also snapped back "WTF you Jacka**". I find though if you curse too much it loses its effectiveness. I have also said, "How would you like it if someone talked to YOUR daughter like that? Your daughter hears you, and she is going to think this bulls**t is ok. How would you like to get a call from her, at 2 am, crying that her husband treated her this way? (This I found particularly effective). Vary your response, because I think you need to catch him off guard to be effective. Just make sure you respond EVERYTIME he asks like a fool. Anyone who has been married long enough has put up with some stupidity- you are NOT alone! Good luck.

I understand what you are dealing with because I dealt with the exact same thing in the past. Nothing hurts more than hearing your husband saying demeaning things to you about your weight. I was not overweight until after I had my daughter. Looking back, the more he said about my weight, the more I found comfort in food and before I knew it I had gained 60 lbs. I finally got to a place where I was dieting and working out with a trainer and got the self esteem back and got a divorce. But it took me 12 years to get to that place. A few years later I met a guy that seemed to love me and accept me exactly as I was. It didn't take long to figure out I was in the same situation again and refused to go down that path. The marriage lasted less than two years. I have been divorced now for over a year. I am finally starting to find the true me again and I am doing this WLS for nobody else but ME.
I hope you can remind yourself that you do indeed to be treated with respect and although he has gotten by with it in the past, stand strong and tell him you are no longer willing to be disrespected in that way. Also, remind yourself that your weight is not the cause of his bad moods.Work on you FOR you and nobody else.
We are here for you at any time.

It is totally unacceptable for a man, ANY man, to talk to you like that!!! And to encourage your kids to chime in is inexcusable!! It is called ABUSE and it is exactly as if he hit you and then stood by while onlookers kicked and punched you.
You say you have been putting up with this for Ten years?!? I would have told this bozo goodbye long ago. Verbal abuse is insidious and wears down our self esteem, then causes us to believe the crap the abuser is saying.
I am thrilled that you are doing wLS for yourself! That is a positive step in the right direction. You need to also set some boundaries with your kids and hubby. The kids are not allowed to be rude and disrespectful to you, no matter what hubby says or does. I wouldn't let hubby continue with that crap either, even if it meant you are continually saying "you are not allowed to be rude and nasty to me".
He will either get the picture quickly, or he would be EX hubby. My dh is very similar to yours in that he thinks he is allowed to say anything he likes to me and use me as a scapegoat for all his problems. The difference is that mine will soon be an ex because I won't tolerate being treated like that.
Good luck!!
Lissa

Rahnava -
Look at the IRS requirements. This is not considered "plastic" surgery. It is considered sugery which is covered under the guidelines from the IRS. That is why I waited until 2012 to do this surgery.

Hi Adamsmom, I think the doctor's office you choose to go to can give you an invoice that you can give to your fsa vendor and they will cut a check directly to the doctor/coordinator as long as your doctor provides a letter stating it is medically necessary.
I am in the same boat as you are. My insurance might pay if I go through hoops and feilds and everything else but I don't want to deal w/ the hassle honestly. I've had two major surgeries in the US and both have left me w/ never ending bills.

So my surgery is set for February 10th. I have posted a couple of times because I am currently in the same situation. I was not able to front the money for the surgery and wait for FSA to pay me back. My coordinator provided me an invoice stating surgery was on January 20th. My FSA company reimburses on Friday. I am showing my money ready to fund on January 20th. This way I will have a cashiers check to take with me on the 10th. PM if you have any questions. I am using Dr verboonen at Obesity Goodbye.