Aloha Everybody

I am new to the forums

Howzit! Welcome to the Hawaii forum. It's the slowest place here in the world on this board, LOL. I had the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy done by Dr. Cirangle. You should check out that board too.

So you are in the research phase huh? Trying to figure out if WLS is for you? Ask all the questions you want. No question is too big or too small.

I too had chronic back pain and suffered for 2 years prior to getting the VSG done in March 2007. I was stuck in a rut. I was going to Physical Therapy until insurance ran out. Then onto self paying for Chiropractor visits 3 times a week. Had back pain all the time, couldn't move, couldn't excercise and put on even more and more weight. Every doc I saw told me to lose weight. I needed help and I needed it fast as I couldn't stand the thought of living life in pain forever. I initially saw ads on tv for the lapband which sparked my interest but after my first consultation with Dr. Cirangle, he gave me info on the VSG and I was sold. I loved the idea of setting and forgetting it. No fills to hassle with. And I loved the idea with the VSG, they also removed the hunger hormone. That was the kicker! I wasn't going to graze on all the Hawaii goodies all freakin' day long. Don't get me wrong, I still love my popcorn and mochi crunch but now I can only eat a cup of popcorn, not the entire bag for myself.

Good luck on your journey and ask alllll the questions and get all the details you need.

aloha,

michelle

Wow,Thanks for the reply

I heard that Dr. Murayama is doing the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy laporascopically now instead of open which makes a whole heck of a difference during the recovery phase. That is the whole reason why I used Dr. Cirangle cause he was the only guy doing it at the time. I DID have to fly to SF but he comes to Hawaii every other month for checkups so it's all good.

Me too on the Chiro visits. My insurance doesn't cover that kind of visits so I had to pay outta pocket for each and every visit. The regular physicians only wanted to medicate me with Vicodin(which sometimes isn't a bad thing) but it never got to the root of my problem which is losing weight and keeping it off. Oh man, i cannot even express how great my bones and joints feel. My ankles don't hurt, my knees don't hurt and I don't huff-n-puff when going up hills..........it's freakin' awesome!

Call the insurance company, see what they say and schedule a Consultation.........if can, can.....and there is no such thing as "NO CAN" in my book! It's more like "Where there's a will, there's a way!!!"

k-den....Happy Aloha Sunday!

Your a Pretty Postive person,lol

HMSA covered my surgery. All except $4000 which was a doctors fee that covers 5 years of post op care(he flies here every other month). It also covered 2 roundtrip tickets from Kauai to SF and 1 week at Cathedral Hill Hotel. The hospital where the surgery was at was CMPC or something like that. California Medical Pacific Center i think. Dr. Cirangles website is www.lapsf.com

Did your chiropractic adjustments help with the pain at all? Mine was all temporary relief but once the weight started coming off, the pain started going away.

If you want, come on over to the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy forum and chat with Jeni, JSquared, she changes her name sometimes. She lives on Oahu and can give you the low down on when Dr. C will be on Oahu for her next follow up visit. I think he's coming to Kauai first week in Feb so he should be island hopping around that time.

Take care!

michelle

Hi there! I keep forgetting to stop in on this board since it always seems to be so dead.  However every now and then people do post and you will get some great advice.  I had the lapband first done in April 04 by Dr. Cirangle and then and then had to it repaired by Dr. Fowler over at Castle.  My company was trying to save some money and not send me to San Fran for the repair.     I have lost over 115 pounds and keep loosing slowly. Either Dr is a good Dr.  If you get a chance go check both of them out.  I will be willing to answer any questions you may have. Linda

Hi Linda,

Was your band defective? Or did it slip? Just wondering. And did HMSA pick up the tab the second time around when you saw Dr. Fowler?

Have a good weekend!

Aloha, I, too, only check this board once in awhile because it's so dead. Having no insurance, I flew to Mexico for my surgery about three months ago.  I had the Mini Gastric Bypass and although I'm having a complication (stoma is too small to pass solid food) I've managed to successfully work around it.  I'm down 65 pounds so far and continue to lose. Tom

Hi Tom,

Welcome to the losers bench. 65 pounds is a huge loss. Congrats!

What is the difference between Gastric Bypass and the Mini Gastric Bypass? Never heard of it before. My curious mind would love to know.

thanks,

michelle