Lets introduce ourselves

Hi guys! my name is tami... i am a wife and a mom to an amazing 2 year old. I live on long island and grew up here. I enjoy music, reading, and gardening. I am in my 30's and i have been married for about 4 years. I recently looked into bariatric surgery when i started to experiance heart palpitations. It was through speaking with my cardioligist that i decided to look into bariatric surgery. I originaly was looking into lap band because it is less invasive, and that is how i found my doctor. He is one of the doctors that participated in the trials for lap band for the fda. and he also has done one of the longest studdies of these patients. I always go against the grain and after much reasearch i couldnt get my head around having a contraption in my body and opted for RNY. I will be having the surgery done by his partner as i selected rny. I am very excited and cant wait for april to come! I am very scared at the same time. I am hoping they keep me out of work for a while. I am a manager for home depot and could use a break. Plus i am luck to have salary continuance while im out :)

So whats your story? this board is tooooo quiet!

Tami - I agree this board is too quiet!  Let's make some noise!

My name is Christy and I live in Iowa.   I'm 37 years old, married for 12 years and 3 children ages 17, 9, and 7.  I've been thinking about WLS for 5 years and finally took the next step of attending a seminar in July of 2008.  In contrast to Tami, I couldn't accept having my insides cut apart and rearranged and having malabsorption for the rest of my life.  I decided that LapBand was the only WLS that I could consider.  Don't get me wrong, I respect everyone's decision to have whichever procedure they feel is best for them.  It's good that we have a choice!  After 6 months of PCP visits, 1 dietitian visit, and a Psych eval my surgery was approved the day my insurance company received my info from the surgeon's office.  I start liquids 2 weeks pre-op and have surgery on April 8th.  I plan to be back at work on the 13th, barring all complications!

I live 90 minutes away from the hospital/surgical center so I don't see being able to attend support group on a regular basis post-op.  You will all be my support group!

Phew! 2 weeks liquid... i am crying over one week...  they told me i could eat pudding so i told my husband we are going to have to buy a truckload. I am acctually afraid to be hungry.... i am already compiling a list of all the shakes and stuff i want to tryout and make durring my liquid phase.... my doc will have me on full liquid for one month after surgery. so i gotta start planning. Alot of us will be liquid dieting at the same time so we will have to share our pains and our recipes!

Yep - 2 WEEKS!!!!  I was considering starting a partial liquid diet (protein shake 2 times a day and 1 regular meal) but the surgeon's office encouraged me not to.  They said the 2 weeks is hard enough and not to make it worse than it needs to be!

Hey guys and gals!  My name is Dawn.  I'm 30 years young.  I have a son who's 10 and a daughter who's 1 1/2.  I was first referred by my PCP for WLS in 2004.  I live in Panama City, Florida and attended the seminar for the only local surgeon doing WLS.  I don't know what it was, but I didn't feel right when I left there.  So I stepped back and did more research.  In November of 2007, my aunt had lap RNY and did and has done amazingly.  So with my renewed interest in WLS, I called my ins co and asked IF they would approve WLS and what I had to do.  With that info, they also gave me the names of 2 Centers for Bariatric Excellence and that's how I found my surgeon.  I drive 2 1/2 hours to Pensacola to use Dr. Lord at Sacred Heart Hospital.  I got my referral from my PCP, did my 6 months of physician supervised weight loss, physical, chest x-rays, etc. and received an approval for lap RNY within 24 hours of BCBS receiving the surgeon's request for approval.  I chose RNY because Dr. Lord made a comment that goes something like this, "If you are a cheater, lap-band is not for you."  Well, I AM a cheater.  I have a major sweet tooth.  I want to be as successful as I can be with this tool.  So I opted for lap RNY.  I'm so excited to share this journey with each of you.  The OH family has been an amazing source of information and encouragment for me.  I'll see you all on the loser's bench!

i had heard the cheater thing too from some where and that is sooo me.... i need the extra incentive of possible dumping to help keep me in line!

Hmmm, I think I may be one of the youngest here. My name is Starr and I'm 24. I'm married to an amazing man and we have one little boy who is 4 years old.

I've been researching bariatric surgery for about a year and a half. I personally knew that lap-band and RNY were out of the question for me. With the lap-band, I was terrified it would erode into my stomach or my body would reject it. With the RNY, I couldn't risk the intolerance for certain foods. And both didn't have sufficient long-term results, in my mind.

I will be having duodenal switch with Dr. Keshishian in Delano, Ca on April 7th 2009! Yay!

my insurance covers DS too but there are no doctors that i could find on long island that do it. being that i live on eastern long island the trip to the city for all of these visits was just too much for me cause i work so darn much! I have heard good things about DS so best of luck to you!

Thank you very much. Best of luck to you too!

Hey All! My name is Diane and I am 27. I have been married to my wonderful husband for almost 7 years. We have one daughter who is 6.
I have been researching and i guess almost obsessively reading everything I can about WLS surgery for about 1 1/2 years. I personally began my journey seriously in July 08' when i attended the Information Seminar in Duluth, MN. The only surgery I have wanted for me has been the RNY. I couldn't stand the thought of having a foreign object in me (Lap Band) and the same as some others I think I need that idea of possibly dumping to help keep me on the straight and narrow
I am so excited and nervous! Tomorrow I begin the "final phase" lol. I begin a 2 week liquid diet then have my surgery April 2nd.

I wish you all the best!!!!
 
xHUGSx
Diane