risks of surgery

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I just left the " research stage " and went into the " waiting for consult "

stage. ) I have read all the risks, a thousand times. I too am an

" obsesser " . I've got some much stuff laying around here about this surgery

that I'm sure it's driving my dh mad! But he puts up with it and is very

supportive.

Anyway, whether or not you decide to have this surgery is up to you. But

after doing all the research I did, I have come to the conclusion, yes... I

want to feel comfortable in my own skin. Yes, I want to fit into a theatre

seat, let alone the bucket seats in dh's car! Yes, I want the diabetes to

get better, the high blood pressure, the back aches, the knee pain... all to

improve or go away completely! I WANT A LIFE!! I want to be able to roller

blade with my 12, 11 and 10 year olds. I want them to be proud of me because

I was able to lose weight and become healthy again.

The call is yours... you must decide what is right for you.. and only you can

do that. It's your body. But please know... your health is important. And

just because your don't have any co-morbids now, doesn't mean they aren't

lurking right around the corner? Why wait for disaster to strike? Being

Diabetic SUCKS!

Best Regards & a Merry Christmas,

.. ´¨¨)) Y

¸.·´ .·´¨¨))

((¸¸.·´ ..·´ MelisaY

Y ((¸¸.·´*

Check out my homepage! Y <A

HREF= " http://ourworld.cs.com/melisa111968/myhomepage/personal.html " >My Personal

Quest</A> Y

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/23/2001 7:51:33 PM Pacific Standard Time,

sdeagazio@... writes:

> did you jsut call up a doctor to make an appointment for a

> consult?

I did research on the doctors in my area. I'm one of those that has Dr

Antone in LA, and Dr. Keshishian in Delano. Each is about and hour and a

half away from me. I did research on each Doctor, looked at the comments

made by thier patients about beside manner, staff behavior, hospital

environment, accessability of doctor, etc. Ijoined each of thier lists as

well so I had a good smattering of thier patients to pull information from.

After looking at all that information, as well as how I was paying and who

accepted Medi-Cal and the length of wait, it came down to Dr. Keshishian. I

contacted his office and requested information. Then sent me a nice little

booklet, which was basically the same thing he had on his web site that I had

already read at least three times before I got the book )

I then visited my PCP and talked to her about what I wanted to do. I got

resounding support from her, and she even took some information from me about

Dr. Keshishian and his program. She ran a bunch of tests, then I went home

and called Dr. Keshishian's office again and said, " I want to do this, what's

the next step " . They sent me an outline of the pre-op tests I needed to get

done before my consult. (Medi-cal requires that it's done this way) Well, my

PCP had run almost all those tests already, and when I went back, we just ran

the few that needed to be done. Everything should be in Dr. Keshishian's

office by now ) And my Consult date is the 23rd.

Now, I just sit and wait and look forward to my consult, and learn about what

goes on in the consult, preparing myself, because I know there's a test at

the end!! )

Let me know if there's anything else I can answer for you. I'm not that far

along in the process but this is what I " ve done so far.

.. ´¨¨)) Y

¸.·´ .·´¨¨))

((¸¸.·´ ..·´ MelisaY BMI 49, 303.5 #'s

Y ((¸¸.·´*

Check out my homepage! Y <A

HREF= " http://ourworld.cs.com/melisa111968/myhomepage/personal.html " >My Personal

Quest</A> Y

[Guest guest]

Great advice Judie! I completely agree with you... I've shared everything

from the beginning with my husband. He has asked many questions, gone over

all the information that I've given him, and plans to drive me to my consult

next month. He is very interested in *everything* right down the anethesia

and if I get a shot to relax me before I go into to surgery! LOL

One of my fears was actually saying to him (after 15 years together) " Honey,

if I need helping wipin' my tail end... " he finished the sentence and said,

" I'll be the first one there with a wipe! " I almost cried over that stupid

sentence! What a guy!

.. ´¨¨)) Y

¸.·´ .·´¨¨))

((¸¸.·´ ..·´ MelisaY BMI 49, 303.5#'s

Y ((¸¸.·´* Dr. Keshishian, waiting for approval

Check out my homepage! Y <A

HREF= " http://ourworld.cs.com/melisa111968/myhomepage/personal.html " >My Personal

Quest</A> Y

[Guest guest]

SONIA,

Hi from NEw Jersey.....I suggest you make a consult now with several docs

and then see PCP. The wait for consults can be lengthy.

I made my appoints to save the dates and then proceed with worrying, PCP and

waiting........I am now finishing up all the pre-surgical testing stuff.

Thrown another zinger on Thursday I now need to see pulmonary Dr for

clearance and a CPAP machine. HAd sleep study 3 years ago and have sleep

apnea. Tried CPAP machine and couldnt tolerate it so havent used it in 3

years. Was told by Dr.s assistant I need to have machine and use it or the

anesthesiologists wont put me to sleep.

Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday season and the Best New Years

possible.

Liz Hershey

[Guest guest]

Hello,

In my many hours of researching this WLS, I have come across the

mortality rate of this procedure as 1 out of every 200 people. Is

this correct? Just as I had been feeling more and more certain that I

would pursue this, I get this statistic in front of me. Now I know

that there is a risk involved, but at this moment I do not have any

co-mords that I know of (perhaps slightly elevated blood pressure) so

I was telling myself that the risk wasn't that bad. I am jsut

confused all the time as to what to do. I am the type of eprson that

obsesses and thinks about this all the time. I even fall asleep

thinking that " ok, I am going to do it " . Then I read something else

that makes me change my mind. What do you all think?

SOnia

BMI 48/research stage

[Guest guest]

,

I think its good to be concerned but not to obsess about it. If you are y

oung and in relatively good health you shouldnt worry too much. Just know

that if you dont take care of the problem now , the obesity will eventually

kill you anyway. But if you think there is one more diet you have not tried

you are best to do that before deciding on surgery. Otherwise you are not

ready for it.

I knew the stats for death prior to surgery. I was so sick of being fat and

hurting all the time. I had no life to speak of prior to surgery so I had

nothing to lose but the weight itself....and I can truthfully tell you that

I am so thrilled I had it done and would do it again over and over to get to

where I am today!

Good luck in your decision......

Judie

[Guest guest]

Melisa,

THanks for the info - and commiserating. It is heartening to knwo

that others went throught the stages I am going through. I am an

organizational freak. I print out things that are pertinent, and have

started to maintain a folder of information.

BTW.... did you jsut call up a doctor to make an appointment for a

consult? I am going to make an appointment with my PCP to at elast

get a true measure of my physical status. I jsut know I am MO, but

don;t have numbers/levels etc. I was wondering if I should at least

call a doctor I know does ds and " get in line " for an appointment,

just in case.

Thanks again,

and Merry Christmas to you too

BMI 48/research stage

> Hi ,

>

> I just left the " research stage " and went into the " waiting for

consult "

> stage. ) I have read all the risks, a thousand times. I too am

an

> " obsesser " . I've got some much stuff laying around here about this

surgery

> that I'm sure it's driving my dh mad! But he puts up with it and

is very

> supportive.

>

> Anyway, whether or not you decide to have this surgery is up to

you. But

> after doing all the research I did, I have come to the conclusion,

yes... I

> want to feel comfortable in my own skin. Yes, I want to fit into a

theatre

> seat, let alone the bucket seats in dh's car! Yes, I want the

diabetes to

> get better, the high blood pressure, the back aches, the knee

pain... all to

> improve or go away completely! I WANT A LIFE!! I want to be able

to roller

> blade with my 12, 11 and 10 year olds. I want them to be proud of

me because

> I was able to lose weight and become healthy again.

>

> The call is yours... you must decide what is right for you.. and

only you can

> do that. It's your body. But please know... your health is

important. And

> just because your don't have any co-morbids now, doesn't mean they

aren't

> lurking right around the corner? Why wait for disaster to strike?

Being

> Diabetic SUCKS!

>

> Best Regards & a Merry Christmas,

>

> . ´¨¨)) Y

> ¸.·´ .·´¨¨))

> ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ MelisaY

> Y ((¸¸.·´*

> Check out my homepage! Y <A

HREF= " http://ourworld.cs.com/melisa111968/myhomepage/personal.html " >My

Personal Quest</A> Y

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Judie,

Thanks. I too am sick of worrying about fitting into a seat, or

constantly asking to sit at a table in a diner. Do you knwo that this

year I didn;t even put my seatbelt on in the airplane when I went on

vacation this past summer. It just didn;t fit around me. That was so

humiliating. I jsut put the ends on my lap, and put my shirt to cover

it up. That makes me sick.

My boyfriend is wonderful though. For the first time someone does not

make me self conscious about my weight. He truly doesn't care and

loves me anyway. I know this is a little off topic, but this is the

path that has taken me to this spot in my life. I was married to a

very decent THIN man, who when first looking upon my bag (with all

the folds, and I was thinner then) cringed back in disgust. That was

the beginning of the end. I had starved myself to get married, and

now I ate myself into a divorce. Now I have a wonderful man who loves

me jsut the way I am , and I am the one who needs to do something

about myself, for me. He isn;t thrilled about my decision, mainly

because he is worried something will happen to me. BUt I am keping

him informed about everything and the research, and will ask him to

come with me to the consult if I go.

DOn;t know why I went into all of that, but I am in a sharing mood I

guess (sory group)

\Anyway, I had better shut up.

Thanks for listening,

SOnia

> ,

> I think its good to be concerned but not to obsess about it. If

you are y

> oung and in relatively good health you shouldnt worry too much.

Just know

> that if you dont take care of the problem now , the obesity will

eventually

> kill you anyway. But if you think there is one more diet you have

not tried

> you are best to do that before deciding on surgery. Otherwise you

are not

> ready for it.

> I knew the stats for death prior to surgery. I was so sick of

being fat and

> hurting all the time. I had no life to speak of prior to surgery

so I had

> nothing to lose but the weight itself....and I can truthfully tell

you that

> I am so thrilled I had it done and would do it again over and over

to get to

> where I am today!

> Good luck in your decision......

>

> Judie

[Guest guest]

,

Im glad you shared that with me (us) becuz it helps to get it out! Having

someone who cares a great deal about you regardless of how heavy you are or

arent is a blessing indeed! You hang onto him now!

I remember flying to san diego a couple years ago and having to ask for an

extender....it was embarrasing to say the least.

The fact that your boyfriend worries about you having the surgery shows his

concern and love for you....just take him by the hand and try to share

everything with him that you learn here. My husband and I both had the

surgery 2 days apart! We knew the risks (he was borderline congestive

heart failure but today shows no signs of that!) We are both thrilled over

our new lives. He has lost 135 lbs (20 more to go) and Im at goal in terms

of my size now which is 12 but heading for a 10! All in less than a year!

You do need to do this for YOU......but you will not regret it! Oh sure, at

first after surgery you will think you were hit by a bus but believe me that

passes quickly and before you know it, you are eating all the foods you love

and the weight just falls right off!

Take him to the consult with you.....let him ask questions too....include

him in all the decision making so he feels a part of it. Let him know that

you both will have many many years together if you have the surgery but

might not if you dont......

Good luck!

Judie =)