Spokane Media Coverage

Woohoo...three of our local doctors have made the front page of the Spokesman Review. (Rawlins, Bright, Penning) The article is "Long Wait to Lose Weight" about local Center of Excellence Certification. I thought it was very nicely done and sensitive toward the issue of obesity and surgery. Hooray!!! Molly

I wish I could have seen it. The store I went to here where all out of papers. Maybe I will ask if there is a 'extra copy' at the Rockford clinic next time I'm there. -shakeira

Shakeira...you wrote 'next time'...does that mean that your appointment went well?? I hope so!!! You were in my prayers Wednesday, hope it helped! Molly

YES! Sorry.. I wrote about it on my page. But basically it went great. I really REALLY like Dr. Rawlins. He put me at ease and my husband liked him to. It's my husband's job to inspect people and judge their character on a first impression (he works for Immigration and Customs at the USA/Canada border) And he was impressed. Dr. Rawlins said that he thinks I'm a good candidate for the surgery. He told me that Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Program usually goes through with approval pretty fast. A month or so... and then I can get started on the pre opt appointments. psyc eval and lab stuff... I am really happy.. I feel like I have hope again. I've never in my entire life been a healthy weight.. .. I was underweight until about 10 years old.. and then became over weight shortly after that... and have been my entire life. I guess I never thought it could be possible until now. Anyways.. sorry I didn't update you.. The people really seem friendly there. I found myself very uneasy in the waiting room. I get embarrassed by my weight and was sure everyone there knew why I was here... I'm still not telling people about the surgery. It's just so personal. Only my dear friends and family need to know. I don't know if that makes sense.. maybe it will change post-op.. who knows. I know A LOT of things will change post-op. So.. I'm just sitting here waiting to hear. If I don't hear anything by March 23rd I will call BCBS or maybe Dr. Rawlins to see if they have heard anything. I'm hoping I get approved. I know so many that have gone through disappointment of not being approved multiple times. I don't know if I am as strong as they are... it's a trial I wasn't counting on when I started this. But I've been told that the Federal program is very good at approving. So we will see. ok.. this is too long of a post. sorry! Thanks for praying.. I REALLY appreciate it. I wrote about what happened at the appointment on my blog.. if you have time to read it. ;) God bless, Shakeira

Shakeira, I'm doing the happy dance for you!!! I'll pop on over to your blog to read all about it... Molly

What are the main vitamins that we need to be taking? I had not heard of anyone losing their hair after surgery. Is this because of not getting the right amount of vitamins in?

Judy, you need a vitamin formulation that your new stomach pouch will be able to get the maximum benefit from. Optisource from Walgreens is the one Dr. Rawlins and Bright recommend. It has everything you need in one source and it is chewable, you take one tablet four times a day....very easy. The only thing that is wrong with its formulation (but the doctors discussed it and feel it isn't that important because of the way the vitamins are delivered) is that Optisource uses calcium carbonate instead of the better calcium citrate. Most surgeons insist on calcium citrate since we don't absorb the carbonate after RNY. Optisource also contains a sublingually-absorbable B-12, all your iron and Biotin which will help protect your hair *some*. Hair loss is either going to happen to you or it isn't. Some people just don't have a problem with it. From the doctors I've asked about it, it is not caused by any vitamin deficiency but merely by the act of losing weight rapidly. Can happen to any serious dieter. And it always grows back. Mine grows back curlier every time it falls out. (twice with pregnancies and once after my last wls...it has started falling out now but not bad yet) Sorry this is so long, Molly