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Hello! 
Welcome to OH!
I suggest that you go forward with attending an initial seminar at the office of the surgeon you are interested in. I am going to Dr. Eibes at DSM Bariatrics and, at my initial seminar, they provided me with a binder full of information, including the requirements that I needed to meet in order for them to consider me for WLS (weight loss surgery).
Also, I suggest that you contact your health insurance company to find out their requirements to receive pre-approval for WLS. If you find that you are required to complete a doctor supervised diet and exercise plan, I suggest asking them for specifics - frequency of monitoring by the doctor, frequency of weigh-ins, acceptable diet plans, acceptable exercise plans, etc.
It seems that most insurance plans do require at least a 6-month doctor supervised non-surgical weight loss regimen. And that they do not want the doctor to be the WLS surgeon - they want it to be your PCP (primary care provider).
It has been about 16 months since I began my quest for WLS. I will get a date for gastric bypass surgery when I see my surgeon today! Hooray!
I sent you a friend request a bit ago. Please contact me anytime with questions and I'll do my best to answer them with what I learned so far!
Again, WELCOME!!! And I look forward to learning more about you and keeping in touch! Take care!
Anyway, should I start by going to a seminar at Mercy in Des Moines? Or am I pushing it? Just need to know what the best step forward would be.
Thanks!
You can always talk to Mary at the office, maybe this is not true. Otherwise there are many other RNY docs in Iowa, I work at a hospital with Dr. Kyle VerSteeg out of Mason City, Iowa. Might wanna give them a call.
Call 641-422-7000 and ask for Lynette or Connie at the Bariatric Center.
Good luck!
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=6166c1bf498224d5a8b93e&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url
RNY- 12/04/06 with Dr. Matt Glasock
LBL - 4/28/09 with Dr. Rene Recinos
I say talk to your primary care physician about this and get the process started. I think you'll have the best chance of getting into a surgeon with a referral from your PCP. I think that is where I'd start..........it is where I started when I began the process before I had my surgery.
Keep posting and let us know how things are going for you!
Carol
I am from Vinton and I have been researching for the last few years the lap-band procedure and just recently came across this website. I do not have insurance so I am wondering if anyone here has paid out of pocket or loan for the procedure and if they could tell me roughly what it was. I am 23, 350 lbs, I have one son and am to the point I have a hard time walking up a single flight of stairs. I do not know how I am going to be able to pay for this but I have been dieting and everything for 5 years and now I do not know what to do. Any advice??
on 7/30/09 2:40 am, edited 9/1/09 12:12 pm - IA
Hello Lyn!
I am newbie that is awaiting a surgery date - hoping for early September. I am focusing on my thought processes now as I do not want "head hunger" to sabotage my efforts. I am trying to ensure that I have covered all of the bases to be 100% committed to the lifestyle and behavioral changes that will help me to achieve long-term success.
Do you have any advice in terms of what foods to focus on OR foods to avoid to lessen my chances of having the types of side effects you have had?
What kind of vitamin issues did you experience? And how did you resolve them?
I really appreciate your sharing your experiences with all of us!
Thank you!
I had RNY in May 2004. I lost 115 pounds in about 16 months, 5 pounds from my personal goal. At 2 years, I developed severe hypoglycemia. It took a year to be diagnosed, finally at Mayo Clinic, that I had developed nesidioblastosis. The beta cells of my pancreas were making insulin at an alarming rate, hence the hypoglycemia. Ended up having 60% of my pancreas removed. The hypoglycemia has improved but having to eat every few hours to keep my blood sugar up, hasn't done much for my wt loss.
Right now, I'm up 20 pounds. A lot of it is my head. The surgeon can fix our tummies, but not our heads. That's up to us. And right now I'm struggling. I'm currently (as of yesterday) desperately trying to get back on the right path. I do exercise, but am trying to step that up. However, I have to be careful as I have fibromyalgia and don't want to get that really riled up.
I did have some vitamin issues but finally got a handle on that.
This is a life long process. I knew that going in but didn't really get it. The first year is really a honeymoon period. No matter what you do, you will lose wt. It will come off at an amazing rate if you follow the program.
Then it gets hard. It's back to watching what you eat and not straying from the program. I found that I didn't really dump much and the further out I get, the less it happens. So don't count on dumping as a way to control what you eat. So people will dump, some will not. I read somewhere that your new plumbing gets used to it's new route and will eventually return to somewhat normal. I don't know if that's true for everyone or not.
My advice to anyone considering RNY or anyone who is less than a year out, is to be sure that you adjust your thought processes. You will never be able to eat like you did. If you do, you may gain weight. For me, I'm addicted to food. I can't eat just a bite of something. Like chips, if the bag is open, it's gone. For me, it's better to not even have one bite.
That said, this is NOT an easy path. You have to be very vigilant 100% of the time. Never think "Oh, I can eat that today". You may open the flood gates and not be able to get them shut easily.
Lyn
Kathy S. · 0 replies · 6615 views
