anyone from san jose area about to have surgery?

My preop appt. is on Tuesday and my Surgery date is 10/29/2012. two weeks from now..Yikes!

I live in Santa Clara and am post op 4.5 months. If you have any question feel free to ask.. where are you having your surgery?

hey Mario, Thanks for responding and yes I'm sure I'm going to have a million questons..LOL! I looked at your blog and your journey is very inspiring.  Losing that much weight is such a short time seems like a dream to me.

Though I live in San Jose, I am having my surgery at Kaiser in SSF. They have two Bariatric dept (SSF and Fremont) I started at 273 and now I am at 254. I guess I was close enough to my goal weight of 250 so he scheduled me.

I am interesting in getting to know more people in the area going through same thing. You may be just the contact I'm looking for because I would like to meet up in a groups for support in becoming more physically active with people who understand the struggles and the journey.

My first question - which surgery did you have and did you have any reactions to food. (dumping, nausea, etc.? (i'm kinda nervouse about that)

What did you eat for the first month after surgery?

Thanks Tami

I would love to meet up anytime you would like.. feel free to email me @ [email protected]

I had the Vertical Gastric Sleeve or VSG - I have had no complications with food what so ever. If I do eat something that I am not supposed to  such as a greasy food It doesn't settle well... so I avoid those things and have been very lucky this far.

I started my WLS journey with Kaiser and ended up doing it with a different insurance company. I would love to get together and share info and answer any questions you have.

Mario

I'm trying to get to my goal weight that kaiser put on me. i thought of changing insurance just to get the surgery but i cant afford the payments. so i will stick with kaiser. good luck with your surgery. We should all meet up sometime i would love to pick mario's brain for some well needed advice.

Hi Joey, meeting the goal weight was the hardest challenge for me by far.

Funny that both surgeons in ssf have the same name. Li and Le..

Don't give up! I had really reach deep inside myself to find the strength to do notthingut b juicing and protien drinks for two weeks just to make my goal. Once he scheduled me for surgery, the first thing I wanted to do is have a burger and fries to celebrate. (true stroy)..LOL!

When is your next meeting with the surgeon? How much do you need to lose? Are you walking everyday?

When I started to excercise, I have to start VERY slow. I could not believe how out of shape I have become. Everything hurt! but I just kept going..

My surgery is in two weeks yike!s! Mayby you and I can pick Mario's brain together..

I also found a couple more people from San Jose looking for people to walk with. I sent them an email. Maybe we can really get a walking/hiking group started here... 

Tami

i have to get down to 442lbs.yeah that would be great tostart a walking group. also we shouldmeet up with mario before your surgery.

Hi, Joey!

Just a gentle reminder that you do NOT need to meet Kaiser's weight loss requirement if you are willing to file an appeal. Kaiser would turn down your appeal, but the DMHC (dept of managed health care) would side with you. Many people who could greatly benefit from bariatric surgery never have it because this requirement creates such a huge barrier to needed health care.

And again, you are always welcome to come to our support group in San Jose. Any questions - just ask!

Larra

Hi Lara

how do i go about filing an appeal? i've trying since 2007 to get to the goal weight but its hard. all info would be appreciated. thank you.

Hi again, Joey!

My heart goes out to you - trying to get to goal weight since 2007. That's 5 years! This is exactly what I meant by this type of pre-op weight loss requirement creating a barrier to medical care.

I'm going to send you a pm with more detailed info on how to go about appealing.

Larra