Taking the first step.......

I just went to see Dr Phol last week and he asked me what surgery I wanted to have. I told him I wanted gastric Bypass. I guess if he wasn't doing it he wouldn't have asked. I would still call the office and just ask. The ladies there are EXTREMELY helpful and are always willing to answer anything you can throw at them. BTW, your welcome. I always have a million questions and it helped me to read others stories. I figured I could at least give my opinion of how things were for me. Over all though, this is a real great place and it is full of so much helpful and useful information. Shannon

Hi Michele, When you get your packet from the seminar there will be a list of docs. you can set up your appts. with. I saw Dena Carlone. She was great! She asks quite a few straight forward questions but the whole appointment took about 1 hour and it was painless! Best wishes with everything! Lisa

First of all, I would like to thank EVERYONE *****sponded to my post regarding my concerns........and that includes Mary. Although I find her comments to be a bit frightening, I hold high hopes from all who have undergone this process and are healthier people than before the surgery. However....MARY.....like someone else said, looking good is a benefit of the surgery and I would like to look the way I did in my 20's.....BUT......that's not why I'm doing this. With my hypertension, I begged God to let me live long enough to see my oldest daughter to 18, so she could take care of her sister who is 5 years younger........well, I'm still here, and now my youngest is 19.....but I'm getting worse in regards to my blood pressure. I could stroke out or have a heart attack at any time. I'm young still.....41. I appreciate Mary's need to make people aware, but I found the comments to be more disturbing and frightening, than informative and thought provoking. OF COURSE, I know there are risks. I'm not an idiot Mary. Nor would I resort to such a measure if I had not thought about it long and hard. But now I have my beautiful girls....all grown up and now with kids of their own.....Please understand that I'm not ready to go yet. And yes I know that I did this to myself. But could you please try to understand that I WANT this.....for me!! ....so that I can LIVE to see my family grow. Could you allow me that Mary? Let me find out the facts and make an informed decision....which I have.....I'M HAVING THIS SURGERY.......THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU WHO STOPPED WHATEVER YOU WERE DOING TO GIVE ME YOUR OPINIONS, ADVICE AND GOOD INFORMATION. THAT'S WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR HERE!! We must understand that for whatever reason, Mary feels compelled to say the things she does......and unfortunately, I'm not sure that what she said.....was to protect me. That's sad. I think that there was an agenda (against Dr. Pohl).....and my nervous, anxious post gave her an outlet for her rhetoric......SO BE IT!! Whatever! I'm just so glad to know that there are others (Stephanie, David T. and others) who have information and experiences to share.......BUT THEY ALSO WATCH OUT FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE SCARED, NERVOUS AND VULNERABLE. Thanks to ALL of you!!!!! {{Hugs}}

Oh my God Michele, I am sorry for scaring you. But I felt compelled to let anyone considering AGB that you have to be very alert as to what goes on in hospitals, doctors who make mistakes. I cannot understand for the life of me why some patients were fed breakfast the morning after AGB and said that it was OK to eat it. Patients still under anesthesia are groggy and listen to who they think knows best. Fevers start and get worse and sometimes the doctor waits till that person almost dies to undo what went wrong and has no clear explaination as to what went wrong and my daughter was told "your a very lucky girl". I cannot go into details but this should not have happened. Infections happen but again lots of times this can be solved with a more sanitary OR. I wish you the very best of course but I am only trying to let people know these things do happen and sometimes the doctors don't always make the right choices either.

Thank you Mary......I appreciate the concern. Believe me, I will be very educated as to what I can and can not do in regards to the surgery I have selected. I appreciate your afterthoughts and will certainly ask all the questions that you have raised. I don't want people to feel that they can't be honest (either way) (good or bad). I want to hear it all. And I thank you for making it clear that you were just trying to inform me....and not scare me. All