KimRobin
August 29, 2009
I had the band surgery back in June 2005 and lost 130lbs. In March of 2007 I had to have the band removed because it had slipped and I couldn't swallow my own saliva. It was a horrible day when my surgeon Dr. Arif Ahmad told me that the band had slipped. I was told it could be repositioned but I had read the chances of it happening again were great, so I opted to have it removed and give my body time to recover.
June of 2008 I was ready to look into having the band surgery again, but was rushed to the hospital on July 4th only to find out I had cancer. So I spent the rest of 2008 and until May 2009 going thru cancer treatment. I had external radiation everyday for 25 days starting in the middle of August, and then I was in the hospital for internal radiation for 3 days. Giving the radiation time to do its thing in November I was back in the hospital to have a total hysterectomy for my stage 3 cervical cancer. I was told while in the hospital I wouldn't need chemotherapy only to go get my staples out 2 weeks later to find out it wasn't cervical cancer but uterine and ovarian cancer. Then my Drs told me I will need chemotherapy for 6 sessions lasting 5-6 hours with 3 weeks in between each treatment. May of this year (2009) I had my first full body scan and told I am finally cancer free.
So here I am again! I am looking to have surgery with Dr. Mehta, I just finished the last of my doctor visits and I am waiting for my paperwork to be submitted and for my insurance company (Empire Blue/Shield) to get their stuff together with the local hospitals (Peconic Hospital..where my Dr performs the surgery) so I can finally have the surgery again and get back to being myself 100%.
This last year has showed me that you don't have anything if you don't have your health! So now that I am cancer free I want to lose weight again and know that I am at my best!
September 18, 2009
It's been a little crazy lately! I got a letter from my insurance company saying I was turned down, but that is only because Empire is in negoitations with Peconic Medical Center and other hospitals out east. Then I get a letter saying that as of December 31,2009, Dr. Mehta won't be taking Empire anymore. Ok, so I start the search for a new Dr. Last night I went to another information session and met my new Dr....I am so happy! I will be having the surgery with Dr. Brathwaite...he seems like a very caring man. I left the room for a minute during a guest speaker and Dr B was out in the hallway and I asked him if I could ask him a few a few questions and he stood there listening to my concerns about my having had cancer and whether he would do the surgery on me, and he told me it was in more important for me to have the surgery to limit the chances of my cancer coming back. It was so reassuring that he stood there and listened and talked to me.
I have been through so many Drs with having had cancer that some will say tell you. "Wait until the consultation.", "Let me get to it." It's like some of them have a speech and if they go and answer your questions they lose there place and then they are lost. They don't seem to care about addressing your concerns and putting you at ease first. Dr. Brathwaite seems so different, I think I found a real gem of a Dr here!! I have my consultation with him on September 25, 2009 @ 9:30am....first appointment baby!! I hope to speed ahead to a surgery date as I have all my Dr appointments done from Dr. Mehta's office.
September 27, 2009
Well on September 25 I went for my initial consult with Dr. Brathwaite and I love him!
He is going to go over all my tests that Dr. Mehta's office finally set over after a lot of bitching and complaining, and then he will tell me if there is still any tests that I need to have done. I am hoping I am finished and that my paperwork can be submitted to Empire and then I will have a date. Since I had the surgery before I only have to go to one of his support groups which is great, so I am going Oct 1st. I was in total shock when I was given the list of support groups available...it seems like he has 4 a month! I had surgery this surgery before an my surgeon only had 1 a month so if you couldn't make it you were out of luck for a whole month!! This will Rock!!!
Everyone at Dr. Brathwaite's office has been so sweet!
October 10, 2009
Four days until my surgery!!!
