Obesity surgery

Hi all,
I have written once before and visit daily to see anything new that may be
out there in regards to ideas. My name is Annette and I am still awaiting
approval from Kaiser for my surgery. It sure would be helpful if anyone else
out there was a Kaiser patient and could give me an idea of how long they waited
for approval.
I hope they do something soon or at least contact me in regards to what
else I need to do to get approval. I have dieted all my life and have only
gained more weight with each failed attempt. I am 6′ 2" tall and weigh 395. I
carry my weight well but feel the effects on my joints more and more each day.
2 knee surgeries in the last 8 months after falls on the job and it is taking me
forever to recuperate. I also have a BMI of 51, diabetes, kidney disease, skin
problems, high blood pressure and feel 89 instead of 39.
It sure helps to hear your stories and know that I have made the right
decision. I am scared but in a good way.
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My re-birth is on October 1, 2003. I am wondering what supplies,
both nutritional and medicinal that I will need upon my arrival home
from the hospital. I realize that I will be on a liquid then pureed
diet for the weeks following the surgery but really want to do theis
the "correct way" to use the gastric bypass tool to it’s fullest.

NB
Present weight 350
BMI 45
Height 6′3
Diabetic, High Blood Pressure

Thanks for all your support and responses.

I just got a good verbal message from my insurance company. I’M
APPROVED. I was initially denied and also denied for the first level
of appeals. I had to go to the Grievance Committee and present my
case for gastric bypass. Fortunately, my surgeon is 200% behind this
surgery and was available to teleconference the meeting. It is said
that everyone gets fifteen minutes of fame and mine was today.

Can’t wait for my new birthday of October 1, 2003.

i just wanted to say hi and thank you for letting me join the group (i tried to
join several others and was denied!!) and introduce myself briefly to the group
since i’ve been lurking for about a week or so…
My name is Malea, and i’m 27 years old, i weight around 320 pounds and am
5′5"-ish… i basically weigh about double what i should (in my opinion)…
other people would probably say that i should weigh less than around 150-160,
but i’m pretty muscular… anyway, that would be my goal… i try not to weigh
myself, nor do i wear "old" clothes, so i try not to notice when i’m getting
bigger, but i know that i am… i’ve been considering having a weight loss
surgery, but am concerned that i’m trying to take "the easy way out" so to
speak… did any of you have this concern when considering your surgery? did
you have problems with friends or family supporting you?

i’m just so tired of being tired all the time, and my weight has caused several
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If you don’t mind my asking, why was it a big event? Difficult? Easy?
I ask because I am going in on Friday to get mine out. Thanks. For
those of you who are contemplating surgery, and might have doubts as to
the difficulty of the actual surgery and hospital experience, I can
tell you not to sweat it. I did have a lot of people lifting me and the
surgeon and staff up in prayer, but I can say that it was much easier
than I had imagined, as was the 3-day hospital stay. It may be that
getting the staples out will be the most difficult part of it. I will
be glad to answer any specific questions anyone might have regarding my
experience. I live in the DC metro area, and had the surgery done at
Inova Fair Oaks Hospital.

Danny Groveman

Hi I am new but need input. I am 32 and have a BMI of 68+. My doc
suggests Roux en Y. I am willing to do about anything to feel better
and feel better about me. I am tired of not having a life because of
my size. Has anyone had this specific procedure? Please tell me your
experience. If you have been post op a year or so let me know how it
is going now. How much did your pouch mature? How much can you eat
now? How if any are you physically limited(not from before, but
compared to someone who was a normal weight all their life)?
Who of you had problems? How do you eat at work? I work in the
service center of a busy grocery store and run the front end on
occasion as well as register.

Also did you have your surgery at a Bariatric Treatment Center?

I am looking at the one in Indy and the one in Ypsilanti Mich.

Had surgery 03/11/03 RNY — all is going well with the exception of
hair loss. Did get it cut yesterday and stylists said it was looking
healthy though. Did by the nexus Vitra Tress biotin shampoo, creme
and vitamins thought it couldn’t hurt. ……

C Dylla
HUTCHINSON HOSPITAL
DR. REMUCAL
R-N-Y 03/11/03
HIGHEST WEIGHT 368
SURGERY WEIGHT 350
06/15/03 282
08/11/03 252 == 6 month went fast
08/20/03 250

Well, the day is almost here. Friday at 8:45 AM at Fair Oaks Inova
hospital with Dr. Osvaldo Anez. I will try to give a report afterwards
(whenever that ends up). Something curious happened yesterday, and I
didn’t quite know how to react. The last time I was weighed was on a
digital scale about 4 months ago. Astoundingly, I was up to 441. So
for the last four months, at all my tests, doctor’s appointments I have
been using that as the weight (not many doctor’s have digital scales and
if they do they don’t go high enough. Not even the surgeon I ended up
with has a digital scale. Well, the first surgeon that I had said that
I could come by and weigh any time. So, I figured I would go in and
get a final tally before the surgery to see how much I would lose. I
figured that I would probably be about the same, or higher. Well, it
turned out that I had lost 30 lbs in that time. It is interesting
because it was lost without trying or being aware that I was doing it.
In fact, if anything I would say that I almost consciously didn’t diet,
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Hello everyone!

I finally got to go to the seminar, attended and signed up for an
appointment with the Surgeon’s nurse.

Appointment set for October 20, 2003 at 2:00 or 2:30 pm.

I’ve talked to one person so-far and am becoming increasingly
apprehensive.

I’m at around 420 lbs and am 5′7-8" tall. My BMI is well over 60%,
so I know that isn’t an Issue. I have BCBS of MN and am aware of
what I need to go through. (testing is all, psych eval) That isn’t a
concern.

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First of all Hi! to everyone. I think I am suffering from gallbladder
colic as a side effect of Roux-N-Y done 6 weeks ago. I had a GB
ultrasound and no stones show up. I did some research and found this
is slightly common with this surgery.Symptoms resemble a full blow GB
attack. I would like to know if anyone else had this problem and if
they were given Actigall (ursodiol) for it or something else?

Thanks for your help in advance…………………Jen from CA