It is my understanding that Dr. H will revise only the intestinal part and not the RNY pouch.  This has been desribed as the worst of the DS and RNY when it comes to supplementation needs.  Yes, there are people living with it.  They  post on the DS forum.  You will need to think long and hard and know just exactly how your guts will be refigured before proceeding.

As for Dr. Houston's skills, I have no doubt that he can do what he says he can do.  He is very skilled and has years of experience with laparoscopic procedures.  I have no idea about his fees, yet imagine he is worth what he charges.  Mine was a virgin DS and I am very happy with the results.  Centennial has an excellent program and the office staff is very helpful. 

Best wishes in your quest.

We normally chose restaurants in the Rivergate (Madison), Hendersonville, Antioch, and Cool Springs areas. Most of the regular attendees were in the Nashville area so we didn't venture out as far as Murfreesboro or Franklin. A Hermitage location was never requested but that would have been a convenient location too.

I found most people were willing to travel up to 1 hour every few months but not on a regular basis. We tried to split the distance everyone traveled whenever we could.

I have contacted Dr. Houston office for a revision to a DS.  Has anyone here had DS revision surgery with Dr. Houston or virgin DS surgery with him.  My insurance is Medicare and he is not a provider of Medicare so, I was wondering if anybody who has Medicare knows what his fee is roughly.  I have read some of his reviews and his patient's seem to like him.  I would be interested to hear everyone's opinion.  Does he do open surgery or just lap surgery?

Thanks, peace & love,

GIA!

We decided originally to make the second Saturday of the month at 1pm our regular date so people could mark their calendar and know in advance the date and time. They would just have to check the board for the location and to let me know if they planned on attending.

I was always open to suggestions for locations and would sometimes post 2 or 3 possibilities to get board input. Other times I would select a restaurant myself and post the location.

If it was a restaurant I was not familiar with I would either check out the menu online or drop by and look at the menu. I would also ask the manager, not the hostess, if we would be allowed to order from the children's menu if it had any decent choices on it. I would explain that we were a group of WLS patients and most of us could only eat small amounts but we would also be bringing family & friends who had not had surgery and would definitely order regular entrees.

I would also ask about seating a large group either at one table or at tables in close enough proximity that we could easily talk and mingle. Most places were more than happy to accommodate us and actually go out of their way to provide us with a very pleasant dining experience.

Once the location, date & time are selected it is just a matter of posting it on the board and collecting the headcount. I would try to post something the week before and then a reminder the week leading up to the date asking for the headcount. Most of the restaurants wanted a final count no later than the morning of the luncheon. I usually added 2 or 3 extra to the headcount just in case we had folks show up that we weren't expecting. And, we weren't shy about asking to add tables if we did run out of room. LOL

Part of our tradition was to pass around a pad & pen so people could write down how much weight they had lost. This could be from their highest weight, pre-op weight, or weight lost since surgery. It was an individual choice where you wanted to start counting from. We would total the amounts to see our total group loss. It was so neat to see that huge number each month.

We would also take a group picture. Early on we decided to line up according to surgery date. Since we had several regulars, it was fun to watch ourselves shrink from month to month.

For a while we did a clothing exchange too. Until most of us reached goal and no longer had "undergrown" clothes to pass down. We would get a kick out of seeing outfits we had brought and passed on to someone coming back to be passed down again and again as other members made use of and shrank out of outfits we had once loved. Or to see someone wearing an article we remembered wearing on our way down. Each time it was like seeing old friends again.

I am glad you are willing to step up and keep the luncheons going. I am willing to help you out in any way I can and will try to make it to the luncheons.

The main thing I would tell you is to keep it fun and casual. Get to know each other on a deeper level.

Does anyone have any good ideas for pureed foods?  I know it is for only 2 weeks but just don't want to get bored.