This is just the beginning.....

Hi Meg, Fantastic that you have a plan, and I applaud you for recognizing your "issues." It might be a good time, while you are waiting to get an appointment, to hook up with a counselor who can help you work through the issues before you have to face them while dealing with new plumbing. August 19th is the next support group meeting, it too, could be a resource for you to plug into as well. Be well! Kristen J.

Hi Megan, I'm another Megan B!!! I ws shocked to see your post on the message board at first with my name. LOL. Anyway, just wanted to add my 2 cents. I have been very lucky that my family has been very supportive of me. I was very nervous about telling them and in fact didn't tell them until I was almost finished the testing. I was surprised my mother was so supportive since I was sure she would be the most against it. She has been behind me since then. My grandmother was the only negative person when I first told her. She tried to talk me out of it, scare me and even bribe me. I realized she was just scared what could go wrong. The week after my surgery the man died at Roger Williams and she gave me a real hard time, but at that point the surgery was done and I had survived so she slowly started to come around. Now it is 9 months later and just this last Sunday she was bragging to a distant family member at a get together about my having the surgery and how well I was doing. So I guess what I am trying to say is, they will eventually come around. You have to do what you have to do for you. Okay, now onto another subject. I noticed that none of Dr. Roye's patients have told you how wonderful he is, so I will! I know everyone is biased towards their surgeon and I am no different. I chose him because he has a great reputation and as far as I know he has never lost a patient. I know it can happen to the best surgeons, but for me it made me feel more comfortable with the fact that he hadn't. Also, he is more relaxed with making you lose weight before surgery. He told me just to try not to gain anymore (which I didn't). I have heard that he may require some loss pre-op if you have a very high BMI. He also is very skilled at lap surgeries, as I know others that have had him for other surgeries. And now to be fair I will list some of the draw backs to Dr. Roye: It takes a while to get into to see him. I called in Jan and didn't get an appointment until July 28, 2003. If I knew then to call to be put on the cancel list I would have. My co-worker did that and instead of waiting until October for her appointment (she called in February) she got in the first week of June and is almost done her testing as of today (she has the sleep study left). Dr. Roye also orders a ton of tests. He does it to make sure he has no surprises once in surgery, but to go to all of them is time consuming. It varies person to person, I had to have 10 tests. You should attend both the support meetings, the one for Dr. Pohl and the one for Dr. Roye/Dr. Harrington and then make a decision. The one for Dr. Roye is the first Wednesday of every month at 6pm at the Rhode Island Hospital complex (it is in one of the buildings over near the APC building but I am having brain fog today and can't think of the name, I'm sure someone will tell you or you can call the office at 553-8310). Anyway, there is one tomorrow night. I am sure you'll decide what is best for you and which surgeon you want to use in the end. Good luck to you!! Glad you joined the board! -The other Megan B.

Will the real "Megan B" please stand up! LOL..... that is pretty funny, huh? Thanks for responding Megan. You answered my question about going to both seminars. I wanted to go to both of them without feeling like I had to make a commitment that night. So, Dr. Royes meeting is tomorrow night and Dr. Pohl's is on the 12th. I have to figure out directions because I'm at the other end of the state and I don't have a clue! My mom and my boss are both going with me on the 12th. Maybe I'll go tomorrow night by myself! Thanks for your help Meg