Hello,

My name is Kara. I'm 24 years old from Green Bay Wisconsin. I have been overweight my entire life and have struggled for years. I can typically lose about 15 to 20 pounds on my own, but that's the most I have ever lost. It doesn't stay gone.

Here's my story... About as far back as I can remember.

I have a huge family. My mother has been married 3 times, and my father 4. I have two biological sisters who seemed to get my fathers genes. My one sister who is 2 years older, is exactly 5 feet tall and weighs about 95 pounds. My one sister who is 4 years younger is a little over 5 feet and weighs around 110. I am 5'7 1/2 and my last weigh in was 299.9. I was so elighted to see I was under 300! :001_smile:

Anyway, as far back as I can remember, I was teased about being overweight. I never really ate that much, but it just kept adding on. By the time I was in 5th grade I was already in a size 14.

Throughout middle school, I got the nick name blubbercheeks. Infact, I started calling myself it because it made the teasing stop. Kids in school didn't find it amusing anymore when it no longer bothered me to be called a name. I was now calling myself names. I continued to gain weight throughout middle school. I wasn't very active in sports, but I was in volleyball.

In highschool, same thing. I wasn't really active in sports. I tried out for volleyball freshman year but was cut from the team. Sophmore year I tried out again and made the team. I was 290 pounds My sophmore year, and lost only 15 pounds the entire volleyball season. This took me down to 275. I was involved in a lot of other things in school. Forensics, Theatre, Choir, Pep Club. All this to keep my mind away from my weight.

I maintained the same weight all throughout the rest of high school. I think my senior year, I finally dropped down to about 260.

Senior year of highschool, I met my husband. He was my first boyfriend, my first everything if you know what I mean. We dated through graduation and the start of my freshman year in college.

I don't know what happened, but my freshman year I was happy, in love, and I lost some weight. I got down to about 250 on my own. No dieting nothing.

The world turned.... I suffered from severe depression, and I started making myself throw up. I got down to my lowest on record. 236. This only lasted about a week.

I had to drop out of college because my mom didn't want me to stay as I was making myself sick.

I quit school and moved back home. My husband and I at the time were driving a very rocky road, and because of the stress I started gaining all my weight back. I was a size 20 at this time, my lowest that I can ever remember.

Things changed, and my husband and I got our own place and got married. I was 19 at the time I got married. My weight was pretty steady at around 275. That seems to be the magic number. I'm always around 275.

Now I've failed to mention that during these years, I was constantly on diets. I have tried everything from making myself throw up, to weight watchers. The weight would come off, a few pounds here and there but as usual would come back on.

5 months after I got married, I re enrolled in college. A week into school and my husband and I had to get up and move 1/2 way across the country to Massachusetts. You see, my husband is an immigrant and throughout our marriage we had tons of immigration problems. Our lawyer felt this was the best way to get things moving.

Boy was he wrong. We moved to Massachusetts and nothing happened. We wasted a lot of money and precious time. Because of all the stress, I got up to 305 pounds when I moved. I told my husband that I couldn't handle it anymore and I wanted to move back home. 6 months after being there, we moved back to Wisconsin.

Back home, I started school again, and worked full time. The immigration problems continued so I always had stress in my life. Some people lose weight with stress, but I gain it. I lost about 15 pounds and got back down to my 275 and was pretty steady for quite some time.

I've had the same doctor since I was 15 and she knows my history with weight. I would meet with her often asking her why I couldn't lose weight. She would ask me how I eat, what I drink things like that. I always got the same answer.... You need to excersise and watch what you eat.

I always have, just can't keep the weight off.

She finally decided to put me on Phentermine when my weight got back up to 305 pounds.

In order to stay on it, I had to lose 4 pounds a month. I lost 20 pounds before she took me off.

What do you know, as soon as I was off even though I was excercising the same and eating the same, the weight came back on.

I asked to go back on it again in January 2009. I just started a one year membership with Anytime Fitness and was working my butt off, but was not losing weight. She put me back on, and I got down to 265. My lowest in years. I only lost 3 pounds that last month so she took me off the Phentermine.

I continued to work out 5 times a week, while off the Phentermine and I did not lose a single pound. Now, I didn't gain any of the weight back but I did not lose any more weight.

I went back to my doctor and asked her why I wasn't losing weight on my own. Why could I only lose weight while on Phentermine. Her Answer!

Some people just can't lose weight!

Not what I wanted to hear....

I continued working out all this last year, I continued to diet, but the weight came back on.

I am now at 300 pounds again!

Finally.... I give up!!!

I do not have any insurance and I started looking into WLS. I was really interested in the band until I went to a seminar from my surgeon. This is where I heard about the sleeve.

It seems so simple. There are more risks during the surgery for the sleeve, but post op there are less risks.

During the surgery for the band there are less risks, but after there are so many problems.

I scheduled my surgery for April 15th. 8am!

I am soooooo scared.....!!!!!

I don't have any heath problems besides the weight. I don't want to go into this and ruin the rest of my life because of a problem from this.

I don't have much support. My mom is really against this. She is overweight herself, but says I shouldn't waste my money on the surgery w/o trying other options first. Such as a nutritionist and personal trainer.

I know if I did the trainer and nutritoinist, I would lose weight. I just know it wouldn't stay off....

I hope I'm doing the right thing.

My surgeon has only performed 10 sleeves before and 1 of them had a leak.

He says I am an extremely low risk patient as I'm not severly obese and don't have any other health problems. He doesn't see a concern with doing the sleeve on me. He said the patient with a leak was high risk going in, and new there might be complications.....

I just don't know... I don't have any kids so I have never had a hospital stay in my life.

I am not scared about the before or after of the surgery, just the surgery in itself. Because i'm self pay, if anything goes wrong It'll be a huge difference in the cost of the bill.

These are the things I think about!

What kind of concerns did you all have going in?

I know this is long, but I wanted to give you all a backgound.

Thanks for all your advice!

35 days and counting until the rest of my life changes!

Kara

That does sound like a reasonable price when you describe everything you get -- it's in the ballpark of what Drs. Cirangle and Jossart charge. And I also LOVE that my surgeon is 15 minutes from home. How many nights in the hospital?

:001_unsure: You think so! I'm guessing for everyone that has gone to Mexico, they have to pay to meet with someone back in the states for any post op check-ins. I know my regular nurse practioner is $120 a visit. Just to meet with her. What would you consider a years worth of post op appointments to cost?

I hope I'm not overspending! But I would pay so much more for an extended life!

Well, my program with our military insurance gives me full access to a nutritionist, and labs pulled at 3,6,9, 12 months out, then yearly labs are pulled. That is the standard procedure for all bariatric patients through our military hospital here in Florida. My surgeon likes to do a endoscopy between 9-12 months out, earlier if there are any issues. So, there is another anesthesia procedure plus the scope cost.

My PCP (is a civilian), and while he is not well-versed on VSG, I can easily go to him, have him pull my previous labs, or take him one of my copies, and have him pull my labs again if he thinks they need to be. I just dealt with this situation bc I've been having low blood pressure issues. Not really related to a complication of the VSG, it's essentially just my body trying to adjust to my drastic weight loss.

Also, there are several patients that dealt with severe nausea post-op. It hits some of us, and others aren't bothered by this. Everyone is different. I honestly think if you can be that close to home, have that follow up care, and love your surgeon, there is NO pricetag that you can give you that reassurance.

I'm super picky. You couldn't pay me to have this surgery, or any other major surgery, where they are removing 75% of a major organ in a "surgical clinic" without an ICU, and emergency facilities and capabilities on the premises.

A lot of PCPs are willing to do follow up labs for patients that travel to Mexico, but those labs can run patients without insurance a few hundred bucks. The labs we need pulled are more extensive than just a normal Chem 12 and CBC. So, the out of pocket cost can be astronomical.

You need to do what you feel best about. I have chosen MX and was able to get a weight loss center here to do my aftercare, but my best friend is choosing to stay here in the states. This is your body and your future. Do all your homework, and then make a decision that feels best to you, be positive that you will have the best possible outcome, and know that as your Mom sees you change she will become more and more supportive, but this is yours. You can do it.

Thank you all for your kind words! I do think I'm making the right decision with my surgeon. I once went to the Wonder Bread store to pick up two loaves of bread because it was cheaper and faster then going to the grocery store. The point of this was to save money. Because this wasn't the normal way I went home, I got into an accident because I thought an intersection was a 4 way when it was not. This trip to save picking up bread cost me over $500 because of my insurance deductible.

I don't want to go to Mexico because its cheaper, just to save money. I have done that in the past and it ended up costing me more. I think I will stay with my surgeon, and have faith that everything will go as planned.

Thank you!

Kara

Thank you for your replies. When I asked my doctor about WLS she recommened the surgeon that I'm going to, as well as another in Milwaukee. I live in GB where my surgeon is so it only made sense. He hasn't been doing sleeves very long, but has been performing other WLS. He has been at the facility he currenlty works at since 1999 and ONLY performs bariatric surgery. He doesn't specialize in anything else like some other surgeons.

Tifykins, why on earth did your leak cost 300K, that seems so outrageous. How long were you in the hospital from it? My question for you, did they do a leak check while in the hospital? When did you know you had a leak?

My surgeon does oversew the staple line. Did yours? I guess these are things to take into consideration. I know I'm going to do the surgery. I'm not going to back out, and I'm not going to find a different one.

Tifykins, you were a high risk going in because you were a revison. He did say to me that I am as low risk as he has seen because I don't have any other health concerns and I have my youth going for me. I think I just need to keep telling myself that. He wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true right?

So now, I'm only 34 days away! I'm 19 days away from my preop appointment! I think they'll give me my preop diet at that time so I'm so looking forward to the liquid diet! :smile:

I know I can do it! I'm the type of person who likes to challenge myself and I always strive to reach my goals! Its very important to me!

I'm still very scared though! We'll see as it gets closer. I might need to take something over the counter for anxiety! Do they have anything out there for that? :smile1:

Kara

Kara,

Hi, I'm in Wisconsin too, and am traveling to Dallas for sleeve surgery. I talked to doctor's offices in Milwaukee, Marshfield and Wausau, but the self pay cost is so much more here than it is in the south for some reason. The lady I spoke to in Milwaukee said she knew health care here was more and couldn't explain it. Anyway, I am going to Dr. James Davidson, he is at a Center of Excellence and the cash price is $12,510. I'm headed there next month for the seminar and the following day they are allowing me to do what is usually the two week pre-op appointment, then I'll be traveling back in June for surgery on June 11th. Another doctor that is highly recommended in the Dallas area is Dr. Nick Nicholson, his price is about $200 less than Dr. Davidson's cost. The benefit of going to Dr. Nick is you would only need to be in town for a one week follow up appointment I believe, and with Dr. Davidson, he wants to see you at one week and then again at two weeks. Whatever you decide to do, good luck!!!

Kara

Good luck with your up coming surgery!! You have made your choice and you will not be sorry!! The sleeve is such an easy change in your life. I wish you a happy surgery, fast healing and even faster losing!!