I'm going to do it

I have been reading everyones messages for some time now. Thank you all for allowing me to sit silent and hear/see your experiences about struggling with weight loss. It is truely amazing that I am not alone. I turned in my application for the surgery with Dr. Hong's office. I am suprised at how many hoops there are to jump through. I supposed that is a good thing but it just seems overwhelming with all of the diet history and psych evaluation and so on... I am a bit nervous. Not about having the surgery but the complications that can happen and certainly about death. I suppose my fear is healthy as it has made me do a lot of research. Is there anyone out here that can give me a personal experience about Dr. Hong? Thank You again for all of your help thus far. I appreciate that everyone gets on here and is honest about what they are going through. Dawn

Dawn, Good for you! You are making decisions towards a more healthy future. I know that even if I hadn't chosen to go forward with my surgery, after a few months of research, I had really opened my eyes to the reality of my moribid obesity. It is not that I hadn't been trying all those years, but it just seemed like there was no going back (back to sticking my head in the sand) once I started to see that my future had to change. I had my surgery with Dr. Hong last April. He is wonderful! I believe in his skills as a surgeon completely. I also appreciate his easy going nature and kindness. My fifteen year old son may have abdominal surgery (not WLS) and he saw Dr. Hong. That is how much I trust him. Being nervous, and worrying about complications is normal. It is a good thing to have a healthy fear. Do your research. Still, remember to weigh the risks of surgery, against the ones that are very real for anyone who is morbidly obese. I knew from my family history, and the horrible way I was deteriating, that diabetes, heart disease, and early death were very likely possibilities for me. Good luck to you. Keep us posted, and ask any questions! Patty

Dawn: I, like Patty, had Dr. Hong for my surgeon. He is truly wonderful. He is very dedicated to his patients. An example of that is on my three-month visit, I had to had blood drawn and he said if you don't hear from me, it's good news. Well, after I left I decided I wanted to know what the results of one my tests was so I called his office. He was in surgery all day--on a Friday. He called my home on Saturday! I've never had a doctor do that and believe me, the results could have waited until Monday because it wasn't life or death. He is very easy going and willing to answer any question which I appreciated because I had a thousand of them. I am 52 years old and I didn't want to have any unanswered questions since I was a little older. He didn't hesitate to answer any of them. Jumping through the hoops is a good thing and I thought very interesting as well. Good luck with your journey and if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Pam

Hi Dawn, I also am with you i can't believe how many hoops you gotta go threw but i guess its for our own good i'm seeing Dr Hong and i'm gonna have the lap band done which one are you gonna have done??? I also am soooo afraid of death but i do feel quite confident in Dr Hong after hearing the seminar and they only having 1 death out of 700 which was caused by a non sergical complication made me feel soooooo much better. Good Luck, Tanya

Oh, great! I am going to do the By-pass surgery. Have you started the hoop jumping? I have a ton of appointments set up, just waiting for the dates to come along. I will be glad to actually get a couple of those appointments under my belt! I am so glad that I have posted a message here as I have met some great people and heard some excellent messages. It seems like a lot of hoops and even my physician said it was a lot for him to do too. Oh well, there must be a reason for it?! Take care! Dawn