Newbie from Richmond!

Hi everyone! My name is Renee, a former lurker.
I am pre-op, but wanted to know if anyone from VA has had a ds?
And if so, what doctor performed the procedure?
So far I have found one in Northern VA and the OH site has Drs. Maher and Kellum listed, but I have yet to attend an info session. My preference is to have everything done locally, but I know there are times we must travel to get what we want done.
I look forward to communicating, sharing, and giggling with everyone as I continue my journey.

Hi Renee! While I do not know anything about the DS procedure, since I am 11 weeks out from lap RNY, I just wanted to take a few minutes to welcome you to our happy board. We have a bunch of great people here that are full of great advice and wonderful, helpful knowledge. They will definitely make you feel at home here. One our great gals, Lauren, (along with a few others) had her surgery done by Dr Maher, so she may know about the procedures he does. I am sure she will answer your post.



Again, I just wanted to welcome you and say hi! Good luck in your journey!

Thank you very much for the warm welcome. I really appreciate it.

Congrats to you!
Save a seat for my eventual placement on the loser's bench.

I'll say it again...Chowder rocks my world :D

I'm looking to have the DS also, and though I am in northern VA, I am hoping to have Dr. Schweitzer up in Baltimore, MD. I know it's harder to find a DS surgeon than those for RNY or bands, and there is a DS surgeon closer to me, but I wanted one with a kick butt reputation! Schweitzer is at Johns Hopkins and has an extremely low rate of comlications, plus he does the DS laparoscopically, which not all DS surgeons do. There's a possibility I'll have mine open and not lap, but I'd like to have a surgeon who can offer the option.

Dr. Schweitzer is an awesome choice. I have been reading about him as well. In fact, he taught the lap ds procedure at MCV. He is a great option I will greatly consider.

Hey there!  I'm a patient of Dr. Maher.  I had RNY.  I wasn't familiar with our group doing DS's but here's the website with contact info to check with them and find out:
http://www.vcu.edu/lesspainsurgery/obesity/
We have one VA Board person (that I know of) that has had a DS.  Hopefully "Ample Beauty" will see this and steer you in the right direction.  :)
Also, there is a DS forum on OH that you should check out and see if anyone can give you a VA referral from there too?

Just so you know, we started a Richmond Area meetup once a month and if you scroll through the posts over the last week you'll see one for our next gathering - at Hadad's Lake on Sunday July 27th.  I hope you can join us!  It is great to meet others from the WLS community for learning and friendship.  :)

GOOD LUCK finding our more about WLS!!

Thanks for the info. Everyone has been so helpful.

A meet & greet sounds great!

hijack!!!

Hey girlie!! I miss talking to you but am sure you are doing fabulous. I see you are almost at your first goal! Way to go! Are you going to the event at Hadaad's? I wish I could be Theresa has a date! sigh!!! Maybe after we get back from vacation we can do lunch! Miss ya!

HUH?  Are you going to be out of town that weekend?  BOO!

Not going on vacation that weekend but I have plans with a guy from high school that I have just recently started talking too. We are going to an irish pub for dinner ( a new place to both of us, so I'm checking out their menu online ) and then we are going to see "get smart", lol. Our vacation is August 1 through the 5th. We are heading down to Natural Bridge and going to the Va Safari and then the Natural Bridge Zoo.