I am scheduled for my surgery on July 8th, 2003

I am 49 years old and have decided that for my quality of life to improve and in order for me to live a healthier life that I need to have this surgery. I have Diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, Myastenia Gravis ( an autoimmune disease ) and have been overweight my entire life. Most of my weight gain began after Nursing school. I am an RN, LNHA and a CALA. I work as a consultant in geriactric medicine. Our company does Long term care consulting for nursing homes, assisted living facilties and adult day care facilities. I do alot of traveling and public speaking. Over the last 8 years since my diagnosis, I have gained on an average of 10-15 lbs. / year. Your muscles don't work right with this MG. With medication, I was able to get my diabetes and blood pressure under control. But last July, I decided that this was not enough. I went to all of my specialist and requested to be evaluated for this surgery. I explained to my physicians that my diagnosis and medication was causing my quality of life and daily energy to be limited. I found myself unable to get through a day without crashing. Since my endocrinologist placed me on Lantus insulin nightly, I have been unable to loose any weight. I explained to them that while the medication controlled my diseases that it was slowly killing me because of my weight gain and that this was not acceptable to me. I have a wonderful supporting husband who has loved me through thick and thin. I have three wonderful boys who I want to see grow into men. I believe that I have at least another 40-50 years to live and I have decided that those years were going to be much healthier than the first 49 years. As an RN, I have met with many people who have had this surgery done and was amazed at their response to the surgery and the changes in their lives. I have been on every diet on earth, opti fast, living fit, Akins, weigh****chers, 1200 cal ADA, liquid protein, carbohydrate blockers, fat blockers. I was even sent to physical therapy to be put through an exercise program but was unable to get through even 15 minutes of therapy before my muscles would drop. Its been almost 8 years since my diagnosis with MG and my surgery called a thymectomy. I almost died during that time frame. I know what it is like to live in a body that doesn't work. I went from being the nurse to the patient on the other side. I have experienced what it is like to be completely unable to control anything that is happening in your life. At one point in my MG experience, I was unable to even lift my body off of a bed. I have come a long way in the past 8 years. Now it is time to take my life back and be proactive about my health. I encourage anyone out there to not just accept whatever has happened to you but to be proactive in doing whatever you can to make a positive change in your life. Like anyone else seeking surgery like this one, I was put through the mill with testing. I not only needed to come through in the testing but also needed the approval of my endocrinologist, neurologist and main family physician. I expected them all to argue with me about this, but surprise, surprise, they didn't. They even asked me why we didn't think of this solution sooner. All of them agree that with this surgery, I will probably be taken off my insulin, and all other blood pressure and stomach medications within a reasonable amount of time. The pre op testing revealed that I also had Hpylori. I was treated with antibiotic therapy and retested through another EGD and found to be negative. This never would have been discovered if I hadn't decided to go for the surgery. I was so exhausted at one point that the physicians sent me to a pulmonologist and I was tested for sleep apnea. This was found to be positive and for the last 4 weeks I have been sleeping with a cpap and feel like a new human being. I have more energy than before. I searched for over 6 months to find a surgeon I felt I could trust. My initial consult was with a group up in Langhorne, PA.. This group kept me hanging for over 5 months, told me I qualified for the surgery and then called me around Nov. or Dec. to inform me that they were not yet certified for Blue Cross and Blue Shield and that I could have the surgery if I paid $50,000 up front. I was very angry and wrote a letter to their CEO informing him of the groups deception and the fact that they led me on to believe otherwise. Being a nurse, I felt duped. His reply to me was that whatever testing I had done prior to this call could be used by another doctor towards the pre testing. He didn't get it that they wasted 5-6 months of my lifetime waiting to be certified by a facility that misrepresented itself. He assured me that if I flew to one of their other sites that BCBS might cover me. I had had enough and decided to look into my own area. Dr. Onopochencho is a surgeon in the Atlantic County area that has made this his speciality operation. There is a group of physicians and nurses that have been trained for this surgery and work out of the city division. I must admit that when I first went to them for their support group meeting that I was impressed. Even though I have been put through the normal hoops of pre testing prior to surgery, my BCBS did approve my surgery. They have what they refer to as a "boot camp" day scheduled for June 26th at the hospital. At this day I am to meet the nurses and physicians involved in the process, will visit the area in which I will be having my surgery and cared for afterwards, and then I will go to the offices to spend time with the Dietitian and need to take a test to assess my understanding of everything that will be occurring. I'll keep you posted. I can't wait to get this done. I feel like I've been waiting forever. I keep reminding the staff that if they have any openings earlier that I am ready, willing, and able. I'll keep you posted.

Hi Karen, I read your post and could relate to alot of the emotion in your story. I have diabetes and I'm afraid my endo will not support me, I don't know, so hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised like you were. Which WLS are you having done? Have you met that surgeon before or is this bootcamp the first time? I would love to hear more info as I'm in the beginning stages of which type of surgery, surgeon, support I want to pursue. I wanted to wish you the best of luck with your surgery in a few weeks and to please keep your profile updated as I will check your progress or e-mail me. Take care, Wendy ([email protected])