In case any of you have trouble remembering to take your vitamins, I have a mailing list set up to send out reminders twice a day, at 6 am and 6 pm PT. If you are interested in signing up, send a e-mail to [email protected] or click on my WWW folder below to visit the group page. Sherri

According to the news and the PA at the surgeon's office where I *had* an appointment for next week, on February 21st the announcement was made that "Medicare would cover some procedures only at hospitals considered "centers for excellence" by the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Bariatric Surgery." Hospitals were given no time to apply for certification from either organization. We ALL need to contact our federal congressmen and senators about this. The more he11 we raise, the more likely it is the rule will be reversed or revised. Here are some things to point out in your communication (preferably by phone): 1. There was no notice given for this ruling. Hospitals should have had time to apply for certification. 2. Obesity is a life-threatening disease and this ruling has dramatically reduced the facilities available to perform bariatric surgery for months to come. 3. Waivers ARE available and you should urge your politicians to push for a waiver for your particular hospital. Here's the list of US Senators. Just find yours and slam them with emails & phone calls: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm Here's the list of Congressmen. Ditto above: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issuesaction/alertlist/?issue=30

Hello all check out my new page and updated pictures. You have to go to my picture trail lin****il OH updates my page.

Hi. My name is Valerie Campbell. I am a patient of Dr. Fullum's as well. I am writing you to inform you of some great things Dr. Fullum and Dr. Tapscott have allowed me to implement for us post-op patients. I am a national presenter for Obesity Help.com , a Chapter Leader for support groups, and I am also the author of two books for gastric bypass patients. I now, am the facilitator of Bariatric101 Support Group. I have taken leadership over the support group meetings for the post-ops at Providence Hospital to give it a little flavor. Previously, the support group meetings we kind of dull and did not have much structure. On February 17, 2006, we kicked off our first Bariatric101 Support Group Meeting. The topic of discussion was Window of Opportunity, Fact or Fiction. We explored the notion of the Window of Opportunity to lose weight and determined that it is fiction and depends solely on the patient and their behaviors and compliance. We had a psychologist come in, as we will every meeting, and talk about emotional issues surrounding our topics. Also, a plastic surgeon gave a short presentation. Each new member signed the log in sheet and was given a Bariatric101 gift bag. Our new website was unveiled, www.bariatric101estore.com, and we also gave out information on our online support Yahoo group. To join visit: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bariatric101/ There is loads of information on the site to help you on this journey and there is a message board for you to post info. Also. Be sure to check out www.bariatric101.com for more info. Our support group will meet every third Thursday at Providence Hospital across from the Ross Auditorium. (You may ask one of the ladies at the table outside the auditorium which room we are meeting in). We meet from 6pm-8pm. We will also meet on the third Saturday of each month either at my home in Northern VA or we will meet at a public place for an outing. Every other month, at the Thursday meeting, we will have a clothing and protein exchange. Please bring your too small or too big clothes and protein products that you can not tolerate or did not like. The goal is to build our group up so that we have consistent members who attend so that we can support each other and befriend each other. There are plans in the works to sponsor a trip to New York for a shopping spree this spring ! We have lots of things planned, but we need YOU!!! Please join the Yahoo Group ASAP so that I you can get all of the info about our meetings and meet and greets !!! Be sure to upload your pictures on the site as well. Note that all purchases made on our estore, we get a percentage of those funds for our group. I hope to see you on March 16, 2006 at Providence!!!! Please email me your email address as well ! ([email protected]) Valerie Campbell Bariatric101 Support Group Facilitator

We are looking for before and after photos of post op patients. These photos will be used both in future issues of OH Magazine and in a commercial. If you have some photos you would like to share, please email them to [email protected]. Please include your name, phone number, email address and what you weighed when each photo was taken.

Ronda Einbinder
ObesityHelp
Public Relations :type: