Tomorrow is finally the day. Have to be at Hartford Hospital for 7am tomorrow and am having the surgery at 9am. Still not really nervous at all, not sure that is a good thing or not, hopefully i wont be too bad tomorrow as they are about to wheel me in.

thanks so much for your reply..i will just keep experimenting. i have a feeling i am not going to like the shakes either unless i make them at home with fruit and stuff. but at work it will be difficult to find one i can tolerate. but thanks again for your help! Allison

 Hi Tammy,

I have no regrets about my rny or my choice of Dr. Raftopoulos. It has been 1 year and I am feeling much healthier than I ever have.  I no longer have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or the constant knee pain I was suffering.

The decision for everyone is a personal choice. I wanted to feel comfortable with the Doctor and the staff as I was going to be having a lifetime relationship. I went to a few doctors before making my choice. I originally wanted the lap band, but after many conversations and much research I decided on rny.  I felt that was going to give me the most success. 

I wish you success on your journey.

Nancy

Hi....interesting you should ask...
i just recently left that group (Dr Valin's) because they were not at all helpful, rushed me through each visit, and the office staff and the Dr's wife who is the head nurse, was rude and made me feel like i was a bother whenever i called them especially about the insurance approval process! i felt like i was in this journey all alone especially when it came time for them to submit to my ins co for approval. After i was denied the first time(most ins Co's deny the first submit) they "said" they called and had a "peer to peer" with the medical director at the ins co and "were not going to it again!" and told me to contact this LAWYER!! so i ended up appealing to the ins co (i wrote a 3 page letter of appeal) MYSELF and FINALLY got the INSURANCE CO to approve me for  the RNY but they only approved me for the procedure and not the 2 nite stay! When i called Dr Valin's office, and asked them to please call my ins co and explain that this is not an outpatient procedure, they refused and told me "they already called them twice" and would not call them again and for me to  "call the lawyer"!( between you and me...they must have some agreement going on with this "lawyer").
Anyhow,everyone at that office (not including Dr Valin because i never ever even met him in the 6 months i was going to them-which i thought was weird) was rude and not helpful. I finally decided AFTER that last phone call to the office that this was not the place for me!! i want a DOCTOR (who i would like to have met long before the week before surgery) AND THE STAFF to be caring and helpful and i just didn't get that with them at all.
I HAVE SINCE LEFT THIS GROUP (thank God..i feel so much better now about this whole procedure you can't imagine) AND I ABSOLUTLY LOVE THEM!! I GOT APPROVED FOR THE 2 NITES (imagine that) AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO MAKE ONE PHONE CALL TO THE INS CO MYSELF BECAUSE THIS OFFICE STAFF IS THERE TO HELP AND COMFORT YOU ON YOUR JOURNEY LIKE THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE! AND THE BEST PART IS THAT I HAVE ALREADY BEEN SCHEDULED FOR SURGERY!  oh, and i met the doctor on my first vist to them...imagine that too!
So, unless you plan on doing the insurance approval process yourself...and like feeling rushed and all alone in this whole process, I wouldn't recommend this group. SORRY........

 Congratulations. You look wonderful.

Keep up the good work.
Nancy