March 22nd here
Hi y'all. I have been reading the March dates postings for a few days now and I guess it's about time to put myself on the list. LOL. After 2 1/2 years of struggling with the decision to do this, a lot has happened in the last 4 weeks. I have seen 2 different surgeons for consultations AND scheduled at date. I just wi**** was THIS Monday, not 6 weeks away. I have a lot to do to get ready to be out of the office for 3 weeks, and I know this 6 weeks will fly by and I will be on the other side before I know it. I am waiting for my insurance approval which should be fairly routine, since Maryland has a law regarding morbid obesity and gastric bypass surgery AND my employer has an endorsement on the policy which confirms that it is covered, to the extent of all other medically necessary procedures. I go for my psych evaluation next Wednesday and see my surgeon again later that day. He's pretty strict about food plans, etc. leading up to the big day. Fortunately, I have been following a pretty healthy eating plan for about the last 18 or so months, so the changes haven't been dramatic for me. I am sure I will have some serious cravings for those things I will never eat again before the day, but for today I am good!!!
Anyway, I am proud to be a part of the Marchers!!!! Good luck to all of you !!!!!!!!!!
Maureen
Welcome, Maureen! 
Ah-ha! So you've been SPYING on us, eh? 
But...you observed our lunacy and STILL decided to join us anyway? Hmm...
...oh, I mean, GOOD CHOICE! 
We're having fun here. Time seems to pass quicker while laughing. 
We're also helping each other work thru some concerns and questions we have. It's nice to have that common thread and know that there's others 'out there' like yourself. 
What kind of "diet plan" does your surgeon have you on pre-op? I'm glad my surgeon didn't require that from me, 'cuz I dunno if I'd've followed it anyway. 
I quit smoking on Labor Day (my first surgeon required it, I've since found my WONDERFUL surgeon...had to switch for insurance reasons), and I have Nicotrol Inhalers to use. I asked my surgeon if he wanted me "smoke free" or "nicotine free" for surgery (BIG difference). He didn't know what I was referring to, so I explained it to him, I'd quit, had the inhalers, can I use them or not? He said "Oh, by all means use them if you want to. I could NEVER make my patients give up smoking AND eating at the same time!". He's very realistic about his patients, he's very 'strict' during/after surgery, but very compassionate and caring. He KNOWS we're all going to go through "The Last Supper" boogie, and doesn't care, except for the 2 days immediately before surgery - hey, I can handle that! I just LOVE my surgeon...am so blessed that I HAD to find him (instead of that 1st one...). 
Anyway, seems that many of us are already getting "The Last Supper" cravings out of our systems. What exactly do you have to do?
As for those things you LOVE to eat, my sister had RNY done ~2.5 years ago, and a close co-worker of mine had it done ~2 yrs ago. They pretty much eat whatever they want now (minus sugars, of course), just that they don't eat the quantity they used to. They've become more disciplined in their eating habits, but truly do eat everything (my co-worker doesn't dump, so she truly eats EVERYTHING now...I dunno if I'd want to 'go there' myself...
). That's a good thing to see that they eat 'normal' food...I dunno if I could do this if I couldn't have a bit of prime rib or pizza somewhere up the road. Or a Quiznos sub...yeah, Quiznos...(has anyone seen their new commercials? What ARE those hairy things anyway? I LOVE 'em!)
Anyway, glad ya joined "The Marchers"! Well keep you occupied 'til your WLS!
Kimmer
Queen of The "Niners" 
Ah-ha! So you've been SPYING on us, eh? But...you observed our lunacy and STILL decided to join us anyway? Hmm......oh, I mean, GOOD CHOICE!
We're having fun here. Time seems to pass quicker while laughing. We're also helping each other work thru some concerns and questions we have. It's nice to have that common thread and know that there's others 'out there' like yourself.
What kind of "diet plan" does your surgeon have you on pre-op? I'm glad my surgeon didn't require that from me, 'cuz I dunno if I'd've followed it anyway. I quit smoking on Labor Day (my first surgeon required it, I've since found my WONDERFUL surgeon...had to switch for insurance reasons), and I have Nicotrol Inhalers to use. I asked my surgeon if he wanted me "smoke free" or "nicotine free" for surgery (BIG difference). He didn't know what I was referring to, so I explained it to him, I'd quit, had the inhalers, can I use them or not? He said "Oh, by all means use them if you want to. I could NEVER make my patients give up smoking AND eating at the same time!". He's very realistic about his patients, he's very 'strict' during/after surgery, but very compassionate and caring. He KNOWS we're all going to go through "The Last Supper" boogie, and doesn't care, except for the 2 days immediately before surgery - hey, I can handle that! I just LOVE my surgeon...am so blessed that I HAD to find him (instead of that 1st one...). Anyway, seems that many of us are already getting "The Last Supper" cravings out of our systems. What exactly do you have to do?
As for those things you LOVE to eat, my sister had RNY done ~2.5 years ago, and a close co-worker of mine had it done ~2 yrs ago. They pretty much eat whatever they want now (minus sugars, of course), just that they don't eat the quantity they used to. They've become more disciplined in their eating habits, but truly do eat everything (my co-worker doesn't dump, so she truly eats EVERYTHING now...I dunno if I'd want to 'go there' myself...). That's a good thing to see that they eat 'normal' food...I dunno if I could do this if I couldn't have a bit of prime rib or pizza somewhere up the road. Or a Quiznos sub...yeah, Quiznos...(has anyone seen their new commercials? What ARE those hairy things anyway? I LOVE 'em!)
Anyway, glad ya joined "The Marchers"! Well keep you occupied 'til your WLS!
Kimmer
Queen of The "Niners" Hi Kimmer,
After reading this board for the last several days I do feel like I know you and Kelly and Joy already !!!!
I have found over the last 18 or so months that I feel physically better on a low carb high protein food plan. My system doesn't handle sugary stuff well at all, not that that stops me from eating it when I get in the mood, but I do feel like crap after I eat that stuff.
When I went to see Dr S. last week, he had wanted a 2 week food diary. Well, I had to reconstruct it, because when my appointment was moved up from Feb 12 to Jan 29, I didn't have 2 wks to keep track of. He did have a few changes to make in what was basically a good plan .. I had to lose the cheese .. that is a tough one .. BUT .. I did get back my baked taters .. of course they have to be naked, but I got them back !!!! I also got back whole grains ... so I can have multi-grain bread and sandwiches.
I do miss my Corona!!! I haven't had a beer since New Years Eve .. that is a tough one .. especially since I have 3 or 4 in the fridge. I am going to ask him when I go this week IF I can drink them before my surgery, because I know I can't after .. lol
Dr S is very understanding of his patients also. My one major 'weakness' or weekly treat is to go to Wawa (it's like a 7-11) and get a 24 oz coffee with Irish creme creamer in it. I asked him if I had to give that up, and he said no, because he puts cream in his coffee, and he won't ask his patients to do anything that he won't do himself. :D:D I thought that was pretty cool. For some reason I think he himself has had the surgery. That is something I plan to find out for sure this week when I see him.
I have to drive to Salisbury tomorrow for my first support group meeting. I will be meeting other of his patients, both pre and post ops. I am looking forward to it .. despite the almost 2 hour drive to get there.
Ok, that is it for me tonight. I am going to go hang out with my racing buddies and watch some NASCAR practice and get jazzed for the Shootout tomorrow night !!!!
Take care y'all
Mo
Joy (3/1) 
Mo 
Kimmer
High Priestess of Giggles Yo, Mo! ('Yo, Mo'...I just slay myself...)
Just read your profile (yup, I can spy, too! BWAHAHA!!... ). You're going thru BTC, eh? That was where I was originally going to have mine done - at the BTC in Ypsilanti, MI. Fortunately for you, you already know that there's a "high price" to pay for having it done there. Unfortunately (at the time) for me, they never told me this 'til the day before my PATs, when they called to tell me that they weren't "in network" for my insurance and to make sure I was aware that I'd had to pay my catastrophic limit ($10,000) PLUS the $500 deductible to have them do it. I almost fainted - ah, no, I didn't know that. 
Gee, wish they'd've figured that out 4 months earlier. There is no way I can find that kind of dinero. I was extremely annoyed, but I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I just accepted it and began looking for a different surgeon/hospital (I got the news on a Friday afternoon at 4:45 p.m. - the perfect time to have to take care of business, eh? 
). Hit the internet and 'researched' again for 2 days straight, and found my FANTABULOUS surgeon I now have...and love! But I was so-o-o annoyed at BTC for stringing me along 'til the last minute like that. 
My sister had her open RNY done at BTC in Ypsilanti about 2.5 years ago. I so wanted to have mine done there 'cuz they're so neat in their support groups, events, etc - it's almost like a sorority or something. But since I've found my new surgeon, I'm even more pleased. 
I've heard both wonderful and terrible about BTC. I guess it all depends on the patient and their perspective. I personally don't feel they were very thorough if they didn't "catch" that "minor" glitch 'til one day before my PATs, but at least they DID catch it. But my sis, on the other hand, had a lovely experience with them...
"Wawa"?!? (Cheez...where DO they come up with these names? But then again, I named my 'business' that I owned for a while "Wenchworkz", so who am I to judge, eh? ) My 'gas station cappuccino' is the one thing I miss: I gave it up when I knew I was going to be having WLS 'cuz I knew I'd never be able to tolerate it post-op. I drank a 32 oz. cup of it en route to work every morning. Needless to say, being sleepy upon arrival at my desk was never a problem like it is now...some days I can just put my head down on my keyboard and go out. 
I sure do miss the caffeine! 
My surgeon is pretty 'strict' 'bout caffeine (he's not maniacal about much, so the things he IS maniacal about I pay attention to...), sez that it'll dehydrate you badly, so we're not "allowed" any caffeine for a LONG time post-op - I'm talking MONTHS. Not a problem tho...since I've bid farewell to it. The "can have"s outweigh the "can't have"s by far.
Kimmer
Queen of the Niners, Instigator to all Marchers, High Priestess of Giggles Oh Kimmer???
... I can tell we are gonna be friends .. or is that fiends????? ..
Actually, I have seen 2 surgeons, BTC did NOT make the cut. It was a good place to start, but they were extremely focused on the $$ and made sure right up front that I KNEW I was looking at major bucks to do this. In the meantime, I found a wonderful (read that WONDERFUL) doctor in Salisbury MD, who happens to participate with Carefirst BC/BS and while I have not got my pre-auth YET, I do have a copy of the endorsement that my employer has covering the procedure, so I am pretty confident all will go as planned!!!
I have been pretty much caffeine-less for almost 15 years. I went through a bad spell in my late 30s with lumpy breasts, where I was having to have mammo's every 3 to 4 months, until one day it was discovered that I was STILL drinking leaded coffee. The first mammo AFTER giving up the caffeine .. voila . NO lumps .. and no more caffeine. I do get some that sneaks in with the occasional fountain cola type soda (but I don't like colas much anyway) and if I give into a chocolate craving, but for the most part it's a gone thing.
I just got home from my first support group meeting. There were 4 of us pre-ops there, and 8 post ops. My surgeon runs a complete bariatric program, not just the surgery part of it. Besides the support group meetings, in the 12 months after surgery, there is nutritional counseling and work with a personal trainer. I just wish Salisbury wasn't an almost 2 hour drive.
I think I have a pretty good idea of what is ahead of me. This is not the 'easy' way out as was very strongly emphasized at the meeting this a.m. But, it's also the only way I might live to see retirement (which is only 6 yrs away!!!).
Mo
Uh-huh...sounds like I found me another partner! Doesn't it just annoy you how people make being a fiend sound like such a bad thing?
I was trying to be delicate and diplomatic about BTC, as I know there's many out there who are benefiting from them. I don't, however, think there may be many of them on this board 'cuz they have their own extremely private/clique-y boards. I was on one for a minute...just until I could figure out how to switch my surgeon's name and get off of it. My sister had her RNY done at BTC, which is why I went there (but we've never EVER talked about WLS from the beginning...long STOOPID story - I have a sister who's been there/done it, and can't even ask her a simple question...). I liked the "comraderie" at BTC, LOVED my patient counsellor (she's out of place there), but was a bit unnerved by the "move 'em in/move 'em out" feeling I got. It seemed kind of mechanical to me that "I" was passed from one department to another to another. I just had an unsettling feeling in my gut. Then I thought I was perhaps looking too deeply for a flaw, and tried to put the production-line critique out of my head, justifying it with "...there's so many that have come thru BTC with flying colors, blah, blah, blah..." It also bothered me that the facility was strictly WLS - no emergency services or other things a "regular" hospital offers: if something went way bad, I'd've had to be transported to a "full-serve hospital" elsewhere. Again, I put the negative thoughts aside...UNTIL the surgeon's assistant called me that night about my out-of-pocket cost. Then I KNEW my gut was correct and paid attention to it. I KNEW I'd have to pay SOME toward the surgery, but the way that little 'technicality' was overlooked (for FOUR months...), the amount I'd have to pay, and never being told 'til the day before PATs...well, I was thanking God that He showed me that that's NOT where I was supposed to be. Immediately found Dr. Schneider and St. Joe's Macomb, and have never looked back or felt a BIT of doubt or an uneasy thought about them. My last interaction with BTC was when I went there (a 70+ mile drive) to pick up my chart to bring to my new surgeon, and they first weren't gonna let me have it at all, even knowing I was on my way down to get it ('til my angelic patient counsellor stepped in and said "oh, yes she's getting it..."), and then charged me $15 for about 20 sheets...of the stuff I'D provided THEM originally (labs, consults, etc) - NOTHING was BTC-originating, which is what I needed. I was MAJOR pi$$ed, but I just wanted to get the hooey outta there and get ON with a 'normal' surgeon. It now hits me that the BTC I was at just MAY be where The Stepford Wives are re-programmed. 
BTC requires that you attend a support group, and refers you to several. My new surgeon would LIKE you to attend a support, and his staff shrink runs one, but it's totally your option. Ironically, my BTC patient counsellor runs a support group and has invited me to join hers, which I may do. She really needs to get out of there and get a different job - she's so out of place there!
My surgeon has a 'team' he works with, up to and including bariatric scrub nurses. It's really a great situation. I worked in a hospital for quite a while, was sponsored to be a D.O. (turned it down), so I probably look behind more curtains than most do, and I'm very much pleased with my 'team'. My nutritionist is a wild woman, so needless to say, we hit it off immediately. My surgeon should be returning today from Brazil -- every year he and a bunch of his med school friends go to some underprivilged country and do a "Dr.s Without Borders" kind of thing, they've been doing it since before DWB was formed -- how cool is THAT?! Only 40% of his practice is bariatrics - he's a general surgeon specializing in laparoscopic surgery. Needless to say, if he finds anything abnormal while doing my RNY, I've authorized him to take care of it while he's in there. Nah, I couldn't be in better hands.
Only 6 years 'til retirement for you? Wish I could say the same. Just bought this house 5 years ago and will now have to work 'til I'm 118 yrs old to pay the mortgage. I'd paid my first house off when I was 38 and lived there mortgage-free for 5 years...that was a great time in my life! But I love this house and am willing to go the long road for it...unless a rich uncle that I never knew I had dies and leaves me big bucks in his will. If that's the case, then I can take early retirement in 2 years...hey, one can DREAM, ya know!
Laterness!
Kimmer
Queen of the Niners
I was trying to be delicate and diplomatic about BTC, as I know there's many out there who are benefiting from them. I don't, however, think there may be many of them on this board 'cuz they have their own extremely private/clique-y boards. I was on one for a minute...just until I could figure out how to switch my surgeon's name and get off of it. My sister had her RNY done at BTC, which is why I went there (but we've never EVER talked about WLS from the beginning...long STOOPID story - I have a sister who's been there/done it, and can't even ask her a simple question...). I liked the "comraderie" at BTC, LOVED my patient counsellor (she's out of place there), but was a bit unnerved by the "move 'em in/move 'em out" feeling I got. It seemed kind of mechanical to me that "I" was passed from one department to another to another. I just had an unsettling feeling in my gut. Then I thought I was perhaps looking too deeply for a flaw, and tried to put the production-line critique out of my head, justifying it with "...there's so many that have come thru BTC with flying colors, blah, blah, blah..." It also bothered me that the facility was strictly WLS - no emergency services or other things a "regular" hospital offers: if something went way bad, I'd've had to be transported to a "full-serve hospital" elsewhere. Again, I put the negative thoughts aside...UNTIL the surgeon's assistant called me that night about my out-of-pocket cost. Then I KNEW my gut was correct and paid attention to it. I KNEW I'd have to pay SOME toward the surgery, but the way that little 'technicality' was overlooked (for FOUR months...), the amount I'd have to pay, and never being told 'til the day before PATs...well, I was thanking God that He showed me that that's NOT where I was supposed to be. Immediately found Dr. Schneider and St. Joe's Macomb, and have never looked back or felt a BIT of doubt or an uneasy thought about them. My last interaction with BTC was when I went there (a 70+ mile drive) to pick up my chart to bring to my new surgeon, and they first weren't gonna let me have it at all, even knowing I was on my way down to get it ('til my angelic patient counsellor stepped in and said "oh, yes she's getting it..."), and then charged me $15 for about 20 sheets...of the stuff I'D provided THEM originally (labs, consults, etc) - NOTHING was BTC-originating, which is what I needed. I was MAJOR pi$$ed, but I just wanted to get the hooey outta there and get ON with a 'normal' surgeon. It now hits me that the BTC I was at just MAY be where The Stepford Wives are re-programmed.
BTC requires that you attend a support group, and refers you to several. My new surgeon would LIKE you to attend a support, and his staff shrink runs one, but it's totally your option. Ironically, my BTC patient counsellor runs a support group and has invited me to join hers, which I may do. She really needs to get out of there and get a different job - she's so out of place there!
My surgeon has a 'team' he works with, up to and including bariatric scrub nurses. It's really a great situation. I worked in a hospital for quite a while, was sponsored to be a D.O. (turned it down), so I probably look behind more curtains than most do, and I'm very much pleased with my 'team'. My nutritionist is a wild woman, so needless to say, we hit it off immediately. My surgeon should be returning today from Brazil -- every year he and a bunch of his med school friends go to some underprivilged country and do a "Dr.s Without Borders" kind of thing, they've been doing it since before DWB was formed -- how cool is THAT?! Only 40% of his practice is bariatrics - he's a general surgeon specializing in laparoscopic surgery. Needless to say, if he finds anything abnormal while doing my RNY, I've authorized him to take care of it while he's in there. Nah, I couldn't be in better hands.
Only 6 years 'til retirement for you? Wish I could say the same. Just bought this house 5 years ago and will now have to work 'til I'm 118 yrs old to pay the mortgage. I'd paid my first house off when I was 38 and lived there mortgage-free for 5 years...that was a great time in my life! But I love this house and am willing to go the long road for it...unless a rich uncle that I never knew I had dies and leaves me big bucks in his will. If that's the case, then I can take early retirement in 2 years...hey, one can DREAM, ya know!
Laterness!
Kimmer
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