making the call

I have been reading about gastric bypass for awhile now. I love seeing the before and after pictures. Everyone looks so great! I have decided to make the phone call to the surgeon my doctor suggested. J. Aranow M.D. Since her suggestion I have switched my primary doc. I switched back to a doc I had years ago.(about 3 years ago ) I have not talked to him about wanting to have the surgery. I did just have a full physical . I hope he thinks it will be good for me. Right now I do not own a scale , I got depressed when I had one. I am about 258 pounds right now. * geeze * I gained all my weight after having a total hysterectomy. I was about 150 before that surgery. I am hoping my leg pains will go away after I have lost the weight. darn veins get so distended if I stand for long. Im also tired of getting phlebitis and the superficial blood clots. I just got over having a stress fx in my leg. Lost my job from having that. good news tho.. I start a new job on monday. I hope I can do it. I had to change my shift to the midnight shift... less walking. My cholesterol was off the wall, I tried Atkins. never again!. With meds my chol. is now 206. compaired to 306 that it was. whew im lucky to be here, oh and I also need to mention the diabetes I have. So how bad is the endoscopy? I had a colonoscopy just 2 months ago, OUCH! , so I'm not looking forward to endoscopy. Listen to me.. I dont even know if I can have the surgery... How long did it take from first phone call to approval to done with surgery. Anyway, Im glad to be here. And I hope my husbands ins will cover this. LOL. Tina

Tina - Welcome to the message boards and to your personal journey. Sounds like a whirlwind of activity for you right now. My suggestion - take a deep breath and tackle one thing at a time. First - you need to discuss your desire for WLS with your Primary physician. It's important in the insurance battle (and in CT it is a battle for most people) that your primary is fully behind your decision. Given the comorbidities that you describe, I'm sure they'll see the value of your decision. Second - contact a surgeon and schedule your appt - may take a while to get in, patience will be your new best friend on this journey! Finally - You're starting a new job - that's great! I wish you great success with that! Will you be able to take the time off you'll need to heal? Your job schedule may play a factor in the type of WLS you want to have - you need to discuss all that with the doctors. It's an exciting journey and everyone here on OH is here for you. Good luck with everything and please keep us posted! Any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Hugs, Carla OH Support Group Leader

Hi Tina Welcome to our Ct Message Baord !! I am also Dr Aranow's Patient. He is great and excellent doctor for this surgery. Here are your tip for preoperative process Call the Dr Aranow's office and get the date for information session Meantime you can go to Middletown Support group on Mondays ( on April 10 , 17, 24 at 630 pm at North 1 Conference Room at Middlesex hosptial. Make sure you sign your name under pre op paper so you attened this support group which Dr Aranow required you to attend (3 support group) you will meet pre op and post op people there and will collect alot of good informations there. After you had information session , you will call the office to make the date to meet Dr Aranow one to one then Dr Aranow will review your health history and he will make thev decision what kind of tests you will take. You are required to see Psychology Evaluation ( You are required to see Dr Aranow's psychology and Dietican too) Remember Dr Aranow will tell you how much you will have lose weight before you will get surgery date. After you will complete all of the tests you take then there will be surgery date. Good luck and hope to meet you on June 24th at WLS Picnic Party!!! Kathy K

hi tina,,welcome aboard,its a long process sometimes not easy,i am 6 days away from surgery,have had several bumps in the road,but paved them quickly and now totally moving forward,you have alot of the same things because of obesity that i have,im am sure that this tool will help us both,,good luck on your journey and be strong for a new healthier life,,,take care,cyndee

Hi, Tina! Welcome to the CT message board! Dr. Aranow was my surgeon...he's a great surgeon and has a terrific program. Good luck with the new job. If you're going to be working the midnight shift, will you be able to attend the support group meetings that run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Mon. nights? Don't worry about an endoscopy. Dr. Aranow doesn't require it of every patient. (I didn't need one.) When you meet with him in his office, he'll give you a list of required appointments and procedures that will be based on your health conditions and risk factors. No 2 people are exactly alike and his requirements aren't exactly the same for everyone. My 1st phone call to Dr. A's office was in June 2004, I attended his presentation in July, met with him in Oct., attended support group meetings in between July and Oct., took care of the various appointments he required of me between Oct. and early Dec. (while losing the weight he wanted me to lose) and had WLS on 12/27/04. But your mileage may vary... I attend most support group meetings at Middlesex Hospital, so if you're ever there when I'm there, pls. introduce yourself to me. (Since you don't have a picture posted and I do, obviously you can more easily figure out who I am than I can you.) Debby

Hi, again! I forgot to mention that there are also support group meetings in Hamden. Since you're in Wallingford, that might be more convenient for you. Not that you can substitute Hamden meetings for Middlesex meetings. Dr. A. requires that you attend a minimum number of meetings at Middlesex, but going to extra meetings, whether at Middlesex or elsewhere, doesn't hurt and can help. I post each week on the CT message board about the support group meetings in both locations, usually on Thurs. or Fri. for the following wk., so just look for my posts. Debby