have you had Dr Gorrin?

Hi, Gastric bypass is new in Eugene. Have you had lap band or are you going to have lap band w/ Dr Gorrin. I'd love to talk with you. Thank you Nancy

Hi Nancy, My name is Pam and I am having Dr. Gorrin do the Bariatric on me the first week of December. My husband and I both are very impressed with him. He's very easy to talk. He will ansew any question I have had or my husband. The whole office has been great. Out of the two doctors I like Dr. Gorrin the best. Hopefully this helps, If I can help in any way please don't hesitate to e-mail me. I am all new to this also, the support group they have started is great..... It is the 3 Tuesday of the month. This month it's on the 28th. I started the 3 glasses last night. I was very impressed with the first one so far. Hope to hear from you, Pam Dulley-Achterberg jnp2004

HI Pam, thanks for answering my post. I've been reseaching this for years but, now i think i might be ready to do it. It's great to have this sight to connect with people. So, lets see, questions. -are there a lot of people in your support group? -which surgery did you choose, and why, if you don't mind my asking? I too, was impressed. I went to the evening intro seminar thing-y. And i have an appt with Dr Gorrin Nov 21. I checked into going to Portland but, the drive seems too long for all the different appts. Thanks for answering. Funny, i had so much to say, now i can't think. Nancy Frost

Hi Nancy, I also love this site. I have not done so much reading in all my life. The support group is great, last time I think there was about 15 people there. It's nice to hear everyone's stories. It's exciting to see the ones who have had the surgery and are geting smaller and smaller. They have only had two so far. I find them very helpful. I am scared but know this is the right step for me. I have been over weight most of my life. I want to be able to look in the mirror and feel good about myself. My oldest daughter is 17 years old and I was at 135 when I got pregnet with her and haven't been able to get under 200 since then. I have tried everything. I seem to get stuck at about 225 and my body will not let go of the fat. I am having the Roux-en-y (RNY). The reason I chose this was after all the research I did and having a friend who had the RNY in April, I thought it was my best choice. I didn't like the sounds of having the band inside of me. I know that sounds crazy, but I just didn't feel good about it. My friend who had it done in April has already lost 100 pounds and she looks great. I also work with two other girls who are also have the RNY. They both felt the same way about having the band inside of them. I should have mine done the first week of December and the other two girls looking a the first week of January. They only do surgery on Wednesdays. There is a gal in our meeting that is coming from Seaside. She told us the waiting list in Portland is out six months. I thought about going to Corvallis, but I didn't want to drive up there for all the appointments. I think you will be very happy with Dr. Gorrin. He's great. He's there for you and when ever you have any questions. The whole office is very helpful. You feel like you have a whole new family. One of the girls who work the front desk also has had it done. She looks great. I hope this helps you. I am always here to talk. Please feel like you can e-mail me anytime. It's nice knowing there are people out there feeling the same things as me. Please let me know what you think of Dr. Gorrin. Try and come to the meeting on the 28 of this month. If you think of anything else let me know.... Just think how great we will feel and look next year at this time.......... Pam Achterberg

Hi Pam Did you say you were in Pleasant Hill? How far is that from the hospital? What do your kids think of all this? Part of me feels like a failure for not doing it on my own. I wonder if my kids will feel that i took the "quick fix"? They love me and are always great. I guess that's why i care about what they think. I haven't told them yet. Have a great day. Nancy

Hi Nancy, Yes, I live in Pleasant Hill. I went to High school there and it's such a great school. I stayed to raise my girls there. It's only about 15 minutes away. I have two girls that are 15 and 17. One's in the 10th grade and the other is a senior. ( I am 40 years old). My girls are 100% behind me just like my husband. I think it's funny you said quick fix. The bunch of girls I work with say the same thing. And they are all over weight. I haven't told anyone I work with except for the two girls that are having the surgery. They have made all kinds of comments about the one girl here at my work who has had it done. They say it's the easy way out. Well, Sorry I don't agree with that. It's been the hardest decision of my life. My sister isn't as supportive. But she chose not to have kids because she didn't want to gain weight. My father is also very over weight, and he has mixs feelings but he says what ever I decide he's there for me, and my mom doesn't say anything. Have you always been over weight? Are you married? Do you think your kids will not be supportive? I thought that about mine also, but when I sat them down and told them what I was doing they gave me hugs and said they would help out in way that they could. Hope you have a great day. Pam

I saw Dr. Gorrin in Eugene for my WLS workup and was all set for lap band with him. I really liked him. He had a lot of information and answers to all my questions. Unfortunately, he cannot take my insurance but he referred me to a physician in Portland who can bill my insurance. I had my lab band on Wednesday, 11/8/06 with Dr. Emma Patterson. If Dr. Gorrin had been able to take my insurance I would not have hesitated to have him do my surgery but I was very pleased with the physician he referred me to. Kathy Waldrop

Hi Kathy I was looking into Dr Patterson as well. She has an excellent rep. But, I couldn't figure out how to hold my full time job and get up there for all the different appts How did you do it? Nancy-eugene

If you are from out of the area they will schedule you for everything at one time. They tell you that it will take 1 1/2 days to get it all done including the sleep study. I just had most of it down here in Eugene, including the sleep study and Dr. Patterson accepted it all. Dr. Gorrin ordered all the labs, my primary doctor ordered the sleep study and a heart study and I made my own referral for the psychological. If you are thinking about putting it together like that let me know and I will give you the name of the person who did my psychological. She was great. It didn't take me very long at all to see Dr. Patterson. Although I did the orientation with Dr. Gorrin her office wanted me to go thru theirs so I went up to Portland for an evening orientation. I then gave them all of the workup I had done in Eugene and they called me a couple days later with a pre-surgical appointment. I saw Dr. Patterson in October and was scheduled for the surgery on 11/8. It was less than one month of waiting. I had to make a trip up one day durig that month for the pre-surgical group meeting and the hospital admissions paperwork and pre-surg lab work. So for me it was 2 trips up over 6 week period and then the hospital trip. The trip home was a little difficult as I wasn't feeling real hot and the bounce of the car drove me crazy but I dosed up with pain meds and did ok. We have a jeep so anywhere we go is a bumpy ride, LOL. I wished I could have stayed with Dr. Gorrin because it was so much easier but with the insurance problem I would have been waiting forever for surgery here in Eugene. The longest part of the process is getting all the testing done and I did most of that here. My husband and sister have had the RNY and both are doing well with it. The problem with the RNY though is that once you hit 1 1/2 years you have reached the max window of weight loss. With the lap band the weight comes off slower but you can keep having adjustments so you are able to continue to lose weight. Also for people like me who have had a lot of lower abdominal work and have scar tissue the RNY poses a little bit more risk. I had scheduled myself for a RNY in California when my husband had his but the surgeon there told me if he couldn't get thru scar tissue then he wouldn't proceed. Dr. Gorrin and Dr. Patterson said the same thing about the RNY and scar tissue. It seems the lap band was a perfect choice for me because the work is done in the upper area and bypasses all the lower abdominal stuff. Plus, I like the idea that I don't have a permanently rearranged anatomy. I was feeling crummy over the weekend but tomorrow is a full week and I am off pain meds and moving around now. There were a couple of days when I was sure I had made a terrible mistake. My kids knew about my surgery ahead of time and were supportive, probably because other family members have had it done. I have not told any of my friends because, like you said, there are some people of the mindset that I am taking the easy way out. Let me tell you, this is no easy way out. It cost a fortune, it hurts like hell, and I still have to be on a diet. This surgery is about giving you a good tool to lose weight but how much you lose and how well you do is all up to you. Both my husband and sister try every once in awhile to get by with eating something that is not very good for them and then their tool takes over and they get that awful dumping thing so they go back to the straight and narrow. Some people eat thru the dumping thing and some people never change their diet as directed by their physician and the expensive, painful surgery ends up being no more than Jenny Craig or Weigh****chers, just another attempt. Whereever you decide to go for surgery and whatever doctor you see for the surgery is up to you but it is all about following the plan. If you can do that you can get the weight off nicely and keep it off. Don't let anyone tell you this is the easy way out. It is not! I stopped watching Dr. Phil and Oprah because they have both made this same silly remark. Ok, now I'm off my soapbox. I have been thinking of going to the Gorrin support group as I think it is important. There is another support group in Eugene, not limited to Gorrin people. I have a friend that goes there and she really likes it. I'll ask her when her group meets. Kathy W.

wow...kathy, what can i say. you are wonderful!!! Can't wait to meet you. Nancy