RobinAnn

Hey guys... thanks for the support.

No surgery for me Wednesday. :bored: My PCP thought the rash was psoriasis (which would be okay for surgery but not for my future quality of life) but wanted me to go to the dermatologist. My PCP got me squeezed in at the derm.

The derm "usually" is confident in this diagnosis but in my case she wasn't. She recommended that I postpone surgery. She took a scraping for a culture and a biopsy. I have a script for it being a fungus. The culture won't be done for two weeks then my husband will be out of town on a business trip. I guess if I can get it scheduled with the surgeon, I'm looking at a month's delay... the week of July 20. :thumbup: Guess I'm becoming a Freedom Fighter instead of a June Journey.

My surgery is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday but it might be in jeopardy.

Three weeks ago I was in to see my PCP and she diagnosed a rash on the rear of my right leg as contact dermatitis and prescribed hydro-cortisone cream.

During the past three weeks the rash go worse and also jumped to my groin area.

It dawned on me Friday that this rash might affect my ability to have surgery on the 17th. I was able to make an appt with my PCP on Monday morning.

Friday night I decided that I'd go to urgent care in the morning and get a diagnosis started since time is of the essence. First thing this morning I headed out to Urgent Care.

The Urgent Care doctor determined was that the rash was fungal (yeast) and noting I'm on a blood sugar medication

was concerned about diabetes. She prescribed meds for the rash (sure hope they work) and had me go for a blood draw to check my sugars.

So, I have a rash the size of an open hand on the back of my leg (the doc also thinks there might be a chemical contact component because of the location) and a two inch wide rash along the inner crease of the same leg. She prescribed a "double dose" of systemic anti-fungal meds and an anti-fungal cream. She understood my concern about getting to Denver and my surgery but she thinks it shouldn't worry the surgeon and I should proceed.

This trip involves driving over two days, hotels in two towns (Monday, then Tues - Thurs), kenneling the dogs, four days off of work for me and and my husband, and a fair amount of prep.

While I was glad to have the doctor's advice and probably more importantly the prescriptions to start my healing, I was still worried about my surgeon's opinion. I e-mailed his coordinator this morning (Sunday, 8 a.m.) and had a response back from my surgeon by 9 a.m. Yes, he has concerns but I should go to my PCP appointment in the morning and the three of us can decide then how to proceed.

I'm really bummed but I know I should postpone if there is any chance of wound contamination. Don't need this inside me!

Thanks for letting me vent.

I'm another June 17 bander here. :cursing: I'll be having surgery in Denver with Dr. Kirshenbaum.

I wish I was on liquids. My doc has me on an Atkins-type regime and I have a real hard time keeping my portion sizes low. (If I could do Atkins successfully, I guess I would have. YKWIM?)

Anyway, I'm three days into the pre-op diet. Just 11 more days.

I would ask for a copy of their Plan Document. Just knowing the insurance they offer will not tell you the benefits. An employer can opt to exclude WLS from most any insurance plan. (For example, it might be very common to have XYZ Insurance cover WLS but your company might exclude WLS because they don't want to pay for that coverage.)

• no need for extender on airline seatbelt (or worry about such)
  
• fit into my EMT jumpsuit again (and the size smaller that they bought me just a year ago)
  
• not having to pack so many clothes when traveling (if I'm smaller and I spill or rip, I could buy something anywhere in a "normal" size)
  
• losing my aching back
  

Once you've created it, you copy the "bbcode" which will look like this... with no spaces... be sure you have it all. THen you paste it into your signature.

[ url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wYJX9ei/ ]

[ img ]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/wYJX9ei/weight.png[ /img ]

[ /url ]

I decided on my own. I'm self-pay, have my surgery date in June and am seeing my PCP tomorrow and telling her what I'm up to. (Kind of bass-ackwards but I hope she supports me. I really have no clue what her opinion will be.)

Thanks for bumping this great post. My local (non-band) dietician was explaining glycogen stores to me and I got lost trying to tell my husband about it. Nice to see it explained so succinctly so I can share it with my dh.

Im am so counting the days, is there anyone else having it done on July the 8th as well?:thumbup:

No on that day, but that would have been my 31st wedding anniversary with my ex.

I'm going on 6/17.

I've told my dh, my firechief (I'm a volunteer EMT), and my old dietician from my most recent weight loss foray. DH for obvious reasons, my firechief because I wanted him to know that I was doing something about my problem (since I'm having trouble doing my job), and my dietician because I want her help as I lose weight. (She's worked with bypass patients and is willing to learn how to help me succeed with the band.) I'll be telling my PCP next Tuesday.

I don't anticipate telling anyone else (well, maybe my ex-husband... but we are close and he's been through many ups and downs with me and my weight).

Great! If you dont hear back from me, then I died on the table and you will know to cancel :mad2: just kidding (sort of) but am excited and as the other poster suggested, a bit tense at times as well! What are you doing for preop? Also, have you spoken with their nutritionalist at all? Lastly, are you cool with no pre op tests? I guess I am, it just seems weird to me but it is a rather common surgery for him. I know if I was riddled with comorbidities that he would likely wanmt something else done. What are your thoughts and lets stay in touch! I want to lose 110 pounds :tt2:

I think this was directed at me. For pre-op, Dr. K. has me doing a low-carb thing for two weeks just prior to surgery. After I talked with him last week, I hopped on the scale and found I had gained 6 pounds since I first scheduled (doing the last supper thing). I got right on a loss program that works for me (HNT... I had lost 90 pounds in 07/08 but have gained back 70 :smile:) and am trying to get a few pounds down. I'm heading out of town for 6 days at the end of the month (family wedding) and then it will be the low-carb thing right after... up until surgery.

I haven't talked to his Nut. yet but I did talk to my dietician on my old program. She encouraged me to come back to her classes after surgery and is willing to learn how to help me succeed with the band. While I will talk to Paula (I think that's her name) and follow her advice, I'm so happy to have someone local who will work with me. My local nut has had a lot of experience with bypass patients but not bandsters. She is open to learning for both our benefits.

As for minimal pre-op testing, I did ask Dr. K about that and his answers reassured me (and I'm pretty healthy in spite of my weight).

Good luck to you.

Hi there. I am in Windsor, 42 yo female and scheduled with Dr Kirshenbaum on June 12th....what about you? Are you scared? I am both nervous and excited!!! Would love to "chat"

Jill

Jill... I'm going a week after you with Dr. K. On the 17th.

June 18 here with Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver. I guess it's real... I told my fire chief today that I was doing it. He is/was very supportive (I'm a volunteer EMT and my a$$ has gotten too big for my jumpsuit let along being able to effectively care for patients).

meat tenderizer is just an enzyme extracted from the papaya, called papain. Adolphs, for example, also contains a bit of salt, flavoring, and anti-caking powder.< /p>

I havent gained anything significant, thanks to running about 700 miles a day......

Oh, and did I mention exercise! Its your number one weapon in preventing regain.

Impressive! :smile:

Susie... my first post here. I could have been your band-mate but I'm traveling to a wedding at the end of may and didn't think I wanted to be just two-weeks post-banding for my travels. I'm currently scheduled one month behind you... 6/17 for my banding with Dr. K.

I'm not from out-of-state but I could be... I live in the far southwest corner of Colorado, seems like a million miles from anywhere.

Good luck to you.