Surgery on Fort Lewis

Hi all, My name is Tori and i was just wondering if anyone has had recent surgery on Fort Lewis? I've already got a consult to see the sergeant and from what i understand he is the one who makes the decision. I'm nervous about meeting with him; can anyone tell me what kinds of things they ask? Any info about what I'm in store for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks-Tori

Hi Tori, welcome to OH!! I had my surgery here at Fort Lewis on December 7th and had a wonderful experience!! My surgeon was Dr. Sebesta. He was very nice, explained the procedure, and even drew a picture of it on the paper on the exam table. He wanted to know what I had already done to try to lose weight. After that I had to go to an orientation and a series of appointments like seeing a nutritionist, a group meeting with a psychiatrist, have a psych evaluation, and a group meeting with a occupational therapist. All of the appointments were informative. The only stupid thing was they make you go through all of that and then put you on a waiting list. I had my initial consult in December of 2004 and just had my surgery last month. By the time I had my surgery I had forgotten most of what I had learned. I know that at one time Tricare was allowing patients to have their surgery off-post because of the long wait. Feel free to email me if you have any other questions. Chawan 298/263/180?

Hi Chawan, My name is Kim Lewis, i live out in spanaway and i actually work at MAMC. I am going through the classes now and my final class is on the 27th of this month. I have a 2nd appt. with the surgeon on the 27th and hoping i will get my surgery date then but i am getting somewhat frustrated. I have Dr. Rush have you heard anything about him? he just finished his fellowhip at the Mayo Clinic but I am unsure at this point of who hes performed surgeries on. well If you are still coming to the site email me or post a message to me and i will be glad to chit chat with you and it is really great to see someones story right here and where i work wow:wave:

i had my surgery on fort lewis aug 31 04 with dr watts as my surgeon... i strongly suggest going off post, unless you want a huge scar... mine was 13 inches. the surgical team i had was awesome until i was a post op then it was like they could give a hoot less... the nutrition clinic and the support group there has done more for me as a post op then the surgical team. in fact here recently i had swallowed 2 pieces of gum and was having pains in my tummy and they were not concerned a bit... they pretty much told me to suck it up... i have had many army spouse friends go to dr weber in seattle and had much better experiences with the staff there... and a 4 inch scar instead of 13. good luck with whatever team you chose!!

Thank you so much for your response. It's good to know from all rages of the spectrum what i have to look forward to. If you don't mind me asking what kind of Surgery did you have? I know there are like 3 types and I'm just wondering what type did you have? Also how long was your hops stay? Thank you so much for your time and info it helps me learn more about the WLS and I really appreciate it.-Tori

i was in the hospital 5 days, and i had the open roux en y. my hospital stay was miserable, but the nurses for most part were awesome, unless it was "shift change" then you could be flatlined and they wouldnt come to you.... i had started my period the day of my surgery (my kinda luck) and had let the surgical team aware of it, they gave me a pad and disposable panties, but i found when i awoke i had nothing but a towel under me to bleed on, and they didnt care, i ended up having my hub clean me up and ended up with sores because of the neglegent nursing staff, so if your hub can stomach it, you might wanna keep that in mind... the greatest part of my stay was my shower... it was the best thing since sliced bread in my book... oh yeah and the pain meds, right before i was discharged, they gave me "a little extra" liquid vicoden since it was the end of the bottle... so what did i do, i went to the commisary... yeah!!! i hate that place.... i only told off 2 people which i think was pretty good... lol if you have any other questions, feel free to email me at [email protected].

I hope you did go off base...Dr. Watts performed surgery on my late wife 6/4/2003 and she left earth 2/13/2004....

I hope you did go off base...Dr. Watts performed surgery on my late wife 6/4/2003 and she left earth 2/13/2004....

My mother had bypass done on Ft. Lewis in 2002, she went from 360lbs and is holding at 175lbs for 1 and a half years now. Go for it!! Now she has more energy and you will never find her home. She has adjusted with her eating. although it will seem like you eat nothing to everyone else but slowly you tummy grows/stretches a little...However as you go along you may tolerate some things and not others. I noticed she did have a slight hair loss, but this was due to her not eating enough protiens, it was temporary and now she is fine. the adjustments after surgery were within that first year. you would never know now that she was even that over weight.

Tori~ I have heard several posters recomending going off post. I dont know who your insurance will cover but I would recomend going to DR OH in Fed way. not far from you. Go with what your gut tells you. Good luck to you.