I live in Wasilla and recently had surgery in Mexico. My dr. was supportive of me both when I hesitated to have the surgery and then when I made up my mind about having the surgery he supported me and made me feel like it was a good decision. He is not a surgeon. He is an internist...meaning he is good with multiple medical issues like coordinating meds for diabetes, high bp and so on. HIs name is DR. Boston and his practice is in Wasilla across from the HS. I also like his nurse practitioner. Amor, she is so kind and patient and supportive as well. She is the one who performed my pre-surgery tests. Anyway, I hope you are able to find someone you feel comfortable with.

Do you ever wish you had someone to discuss the OH Magazine articles with after you finished reading? Well, Obesityhelp.com has created a new forum just for that purpose. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/magazine is standing by waiting for your comments. It is simple to use. Just log in and click on the article or articles you want to comment about. Whether it is how interesting you found the article or how you don't agree with it, make your voice heard :idea: This not only gives you a chance to speak up but helps our editors know what you enjoy reading. So, please log on after you read your issue of OH Magazine. If you still need to subscribe log on to http://oh-magazine.com and indicate that you want to start with our current issue. I will be checking out the forum and waiting to respond to your comments!:jump:

Ronda Einbinder
OH Magazine :type:

Hello all.. I have been asked to write an article for a magazine on the problems overweight people have in todays society. Either physical, emotional or mental and combine this with wls. The article with include the struggles and successes. I am asking anyone who would like to share their stories to send them to me. I will not publish names or places. I am from San Diego and work with people at my work on weight issues. In my line of business (police) being overweight is looked on as being scared or unimaginable. Please feel free to email me if you would like to share your experiences. Thank you, Gloria

Hello Everyone, I found a weight loss sheet online that I modified and made very useful. It tracks your weight loss and also shows you a graph and you can even print yourself a Certificate to Congratulate yourself on your weight loss. It is in Microsoft Excel and is very easy to use. If you would like a copy please e-mail me at [email protected] and I will e-mail you a copy. Thanks, Dave Surgery 02/14/05 Starting Weight 431 Weight Today 196 Goal 190

Hi, everyone. Thanks for your responses. I'd like to clarify a couple of things: First, I was mistaken in thinking that this ruling just popped out of somebody's head. There *was* a comment period on the proposed ruling and so forth; apparently the hospitals knew this might be coming. So if you were in-process for WLS when this ruling came out, I urge you to contact your hospital and your surgeon and tell them that waivers are available. Ask them if they've applied for a waiver. Urge them to do it if they haven't and stay on them until they do. Second, I believe the new rules are *good*, not bad. My objection is only that the ruling didn't give facilities time to get certified, thus leaving so many of us hanging. I received a response from one of you saying that the comment period ended in December of 2005 and that the ruling went into effect in February of 2006. That's not NEARLY enough time for all the WLS facilities to get certified. Who knows how long it takes to get from application to approval? We're talking bureaucracy here, people. Nothing moves quickly. Third, here's concrete proof that this ruling didn't allow enough time to get certified: in the whole USA there are now only 117 facilities certified to perform WLS. Whole areas of the country don't have a certified facility. See which hospitals *are* certified here: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareApprovedFacilitie/BSF/list.asp#TopOfPage (thanks for the link, those who posted it) One of you pointed out that Medicare recipients should have been notified of the proposed rule; I agree wholeheartedly. Another response pointed out that the hospitals were hoping the rule wouldn't pass, which is why they didn't apply for certification. I disagree. There are just too many hospitals that aren't on the certified list - there can't be that many with their heads in the sand. Someone else suggested that hospitals didn't apply for the certification because it costs them money to get certified. THAT, I believe. I still urge you to contact your lawmakers. I paid to have this issue listed in the Soapbox at congress.org; I'm now asking everyone to PLEASE visit and voice your opinion: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=8541136&content_dir=ua_congressorg Thanks, everyone. Lisa Owens