I am 27 and having my sleeve surgery on June 5th and I start my liquid diet on May 22nd . I am scared and nervous. I need some people to be supportive of me

Yeah.. You gotta watch that height thing.. I thought I was 5'3 too.. Then they measured me and I was 5'3.5.. That .5 made the difference of being at or above 40bmi (which I have Uhc too and they like to have most patients at or above 40)

I started my process at MCV and got to the final month before switching to St.Marys. The surgeon was extremely biased towards bypass and continuously pressured me to change my mind despite my clear request not to hear another word about it. I had no co-morbidities and no need to full bypass. When he wouldn't tell me how many sleeves he'd done, that was a huge flag. His nurse finally broke down and told me it was about 70 and that scared me.

The final straw was when, at my four month check up ( I had to see him every month for six months), he asked me why I had gained 3 pounds. Uhm... Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years was in between my three and four month appointment, I wasn't on my preop, and I thought I'd done pretty damn good for a fat girl. Meanwhile, he looked like he had swallowed a VW Bug. Argh!

Never went back.

May I ask who your surgeon was?

Dr. Maher at MCV, Dr. Bautista at st Mary's. Love Bautista!

I was looking at VCU but in doing more research I think I have to go to St. Mary's. I have UHC and I'm not sure if I have to use one of their "centers of excellence" or not so that would limit where I go. I called UHC and the surgery is part of my plan but I have to call their bariatric resource center tomorrow to find out more. They do more sleeves at St. Mary's I think so it's probably better either way. On a weird side note' date=' I need to figure out how tall I am. I always thought I was 5'3 but I guess I should make sure so my BMI is accurate...[/quote']

Hi I'm Richmond as well and have a surgery. Date of august 22. Like u I have UHC and it took a matter of days to call and find out I had been approved for surgery. I am going to have mine done by Dr. Carmody at with St. Mary's and from the meeting I just attended, a preop meeting with bariatric nurse, I heard it is awesome place to have surgery. I am a absolute St. Marys hospital lover anyway...so it only made since for me to go there. Good luck!

Welcome Nikki.. I hope that your surgery goes well.. I can't wait to have a date.. I hope soon..

Welcome Nikki.. I hope that your surgery goes well.. I can't wait to have a date.. I hope soon..

Thank you.....you will have a date as sooner than you think!

I live in Richmond and I was originally going to go with one of the surgeons at St. Marys, but ended up going with Dr. Brengman. I have two more appointments to go before I send in paper work!

I live in Richmond and I was originally going to go with one of the surgeons at St. Marys' date=' but ended up going with Dr. Brengman. I have two more appointments to go before I send in paper work![/quote']

I wanted Dr. Schroder...but my insurance would have charged me more. Dr. Brengman is awesome from what I hear. Good luck too you.

Hi everyone! I had surgery last year 8/6/12 with Dr Brengman, I had the surgery at St Mary's. it was the best thing I have ever done. Love Brengman and Dt Mary's. I have lost 130 pounds in one year. If you have any questions I am happy to answer. I wish you each the best.

Aug, what insurance did you go through and how long did it take for them to schedule you for surgery after being approved?

I live in mechanicsville

I live in mechanicsville and will be having my surgery at St. Mary's and preformed by Dr. Carmody. I have to wait till December because I'm a teacher but still so excited to finally be making this change.

I live in Mechanicsville Va. Surgery will be at St. Mary's and preformed by Dr. Carmody.

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