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Anyone from North Houston Texas here?

gr8ful4life

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kaitlynm    335

kaitlynm
Posted

I also live in the Woodlands. I'm a little over 5 mos post op. Have you had your surgery yet?

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kaitlynm    335

kaitlynm
Posted

Good Luck! I'm close to Rayford and Kuykendahl in Augusta Pines. Who is your surgeon?

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HunnyBlossom    10

HunnyBlossom
Posted

I'm in Conroe, about two months out though. I'm seeing Dr. Howard. Would love to chat!

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kaitlynm    335

kaitlynm
Posted

Hi @HunnyBlossom. I see Dr Balette.

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HunnyBlossom    10

HunnyBlossom
Posted

@@kaitlynm, I met him at my seminar, up already had my first appointment scheduled with Dr Howard. He was so nice and encouraging that I thought hard about switching!

Where are ya'll/did ya'll have your surgery?

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kaitlynm    335

kaitlynm
Posted

My insurance required me to go to Houston North West down on 1960. It was horrible. So wish I could have gone to Memorial Hermann.

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kaitlynm    335

kaitlynm
Posted

Welcome Roxanne! Hope everything is going well for you. Let me know if you have any questions.

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HunnyBlossom    10

HunnyBlossom
Posted

My insurance required me to go to Houston North West down on 1960. It was horrible. So wish I could have gone to Memorial Hermann.

Oh no! That's where I'm supposed to go, as Memorial isn't a center of excellence. What happened, and how I can prevent it!!!?

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kaitlynm    335

kaitlynm
Posted

You must have BCBS. I don't think you can do anything about it and I've talked to others and they had better experiences. I had trouble with the equipment and alarms kept going off. The nurses would take forever to respond and it just drove me nuts. They don't give you pain medication automatically so you have to ask for it. Again they would take forever from when I asked for it till when they gave it to me. The second day in the hospital I never got any and I didn't get released until 4 pm. At night they were doing something that sounded like shredding paper most of the night right outside my room, and it kept me up all night. Also their book says not to bring any of your prescription drugs, but they do not supply them either. I never saw the bariatric coordinator so I got no instructions about how much to drink. I got back to my room from the X-ray and there was broth, a bottle of Water, and some Jello I think. I just started eating all of it. I had forgotten about the 1 oz rule.

The only other hospital I've ever been in is Memorial Hermann and they treated me like a queen when I was there.

The operation itself was fine. That staff was much more attentive, and seemed much more capable. That is the important part.

It s your employer that makes the decision about whether you have to go to the center of Excellence. Dr Ballette told me that he had patients that went to their employers and tried to get that requirement removed. He said sometimes it works. I was on Cobra so there is no way my past employer was going to do that for me.

For me, everything turned out just fine. I would have just preferred to skip the overnight hospital stay.

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HunnyBlossom    10

HunnyBlossom
Posted

Wow @@kaitlynm, thank you so much for your insight!

And you guessed it, I'm BCBS. I was told I could go to Conroe Regional or Northwest, but Dr. Howard doesn't have privileges in Conroe - which doesn't make sense as one of his offices is in that hospital. I don't know, I've heard really good and bad things about Conroe also though, so I guess it's a crapshoot.

There's little to no chance that I would be able to get the requirement lifted, as my employer is pretty huge. I'm just grateful to have insurance that covers batratrics, as it's been excluded from every other policy I've ever had.

Thank you so much for your insight! I'm really getting nervous about this and your insight helps greatly!

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kaitlynm    335

kaitlynm
Posted

Don't worry about it. You have other things more important to worry about. The surgery part itself was absolutely fine and that is by far the most important aspect. Other people in the support group have been fine going through there. The only difference I notice is that the are Dr. Turnquest's patients. He is the head of the bariatric program down there so I'm sure the staff doesn't want to tick him off. I didn't know about Conroe Regional. That is a surprise that Dr. Howard doesn't have privileges given he has an office there.

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Go To Topic Listing PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

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    • LeighaTR

      LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.

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