Dead forum?

Are there just not very many of us?  Or do people just have nothing to talk about. 

I am going into surgery on the 28th of June @ Baptist in LR w/ J.D. Fuller -

Has anyone experienced anything I should know @ baptist or w/ this doctor??

Thanks! 

P.S. - Post more!

Hello
I was wondering the same thing. Are there any people from AR that still post here?
Good luck on your surgery Solon. I wish i was at your stage. I will be having my surgery at baptist with Dr. Baker. I would like to read about any recent experiences any of you may have had.

Blessings
Gina

 Hi there. Yeah, sadly this board is kinda dead. 
I had surgery last July with Dr. Gibbs and a friend had surgery with dr Fuller the same day. We both have had a good experience. The hospital and staff was great also. Only tip I can think of is to be sure and walk the halls as soon as you can, as much as you can after surger. It will help the gas from surgery (that expands your abdomen for the scope) to work out of your system. I had more pain from the gas than the actual surgery.   Message me if you have any questions, I know how scary it is and will help support you in any way I can.
Good Luck,
Tamela

Tamela
Thanks for replying and the good tip. I have read so many tips about post surgery and walking is in almost all of them. I will do this because i hate pain. lol.

HI there,

This used to be such a great and active board, but, sadly it just isn't that way anymore. I'm almost 5 yrs post op (Dr Gibbs), and relied on info that this board had for me so much, I don't know what I would have done without it.
I know that some folks who are years out like me, have "moved on", meaning we pretty much have our acts together now and are enjoying life as we should.....eating right, exercising and enjoying the second chance at life that WLS gave us.

Some, unfortunately, have fallen by the wayside because they didn't do as well as they (or their doctors) expected, or they have regained weight. It's embarrassing and heartbreaking for them, and those of us here!  We don't judge, but it's hard to come to a place where everyone is excited about losing weight and either admit you've gotten yourself into a bad situation.

Then there are some folks who I've spoken to who don't like the fact that some of the doctor's offices seem to use this forum to advertise their practices. I haven't noticed it much myself, but some have and have commented to me about it.

For whatever reason people are missing, I hope that maybe we can get things going again. There ARE lots of WLS patients out there, I know because I see the pre-ops every month at Baptist. So, maybe if some of you get and keep the ball rolling, we can make this an active board again. I'll try to do my part!

I agree with Susan. A lot of us have moved on. Ten years ago, this forum wasn't here, but the chat-room provided a lot of support and we all made friends all over the world and locally.

Then, Yahoo provided a place for local support groups, but alas they have since gone dormant too.

I founded one called WLS_COOKING, which is still active, but I don't admin it anymore.

I was at Baptist last week and there were several people having surgery, but not everyone is aware of the forums or even Obesityhelp.com. Facebook and social networking have taken some of the support away from here.

Hey Solon, you should be coming home tomorrow. Congrats!

OzarkMark

Yeah, Mark I agree about the FB thing. Things were pretty active here before FB became the really big deal, now most folks spend their computer time there with family and friends. Sadly, it's usually the family and friends who help us get to the point of needing surgery, right????  LOL

Anyway, it's a shame that all of our experiences can't help out folks if we're not here. I think I check in about once a month now.  :(

Hey Susan!  I've been fighting severe depression and anxiety for the past year.  I do still lurk though.  I was wondering who did your plastics and how it all came out?  Good to see you on here.

 Maybe we should make a facebook group?  I used to be real active on here, starting I believe in 2004 or early 2005.  I had Open RnY 15 Aug 2007 with Dr. Baker.  My surgery was at Baptist.  The nurses, aides and staff there were fantastic.  The anesthesioligist was funny, the last thing I remember was him telling me that I was going to smell something sweet like margaritas and the last thing I said (don't know how intelligible it was) was "I hope you aren't drinking" and I remember him laughing the next thing I remember was a nurse telling me I had to breathe and being yelled at because I wasn't breathing on my own.  

I had a room mate from hell who was in there for a revision and she was very mean to me and I guess she was just not happy that she had gained all her weight back and had to have surgery again.  She constantly complained on the phone that I was moaning in my sleep or that my IV pump was beeping and then her and I got into it and she threw the phone (those big ones not a cellphone) at me and they put me in a private room at no extra cost and all the nurses and aides came in and apologized to me.  Apparently her chart listed that she was a complainer and she had even been kicked out of other hospitals and had hurt other patients in the past.