Reintroduction and whining
I'm back to OH after several years. I made many friends here and still am FB friends with many from the BMI > 50 board, but I was not in the right mindset for surgery.
Now I am.
Hi all.
I'm Patty from Oregon.
I'm back to OH after several years. I made many friends here and still am FB friends with many from the BMI > 50 board, but I was not in the right mindset for surgery.
Now I am.
Yesterday I finally turned in the 15 page application for WLS at Salem Hospital and was immediately rejected. I was too fat - told my BMI and weight (430) was out of their parameters.. I broke down and cried - I felt so rejected after I had finally reached out for help. I waited while my local hospital became a COE. I've been devastated for the last 22 hours.
I was referred to Legacy in Portland (OWLS) by Salem hospital and I hope I qualify. I wanted to have surgery locally, not in Portland. It's only an hour's drive, but I get lost every time I go to Portland.
Thanks niecey. I'm over my shock and hurt about this. The worst part was that the folks at the local WLS clinic weren't compassionate about the referral. I understand that each surgeon has "rules", but I was 15 lbs. over the BMI limit. Why not work with me to lose the 15 lbs instead of throwing me out like trash.
I have contacted the Portland docs and will continue with them.
On a good note, I was so ticked off that I swam an extra 10 laps at the pool yesterday. (It's the only exercise I can do with my bad knees). 3 times so far this week!
Yes, they SHOULD have worked with you to help you lose enough weight that you would qualify for surgery. The sad truth is that WLS has become big business and there are a surprising number of surgeons out there who don't give a damn about helping their patients get healthy. They only care about their bank account and the way they treat patients shows it.
On the other hand, it may not actually have been your BMI that concerned them, but it may have been the size of your belly. I truly don't say that to be cruel (I had my surgery open 7 years ago partially because I carried so much of my weight in my belly). Some surgeons (including the ones I work for part time, don't have the necessary equipment to perform laparoscopic surgery on very large patients and don't want to have to do the surgery open.
Either way, you are probably better off having surgery elsewhere.
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
Patty, you recently gave me some much needed encouragement when I posted about my trepidation toward slinking back to OH after regaining most of the weight I had lost ( and thanks for that, truly). I would be honored if you will allow me to return the favor. If your local hospital and surgeon aren't willing to do the hard pre-op work with you to help you prepare for surgery, you really don't want to have your surgery done there anyway. This is an in-it-for-the-long-haul decision, and we need support that will be there for us and with us. My regain was a result of many poor choices, not the least of which was not utilizing the support available to me. For those of us who start at a higher weight than many of our sisters and brothers here, surgery is a higher risk undertaking. By all means have your surgery at the place and with the surgeon with the most experience with us higher BMI folks, and with pre- and post- operative education and support to give you the best chance of the greatest success. This may be one of those blessing-in-disguise situations; never argue with the angel sitting on your shoulder. Forge ahead, and keep us posted. Best to you, Patty!
