Hi

My name is Ellen and I live in Mt. Vernon. I have not had the sergery yeat still talking to Dr's and getting Info. Jest wandering if there is any one close by. I have lots of questions. I have a consoltaion visit with my Fanily dr on friday and am not shure what to ask.

Thanks

Ellen

:cheeky :cheeky :cheeky :cheeky

P.S. sarry about the spelling

For those who got banded at st. francis, or nwwls, how did they seal your incisions? glue? stitches? staples?

Nbjen, I am so glad to find someone with the same dr. I had a co-worker that did this with Dr. Fox but she moved out of state and I don't really talk to her anymore. It seems like the more I read about other peoples restrictions and things, Dr. Fox is one of the strictest. I much rather him be strict then not so I can get the full potential out of the band. I am getting really nervous. I start my liquid diet tomorrow. Can I ask what kind of protein you are drinking? I need to get to the store and wanted to see what other people are using and like.

Evilah - I don't think you could go wrong with any of those docs. I chose Dr. Oh because he is closer to home for me. He is a very good surgeon but not the most freindly guy. Dr. Harai is much more personal and usually does the fills. The office is not much to look at but the nurses are friendly. He is a little cheeper the NW and I am a self pay so 3,000 is worth it to me. I will let someone else sell you on NW.

Hello,

I'm new to the site and exactly sure what I'm doing. I've been looking into the lapband for quite a while now and have finally selected a doctor, Dr. Srikanth in Federal Way. He seems very nice and has quite a lot of experience so hopefully I made the right choice. I think that I will be getting banded the first week of June. I'll be a self paying patient so that kind of speeded up the process quite a bit. My husband's company excludes this surgery - makes me very angry. How can people who aren't even doctors decide what surgery you do or don't need.

Anyways, enough of that. I'm sure I'm not the only one with insurance woes. So does anyone else have Dr. Srikanth for a doctor? If so, how has your experience been? I'm very excited but also very, very nervous. I've checked out about 5 different doctors and I liked him the best.

Hi All, I'm officially down 30 lbs today!!!! Yippee!!!! Hope all of you who are moms had a good day. My kids made us a really nice brunch. Becca (daughter) made me a nifty bracelet that fits on my medical alert badge thing and matching earrings....my son, Jon, got me the new Michael Buble' cd. I'm in heaven.....LOLOLLOL

When do you all want to go walking again? I'm game...

Having a jewelry party on Wednesday, May 23 at 7:00 pm. Let me know if anyone wants to come! Email me privately and I'll send you a personal invite with my address. I will have things we can safely eat/drink for all us bandsters. Should be fun.

Merrillee

Sorry I haven't posted, life has been crazy and I was having gallbladder issues. I hope they are behind me now, crossing fingers.

dawneb,

what doctors did you check out?

I'm stuck right now deciding between dr. hirai/oh and montgomery or miachelson at northwest weight loss surgery.

It almost makes me want to try losing weight on my own again! LOL! And my insurance has already given written pre-authorization!!!!

Why did you choose dr. srikanth?

-Evilah

Most of the docs here in Northwest Washington seem to be pretty good. Many of them have worked together before and all of them seem to have very similar pre and post-op requirements. I really don't think you can go wrong with any of them. I would go with who you feel the most comfortable with, location, cost, in hospital or out and intuition. You will be fine either way. I have never heard of anyone having a horrible experience with any of these guys and the bigger issue is if you don't have it done then what will you look like in three years.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. Do you really think you can lose the weight and KEEP IT OFF on your own? We all went through the head stuff before surgery thinking we should be able to do this . . . . it seems so drastic . . . I will never be able to eat the foods I love again . . . . . etc. etc.

The truth is you will be able to eat again but not in the quantities that you did. Hopefully you will make better choices. you will go through a 'Last Supper' phase and probably gain weight before surgery. You will also go through a 'mourning of food' during pre-op. Then you will begin to get excited about the idea of actually losing weight instead of gaining. Then it becomes a reality as you watch the scale move down! That will give you the willpower to get through pre-op. You will be a little scared and excited at the same time as surgery gets closer. You will face some food demons that tempt you to cheat. You might give in or you might not but you still will go for it because you are catching the vision of the thinner you and you are beginning to believe it is possible.

This is where I am now. Three days before surgery and I can't wait to get on with the rest of my life. I am sure of two things. one- I will gain it back if I don't go through with this and two- I will be successful and be thin again with the lap-band.

hope this helps.

Evilah,

I totally agree with Wenjea. Just pick a Doc and DO IT! They are all fine surgeons, and I've never heard anything bad about any of them. It's time to make a new life for yourself!

Merrillee

Thanks Mer! I won't be able to walk on friday because I will be just home from the hospital! Can't believe it's almost here . . . . a little scary!

wanjea, I'm so excited for you. I thought I would freak out when I got to the hospital. But when the day actually came I wasn't scared I didn't even cry, I was laughin right before they put me out. You will do great, are you a one day stay?? Hope everyone had a great mothers day

whooohoo I just figured it out.. Like my ticker(:

nice ticker. Turtles are my mascot!

Merrillee,

I know, this indecision is madness! I chose Dr. Oh because he's been doing all kinds of weight loss surgery for over 2 decades, and st. francis is a center of excellence, meaning proven low complication rates. When I made the decision I didn't know much about NWWLS except that I heard some bad things about the staff when they were at Evergreen. Other than that, I knew nothing about them, and I was under the impression that they had started doing their surgeries in Everett.

Anyway, at this point I'm leaning towards staying where I'm at. There will be a few long drives (45m-1hr) but after the surgery, if it's too hard, I'll just switch to NWWLS for aftercare. I keep coming up even when I compare the two places, even counting the convenience or inconvenience of the drive. But then, I'm going to their seminar tomorrow night, and maybe that will change my mind!

Evilah

thanx, I like frogs but cant find any on the ticker site. It's taken me almost 2 weeks to get that damn thing to work(:

<p>In response to anyone who has been reading my posts telling my frustration and anxiety about picking a doctor, the decision has been made. I found out today that NWWLS is out-of-network for my insurance, and so surgery with them would not necessarily be paid for, and if so, not at the higher rate at which it pays to dr. oh, who is in-network. </p> <p> </p> <p>I feel so light, like I could float away! The weekend fretting about this wasn't so bad!!!</p> <p> </p> <p>Evilah</p>