New to board- introduction

warning warning I tend to be a rambler!! LOL- Hi I am currently in the research phases of gastric bypass. I am 27yrs old, the mother of 3. Currently I am a student and stay at home mom. I have been battling my weight since my first pregnancy at 18. I gained 95lbs during it and it has been downhill since then. Now I weigh about 270 and have done what I can to loose but have only dad minimal sucess. I am only 5'2 with a large frame so I should only weigh around 135 or 140. I have a great life, a wonderful husband, great friends, so much to do. I just feel so held back by this weight. I love walking, I love belly dancing or popping in my taebo videos and having all this excess weight just makes everything so hard. My knees hurt, my back hurts, I am tired all the time. I dont have the energy to do all the things I want to. While I am pretty confident about my looks its also been creeping up on me lately things like not wanting to be seen in a bathing suit. We went to the beach last week and I barely went wading and I saw other women the same size as me doing the same thing instead of jumping in and enjoying themselves. I hadnt realized till that moment that my weight was sloing me down. I have a serious case of oh you have such a pretty face but look what happened to your body goin on. I know this isnt any easy option but any advice you guys could give me would be great. I am interested in hearing about your stories, any doctor recommendations if anyone lives in Columbus, what it will be like after surgery etc. Thanks for your time and help Steph

Hi Steph, Welcome! I am from Columbus and so far I have found three places in Columbus that does the WLS. Barix Clinics, Mount Carmel West, and OSU. I have met with Dr Barbara at the Barix Clinic. He is Great!!! However he is not covered by my insurance So I am currently trying to find out more info on the surgeons at Mt Carmel West. I found out there are two support groups here in Columbus. One meets in Gahanna, and the other at the Library in Groveport. If you are interested in them let me know and I will send the info to you. There are some great liks on the site. If you go to the top of the page and click local, you can checkout insurance companies to see if your insuarnce cover the surgery, or what people who are members here have went through to get approved. Also you can check out some surgeons there as well. I found out that in the Columbus area only the surgeons at the barix clinic is registered. Hope this helps. If you have anymore questions just email me at [email protected] and I will try to help out. Talk to you soon, Lisa Johnson

Steph...Welcome I am 7.5 months post op and I had my surgery @ OSU with Dr. Needleman. I had a wonderful experience and had lap procedure. Not to mention getting approved was effortless b/c they do all the work. Life since the surgery for me has just been wonderful and I have had no problems. My current weight loss is -96 pounds and I would like to loose like 30 more. MY advice is that this is a personal decision. The greatest thing about this surgery is I have soooooooo much more engery than I did before. I can spend more fun time w/my two boys w/o having those aches & pains. Good Luck, Karie

Thanks for the replys and yes I would like the info about the group that meets in grove city. I know that mount carmel is covered by my insurance becuase thats where we normally go, I will have to find out about the specfic docs there. I dont know about OSU (I think they are) or the Barix clinic. Thanks for the testimonial there. I am kinda scared about getting this done but I dont honestly see a lot of other options at this point. I am one tenth of a point away from being diagnosed with diabetes, I am 130 pounds overweight, lowfat DIDNT work for me. I actually gained weight on 1200 calories a day. SIGH!!!! I dont want to keep gaining and looking at my family history thats what will happen. my mom is 300lbs, my uncles are 280, 380 and 450. They have diabetes, my uncle is loosing his site from it. They all have sleep apnea. I have to find something that will help me win this battle!!! I am glad to see it gave you energy. Thats my #1 beef at the moment. I am just soooo tired.

Hi Steph, I welcome you to the OH board. I am 40 something and had the surgery in April. I have 2 teenage boys and my only regret is that I did not do this sooner. I had the same feelings that you expressed as my boys grew up and I did not have as much fun with them as I could have. Life is getting great right now. I have lots of energy and have 50 lbs. less weight to carry around with me. Keep researching and know all the ins and outs. If I can help in any way please don't hesitate to e-mail me. I almost forgot I am from northwest OH, kind of far away from you. I had my surgery at the Barix Clinic in MI. I loved the place and highly recommened their program.

Steph, WELCOME!!! I am 26, a single Mom of a toddler, and full time student. I am currently 4 weeks post-op. I feel wonderful. My surgery ewent well. My advice to you is research, research, research, and use all the resourses you find. Support makes a world of diffrence. You don't go throught his journey alone. Atleast with the great people on this site. Good Luck and Please feel free to ask anything. God Bless, Ang

Welcome Steph, Good luck on your journey to a new healthier life. I too am just getting started on the journey. So I can't give you much advice, except the people on this site are so wonderful and supportive. It will probably be a long journey but it will be worth it. And as someone else said it is a personal choice. But please do allot of research before making your choice. Kathy

Hi Steph, I'm going through my preop clearances with the Barix and Dr. Barbara. Dr. Barbara is really nice and won't sugar coat anything. They usually have a seminar that you can attend check out their web site, it was very informative there was a past patient, surgeon, and dietican there to answer any questions. Personally, Barix is out of network for me, but I feel they are experts in their field and feel more comfortable going to them, just my opinion. I have looked into this for at least a year. Good luck to you and keep us informed.

Welcome to the group. I hope you find the answers and support you seek. Post all your questoions and feel free to vent. Welcome again/

hi steph...i am also in nw ohio- near deb lisk---i had my surgery in march by dr stelmack at barix in groveport--i love him!!! it ended up being out of network for me so more out of pocket but well worth it--it is ALL they do--and they are great--but i have no first hand knowledge about any other docs in ohio ! i turned 50 in jan this year and i am feeling better now than i have in 30 years! i have lost only 47 pounds to date- i am 5'1" and considered a "light weight" in that i had only 100 pounds to lose--since i am losing slower than many; i am trying to not compare! but i also am noticing toning of muscles etc....and i am wearing 3 dress sizes smaller than preop! my pic on here is preop- still have 53 to go--but i am confident! what i would suggest if you have time to cruise--look thru many diff ppls profiles on here- read the Q&A section....post your own questions- someone suggested looking at the ins info-email any of us that you want to talk to --and --a biggie--depending on your family -inlaws and parents and etc--you may not want to say alot about this until you either know more or at least have had a consultation with a doc....many well meaning ppl can say awful things for many reasons!and everyone is quick to jump on the negative.... there are support groups in southern ohio- as well as a few online- i am involved in one up here -that deb belongs to--and we do have an online "lounge" by invite .....the ohio boards is a great site as well as the main boards.... read and learn...develop a list of questions ...research and post...it is a wonderful thing if it is right for you and if you are well informed before you ever go in to surgery! oh my- i guess i am rambling too--it's ok!!!you are among friends!!!!! margo