Hey DrRuthie,

I also just remembered that we have a member of our support group who had RNY from Dr, Searles just about 3 weeks ago, so if you want his opinion I can get you two connected to discuss his experience with that DR. He will be at the support group meeting tonight if you would like to show up, we also usually have a few lap band patients there so you can ask them questions about the lap band.

Fairbanks, North Pole, Eielson, Ft. Wainwright and any other Interior Alaska Patients!!!

Support Group Meeting TONIGHT !!!

Fairbanks Cancer Treatment Center - 7:00 PM

subject : What keeps you motivated !

If you have any protein you want to swap or clothes you want to swap bring them on in and lets do both tonight !

If you need directions or information you can call 388-1694

Hi Everyone!

I'm new here...been lurking for a while, but have finally decided to bite the bullet.  I'm in Fairbanks and from the information that I've gathered, Dr. John Mayer is the only one in the area that does bariatric surgery however he also only does RNY.  I have decided on Banding so I've been looking at Dr. Searles or Dr. Todd.  I would prefer Dr. Searles only b/c from what I've gathered he requires less in terms of office visits, etc.  

I've always been an advocate for taking time and not rushing, however I don't want to p*ssyfoot  with all the co-pays, appointments, lab work, etc.  I know my BMI is over 40, I've dieted all my life and at this point I've made up my mind what I want.  I am well educated, also in the medical field, so I know what I'm doing.  I'm very to the point if you can't tell by now!


So to wrap up my questions are:

1.  Does anyone have experience with  Federal BCBS?  I have the basic option (researched it and found that it was actually the cheapest route)

2.  Does having a 40 BMI, high blood pressure, high cholesterol "enough" to get BCBS to cover this or will I have to go through the 6 month diet crap? I think I read somewhere that with the co-morbidities you don't have to go through all that.

3. For those in FAIRBANKS, how did you get your referral letter to the Bariatric Doctor? (Dr. Searles' office said I needed a letter)  I don't have a general physician yet, but when I had Kaiser previously they made me just through hoops for just a diet plan.  What I'd like is a doctor that's see me, chart me, and just write the letter.


Thanks in advance for any advice!!

Unsure exactly if he doest this .....john mayer, m.d. does bariatric surgery and is and ex-army surgeon.  He has a great bedside manner and is nice.

Good Luck

The last several months have been fairly busy ones here at OH and we are really excited
about this upcoming release. First, long overdue is the public release of OH Groups. You
will now be able to start and  manage your own public groups. Second, is a major update
to Health Tracker....Activity! We are planning to release these new features on Wednesday evening, October 7, 2009.

OH Groups

Getting to OH Groups is easy. Just click on the Groups tab at the top of any page on ObesityHelp. OH Groups allows you to start and manage your own groups, you can find groups that suit your interests and find support groups in your area.

If you are looking for an OH Group that focuses on a specific topic, you can browse groups by category.

 

Activity

To get to your Activity Tracker, click “My OH" at the top of any page on ObesityHelp, select “Health Tracker" on the left and then click the “Activity" tab.

Understanding your total daily caloric expenditure requires more than just knowing how many calories you burned on the treadmill. In your Health Tracker settings area you are now able to estimate the caloric expenditure of your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and lifestyle. These estimates are integrated and displayed with the caloric expenditure of the activities you have logged.

Your exercise log allows you to search for and add strength training exercises, cardiovascular exercises and general activities to your daily log. Caloric expenditure is auto calculated for a number of activities already included in our database of exercises. Pie charts display details about caloric expenditure and time for each type of activity.

Sets can be added and subtracted from strength training exercises. Reps and weight used can be entered for each set.

A number of details can be tracked for cardiovascular exercises and general activities. Some of these variables include, time, distance, calories burned, average heart rate, average power, altitude gained and average grade.

If you can’t find the exercise or activity you have participated in, you can also add your own custom exercises.

Other updates include the ability to create list of your favorite exercises, reports have been updated to include a number of activity items, the nutrition search has been enhanced and we have managed to slip in a sweet macronutrient report under the “Reports" tab. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about the features in this release, please submit those here. If your are new to ObesityHelp or have not used ObesityHelp's Health Tracker before, you can learn about the first release here and the second release here. Need help using Health Tracker? Click here for help. Enjoy!