Had my consult with Dr. Aranow

Hi everyone, I had my consult with Dr. Aranow yesterday. He would like to do the Lap-Band on me, which was a surprise to me because in his informational group session he gave me the impression that he is not in favor of the band. I was really happy though because when i first started looking into WLS a few years ago this is the procedure that I really wanted to have done. Dr. A thinks with my diet history that the band would be a good fit for me. I have no problem losing weight, it's just keeping it off that I have such a hard time with. It will be so wonderful to finally lose this weight and not gain it back! I had done much of my pre-op appointments prior to meeting with him so I just have a couple of appts left to take care of. I have an appointment with Dr. Cynthia Wirth for the Psych Eval. Has anyone used her? I was really surprised to find out how extensive a psych eval that this office uses. It's a 2 part four hour procedure! When I had gone to another doc about WLS, I literally had a 15 minute meeting with a social worker, so this is quite a difference! I also have to go for an upper GI and barium swallow. Can anyone honestly tell me exactly what this entails and how the experience was for them. I can tolerate things well but I just like to be really prepared! I also have to see the nutrionist. Hopefully they will call me with an appt. date soon so that we can submit this all to insurance. I am hoping to have surgery by late summer so that it won't interfere with my kids starting school. I want to lose a bunch of weight before surgery. I have been doing atkins for about a year and half and am going to go back on induction levels for a while to see if I can kick that up into high gear again. Dr Aranow wants to lose at least 18 lbs by surgery but I am hoping for about 50 lbs. I was really pleased with my appointment yesterday. It was nice to finally get to meet face to face with him and have him answer all my questions. I can tell he is a nice person who genuinely cares about what he does. I am glad that I have chose him for this journey. Eileen

Hey Eileen, I am glad your appointment with Dr. Aranow went very well and felt good to go home after your first consult. I can not wait to see Dr. Aranow on June 8th and I know I will go for open RNY because of my diet history. I am anixous to hear about an upper GI and Bariumswallow (heard from people said yucky). I hope to meet you at Gathering Party on June 12th. I saw Christine who had surgery by Dr. Aranow last tuesday and she looks good and is more happier about new life and better healthier Kathy

Eileen: I had an Upper Endoscopy last year and let me tell you - I will NEVER (ever) do it again for any reason at all, UNLESS I am completely knocked out. The doctor promised me he would sedate me enough to where I wouldn't feel anything, but I did. I felt every since milimeter of that thing. I was gagging so hard that I couldn't breathe. I swear I saw a bright light. (okay, I'm known to be sarcastic, but this is for real!!) My blood pressure hit the bottom, I heard alarms going off and the nurse telling me to just breathe. Then I passed out. The rest is a little foggy to me and I'd like to keep it that way. So if you have a bad gag reflex and you know it will take a horse tranquelizer to put you out, tell the doctor so. That's my story. Aren't you glad you asked?!? Tara

Thanks for the honesty Tara. I am glad I asked. I think I have a pretty good gag reflex and wasn't happy to hear that I had to have this done. I have a high tolerance to pain so that part doesn't scare me. I just don't like the feeling of being smothered or not being able to breathe easily. When I had to go for the follow CPAP test for the sleep apnea, I thought I was going to die. I really don't know how some are able to sleep with it on night after night!

I didn't mind using the CPAP at my sleep study. I just couldn't roll over properly. I swear I got only 13 minutes of sleep both nights and they told me I slept 8 hours! Eh?!?

the part about the cpap that I couldn't stand was not being able to breathe through my mouth. Anytime I opened my mouth it felt like the air was being sucked right out. And I couldnt' speak. It definately wasn't a good nights sleep.

Juist had to jump in here. First- welcome! I'm glad you've chosen Dr. A. He is simply wonderful! Second- an upper endoscopy is NOT the same as an upper GI or w/a barium swallow. They are not going to stick anything down your throat. An upper GI is actually where they have you drink a liquid then have you stand in front of an x-ray machine and take pictures of you GI tract. While you're standing there, you swallow gulps of barium and they take pictures of that too. There is no pain or anything invoived. It's a little gaggy, since you ahve to drink the yucky liquid. That's all though. OK? So, no worries. Best, Lisa C

Hi Eileen, I too have Dr A. I did the upper GI and barium swallow a couple of weeks ago at Middlesex. It wasn't tooo bad. The good part was they had a Johnny that did not have an opening in the back. It had 3 arm holes so it wraps around you. The Doc came in and gave me an injection of ?Glucose that speeds up the digestive process. You then stand against a table that ends up laying down. You have to twist and turn on this table (and here lies the problem..I eventually felt like a bug in a rug with the johnny all wrapped around me. LOL) after you drink a fizzy drink and also a chalky tasting drink. He tells you to hold your breath(for a split second) and takes pictures. You can actually watch the barium going thru on the screen. The people there were absoluetly wonderful!!! I hope this helps. Linnie

Thanks for all the info Linnie. It sounds like it's a pretty quick ordeal which is nice. I hate drinking things that are chalky but it's a small price to pay for the surgery!

hi Eileen, I'm so glad you had a positive experience with Dr. Aranow....I feel very pleased that he is my doctor. I did not need a barium swallow but many other test. I am almost done with testing and hope to have surgery in the next month or two. Dr. Aranow also felt I would be a good candidate for the band. In my case I wanted the least invasive surgery since I am 62 and have many medical problems. This seems the safest for me. It is a personal decision. Did you get to go to the group meeting mon nite? I wanted to go but could'nt make it. Hopefully I will meet you at another meeting angel