opinions

Hi, I just signed up. I am 38 yrs and old. Have been considering surgery for a while. I am looking at cmc. i have talked to saints memorial in Lowell, Ma. Has anyone gone thru surgery at cmc? I have heard good things about the hospital. Trying to narrow down staying with cmc or going back to Lowell. I have been already been recommended by my primary. Told by surgeon I am a perfect canidate. I am on line for doing it.. my bmi is 40. I have lost 16 pds. I have diebetes. I have seen my father die early and my brother is sick from it, now is having complications. I want to loose the weight before I have the complications. I have blue cross with PPO. I may chg to Aetna POS. Can someone tell me on those 2, on their experiences. They both have gastric on them. One other question? I would think the fills for the banding are covered under the medical with the co-pay. Am I correct? Thanks Lisa from Kingston New Hampshire.

Hi Lisa, I went through Dr. Michael Jiser at Lowell General - I actually had my surgery at Saints Memorial, but the program moved in August to Lowell General. The staff is marvelous and all located in the same place. They are an incredible group of people and always available to talk to. The support groups are great. In fact, this Tuesday night in the auditorium at the hospital they are have a support group meeting about how to handle holiday eating. Several of us that are "post-op" are going to meet in the cafeteria at the hospital at 4:30 for dinner and just to chat (before the meeting at 6:00 ) - please feel welcome to join us. If you want to bring a support person along - husband, parent, friend, whatever - they are always welcome. In fact my husband is going Tuesday night. We would love to have you join us for dinner or just the meeting. You can see my picture on here so you would be able to recognize us. We will be the people in the cafeteria with little food on our plates! I was originally going through Dr. David Drinkwater at SNHMC but he resigned and moved on. 2 of his recommendations was Lowell and CMC and I chose Dr. Jiser. He is wonderful and I don't think you would be disappointed in their program. Barbara

Hi Barbara, thank you for the post. i had originally pd for the program with lowell- 400.00. At that time 2 yrs ago. They told me I wasn't ready. But, I could come back at any time without a copay. Which surgery did u get? I was all the way up to seeing the surgeon, Dr. Shen. I have my brother going with me to the general meeting at cmc on monday night. I want to see. but, i do know when I called saints memorial about anything. they call u back. I don't like the fact.. cmc takes a while. but, maybe I need to call ask a nurse more often. I know cmc just started with the banding last year. and dr. shen has done much more. I am back and forth on it. but, I think now I am leaning towards the banding. I think if I do decide on the banding... u may be seeing more at Lowell. But, I will still ck it out at cmc. My confidence is more with experience. Dr. shen was really nice and went to the monthly meetings also. put himself out there. I appreciate the invite. Maybe the next round. Only because I work till 5:30 in manchester. I know !!! I can't leave early. thx Lisa from nh

Look at Karen's post a few lines down on this forum about the support group meeting and you will see her picture - if you decide to join us in the cafeteria!