Made first steps

Hi all Thanks for the push. Great news my PCP agrees that wls is for me. Wants me to go forward and will give me any support. I made appointment to talk with dr overcash, to attend dr jawad seminar and requested info from Pasadena, thanks Mike for the info on the site. I also am planning of going to Orlando on May 5th. I just added another reason to have the surgery. My blood test was high for sugar, not enough to be concerned but enough to wake me up. Again thanks all for the push in the right direction. I will add pix to my profile soon. Thanks, Sandy

Sandy are you checking out all of the different weight loss surgeries or have you've already decided on one over the others?

I am still on the fence. My pcp suggested lap band because it does not mess with the entire boby chemistry. Put the decision is mine and I want to look at all the stat's before I commit. I have heard that the lap band is slower at weight loss. But I fear the bi-pass side effects. I have two friends that have had the bi-pass. Both were successful but one had some major complications and was in and out of the hospital for months afterwards. The other just had her first baby in July and all went well, baby is wonderful and has no problems. The friend with the problems also had a bad heart to begin with before surgery. She also was in her late 50's. She is now on disablity. I will be 55 in August and have no heart problems. My medical issues are high blood pressure, asthma and now high blood sugar. I was looking at your dr calendar and it looks like he is only holding seminars for lapband in April. Unless the ones that state "gastric info and support" contain both topics. I would perfer not to have to spend the office visit dollars with dr cashover unless I am sure I will be using him. He does not have any free seminars available. I know that my insurance is only going to pay for one consult. So I need to be sure before I keep that appointment. It is scheduled for April 20th. But also the sooner I pick a dr the sooner I can be on the road to being able to play with my grandkids. I am about 120 lbs over weight, bmi is 45. I am the type of person that needs fast results. I also cannot take alot of pain meds, my stomach does not keep them down. I know the pain will be the same either way. Surgery is surgery. Thanks for all the info I am getting. Sandy

Hi, I don't know if I will be of any help but here goes. I orginally wanted lap band and contacted one surgeons weight loss center but they wanted a $2250.00 program fee. I than contacted others and would have had to wait a month for a seminar. I contacted Dr. Overcash and got an appointment within 2 days. What I liked about him. He didn't waste my time waiting for seminars. He answered my questions one on one. If you're trying to decide on a surgeon you should be comfortable with them and you should be able to meet with them one on one even if it costs you extra. Dr. Overcash does do lapband but my impression is that he is not a big fan of lap band. He seems to feel that RNY is far more effective. After talking to him about the pros and cons I switched to open RNY. He has done over 1000 wl surgerys. Check out his website www. floridabariatriccenter.org My big day is 4/11. Hope this helps you , best of luck in your decision, and if you have a moment say a prayer for me! thanks Josie

Hi Sandy, Hopefully your Orlando trip is to see Dr. Kim in Celebration. I am at the info session every Wednesday night at 6PM. If you go, be sure to sto by and say hello! Take care, Kristen