Wait Listed for WLS

Hi, I am 33 yrs old, I have a 14 yr old son, and a wonderful husband that is Active Duty in the Air Force. We are stationed at Keesler AFB and I have recently learned that they do WLS here at the Keesler Medical Center. I have had my first consultation with Dr. Mann, he seemed to be very nice. I will attend my first support group meeting at the end of this month. I have an appointment with the nutritionist at the base on the 29th. I also have a consult in to get an appointment with mental health. Dr. Mann told me that I will need counselling along with the surgery. I am on a waiting list and do not have a surgery date yet. I have a lot of mixed feelings about all the risks of the surgery. I had a family friend that passed away due to leakage after the surgery. That really scares me! I would like to talk with someone that has had the surgery done here at Keesler. Any information will be helpful about what to expect after the surgery. How much the surgery has helped you.. I want to know both the positives and the negatives of post-op. Thanks! Rhonda

Hey Rhonda, Welcome to the MS Board!!! I am pre-op, but my DH is retired USAF and I will be having my surgery at Keesler on Jan 11. I am very excited. Karen Barrett had her surgery at Keesler. Her profile is located here: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=B1076028225 And Joshua Mikell is having his TODAY at Keesler. Here's his profile: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=M1099250538 Please post often and let us hear from you! I will let you know what I find out as I go along. My doc will be David Jenkins, but both other surgeons in the bariatric program will be scrubbing in. If I can help you any way, let me know. Smooch, Arlies

Hey Arlies, Thank you so much for the information. I was WOWED by the detailed profile on Karen Barrett, she did not leave out anything. It does not sugar coat anything and tells me exactly what to expect. My initial appointment was with Dr. Mann, I don't know if that will be the one that does the actual surgery or not. He sent a consult to get me an appt. with mental health and with nutritional medicine. My appt with nutritional medicine is on the 29th, do not have an appt yet with mental health. Is this all part of the process? Dr. Mann told me that the wait list is about 5 months long, that they are averaging between one and three surgeries a week. I would love to get the surgery done in the spring and be ready to wear a bathing suit by summer. I need my energy level increased to keep up with my husband, he is so full of energy. I want to be active again. I am going to call Dr. Mann and ask him to do the sleep test on me. I am positive that I have sleep apnea, my dad has it and I have a lot of the symptoms. It seems to be getting worse because I wake myself up snoring now. Thank you again for your help. I need all the support I can get, because my family is not totally behind me on this. My husband wants me to have it but he is scared of all of the risks. My mom totally is against me having it, but this is ultimately me my decision to make. The results will be well worth the risks. Thanks again, and good luck with your surgery! Rhonda

Hey Rhonda, All those appts are normal. I have had sleep test, pulmonary test, nutrition appts, blood work, and psycho testing! Normal...not that I am but the results were! In North Dakota, I had a very,very dear friend named Tammy Glantz married to Julian (Jay). 3 kiddos - Jacob, Kairie, and Nicholas.....Do you know her? Glantz isn't a name I have heard alot. Smoochies, Arlies

Small world... That is my husband.. He and Tammy divorced in 1999. She is remarried and lives in Wayland NY. She also has a little girl name Raleigh that turned one on September 11. Julian and I met after his divorce, while he was stationed at Moody AFB, GA and we have been married almost 5 years. Jacob is now 14, Kairee is 13 and Zachary is 9. They are great kids. I have one son, Brandon, that is also 14. He and Jacob get along perfectly. Julian is flying up Thursday to visit the kids for a few days and take them Christmas shopping. We fly them down every summer and they spend 6 weeks with us. Julian and Tammy just grew apart, she met her husband Wally on the internet and they seem really happy together. This is strange, meeting someone from his past life with Tammy. She and I get along pretty well, don't really have a lot of contact with one another. I adore the kids and they adore me (I think) What a small world!! Rhonda

Hey Rhonda, Sorry to hear about their divorce, but am glad everyone is happy now. I have boo-hooed and boo-hooed to think that little Zachary (I think I said Nicholas before, he lived next door to them at Minot) is 9 years old.....I guess he will always be the little red-headed guy tottling around in Emmalee's flintstone car.Please have Jay give them our love. Emmalee and Kairee are just a few days in age apart and I used to call them my twins. Emmalee is just as fair as she can be and they looked nothing alike but they were bestest best friends forever!!! I can remember when she and Emmalee were so small that they BOTH fit into the flintstone car and the door even closed. Please, Please let us know when they come down for the summer, because I would dearly LOVE to see them. Emmalee would be thrilled to see Kairee and Jacob - tho she barely remembers Zachary, I think she would be happy to see him too. And I have wondered about all of them for ages. Also I will tell you that you got a good man. Jay was always so good to the kids and to Tammy. He always built the best snow stuff in the winter for the kids - huge slides of snow and tunnels and forts. Our houses were directly across the road from one another on Roaming Road! We loved it there! They must have divorced very soon after getting to Georgia. Last I had heard from them they will building a house or buying one in Valdosta. We left Minot in 1998 or 1999. Jim was at Warner Robbins for 2 years, while we stayed home. They kinda messed with him at the end. He did not have enough time left in service for a PCS. But he got one, then they said it was his fault for accepting it (It was either that or a remote in Korea) and they added enough on so that he'd be there for 2 years and THEN told us we couldn't have housing since he was so near retirement!!! It was a mess. We stayed in Minot - actually we bought a house in Glenburn, until Jim got real sick and then we came home so we could be closer. Turns out he had been a diabetic for years and when they finally tested him for diabetes, his sugar count was so high, that we were lucky he didn't die! Now he is retired and works for Trustmark in Jackson as a programmer. Sigh....I loved North Dakota! Thanks for letting me know all this. When (and if) you talk to Tammy, tell her I said hi and we are all fine. Jon is 20 years old!!!!!! In college!!! Emmalee is 13, 7th grade, and all As. Tell her Jon is 6'4" and about 280 lbs. Big, fuzzy, and a teddy bear. Majoring in music with an emphasis in guitar. Emmalee is about 5'5" and stocky - They won't believe that becuase Kairee was always the stocky one and Emmalee was a little shrimp! (I never had to buy clothes in for Em in ND because she got all Kairee's hand-me-downs! Tammy bought everything that matched for Kairee - so it was great!) I can hardly wait to see you! Give Jay my love. Smoochies Arlies