My Journey Begins

I have been lurking on this board quite a while, trying to learn as much as I can from all of you fine folks and now I have reason to come out of the shadows.

With the fantastic support of Jen at Dr. Schlesinger's office and my dear wife fighting what seems to be an endless gauntlet of challenges from the insurance company, I finally got approved for surgery......yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like most of you, I have thought long and hard about this....actually, for years; seeing my health continue to decline, yet unsure whether the drastic nature of surgery was the right choice.  Even talking to my past PCP's (to obtain letters of medical necessity) introduced doubt as they are surprisingly unsupportive, even though they are fully aware of my co-morbidities.

But, I have two small boys (ages 3 and 5) that are the best things to ever happen to me and my wife and I want to be around to see them grow into adults and have their lives fulfilled as mine has been.  Yes, I know that my way of life is about to change drastically, but that is the decision that one must make when you can see what your future will be by looking at your father and grandfather and realizing that you have the same afflictions that plagued them.

Anyway, sorry to get long winded here...I wanted to share my excitement with people who can appreciate what the journey represents.  Thanks to everyone on this message board for sharing your ups and downs so that we may all benefit from your experience.

Richard

Well Richard.....You picked the right Doctor.  Congradulations. 

Dewey

Congrat!  I can say that it will be worth all the battles in the end.  Took my wife and I almost 2 years but Thank God e did not give up. 

Woooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooo! 

Congrats Richard!  You have an amazing future ahead! 

Gotta luv your doc!  He's a miracle man!

If you need to throw in an exctra support group then please join us at the Chandler Support meetings.  (4th Tuesday of every month from 6 to 7:30).

And.....make sure you and your lovely join all of us at the AZ Extravaganza in just a few days!  You can get discounted tickets by using the promo code:  Plastow08  ......  Just move your curser up to the tab that says "Events" and follow the path til you find the details about our AZ event on Sept 19th and 20th!

Keep us posted on your journey and let us know if we can answer any ????????'s

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Richard,
Congratulations on getting approved.  You are going to be in the best of hands.  Dr. Schlesinger and Jen are definately the best. 

You will find a brand new life and you will enjoy spending time and playing with your boys.  Enbrace the new you.

Deanne

I am so happy for you! You got through the hardest part of getting approved and the surgery and weight loss will be over before you know it. God bless your wife for supporting you!

Congratulations on getting the approval from the health insurance company.  I know it is a fight most of the time. 

You have one hell of a good Dr... There are not enought kind things to say about him, he has been great with me on my journey.

good luck...  WHEN IS THE BIG DAY?

Hope to see you on the 20th at the OH event

Scott

Hi Richard,

Congrads, you have picked a great doctor. He did my revision from a RNY to ERNY. I was not even scared because Dr Schlesinger calms you right down and you feel your in good hands. I was totally relaxed when I had my surgery on 7/2/2008. He really looks out for you. Have you gone to Dr Schlesinger's support groups ? They really good. He will answer any question that anyone has. Keep us posted when you get a surgery date. Good Luck! Dawn

Thanks for the kind words everybody!!!

I'm scheduled for September 12th....yep, it's coming quick

I chose Dr. Schlesinger after reading hundreds of posts on this board and after meeting him, I agree that he has to be one of the best doctors I've met in terms of being down to earth.

I am very nervous about the procedure, but I'm sure everything will be fine.  I've been getting off of my caffeine addiction over the past four days and it's been a challenge.

Rich