Re: Needs information

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

First and foremost -- welcome to the g.b. family! The people here are some of

the most informative and supportive folks I've ever seen. Congratulations on

making the decision to totally improve and change your life!

I can totally relate to your health fears -- I had the same, which is what

motivated me to have weight loss surgery. At the time, I was 313 lbs and just

walking up the stairs was a physical feat. I was exhausted by the time I reached

the last step and my heart would feel like it was pounding out of my chest!

It's totally normal to be scared. If someone wasn't scared, I would think

they haven't thought the surgery totally through. I was scared too. I'm certain

a

lot of us were when we came close to our surgery dates. It's a life-altering

experience, and yes there is a realm of danger to having the surgery. To me,

the dangers of living morbidly obese the rest of my life outweighed the dangers

of the surgery. I'm 13 months postop and the only *serious* side-effect of

the surgery I experienced was a rather large umbilical hernia I just had

repaired on 18 August. Throughout all the pain, cravings, nausea, etc., I would

do it

all over again in a heartbeat!

The waiting time for the surgery really differs from insurance to insurance,

surgeon to surgeon, and patient to patient. I was fortunate in that I didn't

have to put up with a lot of crap and jump through a lot of hoops with my

insurance company (then it was United Healthcare PPO) From the time I had my

initial consult to the time I was being admitted into the hospital to have the

surgery, it all took about 3½ months. My surgeon is/was Dr. Waits in

Atlanta, Ga. He and his staff have been doing bariatric surgery for 15 years, so

they are really skilled when it comes to sending insurance packets and getting

patients approved -- not to mention he's an excellent surgeon!

I experienced some mild hairloss when I was about 6 months postop. I helped

prevent it some by increasing my vitamin and protein intake, and a special

shampoo that my surgeon recommended to make my hair stronger. I didn't go bald,

but I did experience some real thinning on the crown of my head. Thankfully,

after enduring about 4 months of that, the hair loss stopped.

Don't forget to check out the Gastric Bypass Family website, it's chock-full

of awesome information from getting approved, and letters you should write, to

about the surgery, postop, and beyond. http://www.gastricbypassfamily.com/http://www.gastricbypassfamily.com/</\

A>

It's really a very helpful informative site. It answered a lot of my questions

before I had the surgery.

Good luck to you!

Natasha

Atlanta, Ga

08.28.03

Open RNY

313/160/135

In a message dated 9/14/03 10:36:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

Barefoot9119@... writes:

> Hello all,

> I am thinking about the Gastric-Bypass. I am 45 years old and had a

> stroke last year in November. The doctor told me I needed to shed weight of

>

> course I haven't had much luck. I have set up my consultation with a doctor

> in

> my area for September 8. I am excited and scared don't know which is worse.

>

> I guess what I need to know how long after your first doctor visit did you

> know about the surgery date or if you were a candidate for the surgery. I

> have

> read your emails and have questions about the hair loss, how much do you

> loose.

> I just need some help I don't want to have another stroke. I would

> appreciate

> any information you all could provide me.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/14/2003 10:37:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

Barefoot9119@... writes:

I guess what I need to know how long after your first doctor visit did you

know about the surgery date or if you were a candidate for the surgery. I

have

read your emails and have questions about the hair loss, how much do you

loose.

I just need some help I don't want to have another stroke. I would appreciate

any information you all could provide me.

Alabama

Hi

I started my journey to WLS on 04/20/03 of this year. I had to change my PCP

to a doctor who would give me a referral to a surgeon for WLS. I called my

Health Insurance Administration office first to see if my policy covered the

surgery if it was deemed medically necessary and it did I have HIP/HMO. I also

called the doctors directory for my health insurance program and received a

list of surgeons that performed the surgery. I then set out to investigate each

surgeon and settled on which one based on their history, experience with the

surgery and other types of surgeries and their malpractice suit history. I

picked the surgeon of my choice Dr Alan White the Chief Medical Director of the

surgery department at Albert Einstein Hospital here in NYC. I had to wait for

administration to approve my referral and I lucked out on being able to go to

the orientation meeting on 04/30/03.

According to my height and weight and BMI I qualified for a WLS procedure and

at first I had decided on the Lap Band because I did not want to do anything

to drastic, but upon further research I changed my mind and decided on the

gold standard the Roux en Y Gastric Bypass. I had to do a series of tests over

the course of about 2 months: psychological evaluation, sonogram of my gall

bladder, blood tests, sonogram of my leg veins, history of previous weight loss

attempts, and a complete physical and medical clearance from my PCP. I did

not have to have any chest x-rays or stress tests due to my age I am now 35.

After all the results of my tests were sent to my surgeon's office (believe

me you have to stay on top of everyone and get them to send it all in) My

entire package was sent for approval by my Health Insurance Administration. I

received my approval and my surgery date which was originally for September 2003

but I lucked out again and got bumped up earlier to 8/25/03. So that was my

journey from 04/30/03 initial consultation to 08/25/03 surgery date not too bad

if I say so myself

I am a new post op so I take all my vitamins daily I am trying to get in all

my protein shakes and food. I have not experienced any hair loss yet and I

don't intend to I take specific hair food vitamins and I am going to start using

Nioxin products next month to help prevent the problem.

I hope this helps you in some way

Lori Anne

Lap RNY 8/25/03

274/259/135