Hi, I also had RNY surgery with Dr. Rizk, in Jan '06, at Mercy.  I had a great experience at Mercy, I ended up with complications, but the staff of Drs. & Bari nurses were wonderful.  They were very encouraging, and sincerely listened to the questions & concerns I had. My surgery was covered by my company's insurance, so I don't have any advice about Medicaid. Hope that you continue to research and do the homework... it really makes the whole process a lot easier to get through.  The OH boards are a wonderful place to get answers to questions and find support. Best wishes!  Keep us posted on your progress and surgery. Angela B

Dr. Kermode did my surgery. It will be 2 years this month. He just did my tummy tuck 9 weeks ago. Everthing turned out very good. Barb

Thanks so much for your reply.  I am going to forward it to my aunt.  Cathy

Hello everyone..its been awhile since I checked in on here,life has been very busy!Things have changed on here a lot,lol..guess it goes hand in hand with WLS huh!!Things change a lot a fast after that too....I hope everyone is doing well....my life is going good,never thought i would hear the words but I am told I am underweight so have been trying to gain a few back but I am still healthy,blood work is good and I feel great!!! My goal weight was 140-5 and my lowest I got to was 109 back up to 115 now and looking better I am told,I still have that head thing going tho and I dont see it..I just feel me getting bigger so am working on that too.....Well have a wonderfull summer everyone and I hope your dreams all come true...                                                                                    Lori A.

It's quite a procedure for being diagnosed.  You need to see an endocrinologist and just getting in here in DM is a challenge. 

The first thing I had to do was prompt an attack and have labs drawn.  My insulin, proinsulin, and c-peptide were all elevated.  My sugar was 38.  Next I had to do an 18 hour fast to prove that it is after eating and not fasting.  If it's low with fasting, it's probably an insulinoma not increased beta cell mass. 

Then they shipped me off to Mayo and I had an ultrasound, CT, and more labs, including an insulin antibody test and a test to see if I was doing it to myself.  Yeah, like I like feeling like crap.  The next step is the calcium stimulation test.  They use the femerol artery and vein in your groin.  They draw base line insulin values from each of the 3 areas of the pancreas then stimulate insulin production in each area and check the insuline levels again.  From that they can tell if its the whole pancreas or just part. 

Mayo is doing research on this and they are the ones who developed the cal stim test.  They only do about 1 a month and so far are following 50 patients who have had part of their pancreas removed.  But they think it's the tip of the iceberg. 

If you  want more info, I can email you a Mayo research paper.  Email me at [email protected].

 

Thanks for your support!  I'm going to try to take my laptop with me if they have free internet.