Janet M.
I have been obese most of my adult life. I began looking into the surgery in 2001.I have lost weight many times through many avenues but I am never able to maintain it. However I still thought I could do this on my own. In 2002 I started a low carb diet (Atkins) and lost about 45-50 pounds. I could not get any lower than that. I came back here and started researching the surgery again. I am 56 years old so I don't have a lot of time to keep thinking about what I am going to do. One thing is for sure I am NOT going to spend the last third of my life obese! Any way I found out that I had to regain 30 pounds to qualify for the surgery. I have done that and am now trying to decide between two procedures. One is a lap RNY with Dr. DiMarco in Harrsiburg and the other is an open RNY with Dr. Sweet in Reading. It is a hard decision to make. Right now I am leaning toward the Lap procedure. If any one has any input I sure would appreciate hearing from you. I am looking forward to taking this recent addition of 30 pounds before surgery, but first I have to make sure my weight is documented. This site is a wealth of information and I feel so lucky that I found it.
June 23, 2003
I called the surgeons office (Dr. DiMarco in Harrisburg PA) to see about an appointment. I have to wait to receive a letter from them. What the heck is that about? Oh well I will wait and see. I also called Dr. Sweet (Reading PA) and have to wait to receive paperwork which I must fill out. I have also contacted Hershey Medical center.
June 26, 2003 received a letter from Dr. DiMarco's office with instructions to call t set up an appointment. I called and my appointment isn't until August 23rd! This is only an intial appointment with the office staff to explain their policy and procedures.
June 30, 2003 I received a thick packet from Dr. Sweet's office with a lot of paper work to fill out and take to my first appointment on August 12th. Gosh everything seems so far away!
August 12, 2003 Never made it to my appointment with Dr. Sweet. We had flooding here and I didn't want to chance it. :(
August 23, 2003 I had my first appointment and am pretty pleased with the office staff. Everyone seems very nice and mild mannered. I have a packet of papers to fill out and a check list of things to be done. I have to fill out a sheet that lists all the diets I have tried and what success (yeah right!) I have had with them. I also need a paper from my doctor describing any wieghtloss avenues he has explored with me. When that packet is complete I have to return it to the office. This visit was free.
August 27, 2003 I had an appoinment with my PCP and he filled out all the paperwork from the surgeon and took blood for the tests that the surgeon's office wanted done. He wants me to think long and hard about having the surgery. He says he has three patients who had it done and regained most of their weight back... gosh :( that is disheartening!) This was covered by insurance.
August 29, 2003 I turned in my packet to the office. I have a date of September 23, 2003 to see the office doctor. He is not a surgeon, he is an internist. I think he explains the surgery and checks you out to see if you are a good candidate for the surgery.
September 15, 2003 I went to my first Support Group meeting. These are given by my surgeon's office on the first and third Monday of the month. I was very impressed. I found out that both surgeons attend almost every meeting and are always around for questions. I really like that. They are very involved with their patients and care about the success of each person.
September 23, 2003. I met with Dr. Weigher. He was very nice and very informative. I had a list of about 20 to 25 questions and he took them one by one and answered them all. I did not feel in the least bit rushed. It seems they leave plenty of time for each patient. MORE paper work to fill out LOL. Then I get to see the surgeon. This visit was $200.00
October 6, 2003 I missed my support group meeting! Had to work overtime :(
October 20, 2003 Support group meeting was a HUGE bummer! I found out that my insurance changed the rules! Effective November 10th the rules change. Previously you only had to have a letter from a doctor saying that you are morbidly obese and the surgery is medically necessary. NOW you need 6 months of "supervised" exercise????? What the heck does THAT mean? And you also need 6 motnhs of supervised diet by your Dr.! They said they will not take a letter but you have to have the doctor's handwritten notes... I am really really bummed. I am lucky I started going to the gym last April!
I received a check for 200 dollars. the insurance company covered my visit to Dr. Weigher. :)(mine was covered by insurance. Another woman has the same insurance same place of employment and it didn't cover any of it. I was told it depends on your diagnosis as to how much the insurance covers.)
The surgeon's office called. I have a date to see the surgeon (Dr. Currie) on Novemeber7.
November 7, 2003 I met with Dr. Currie. My husband came along so he could ask all the questions he wanted answered. This was better than me having to give him second hand information. The doctor was very nice and explained everything in detail. He explained the risks but I wouldn't say he emphasized them. I had already done a lot of research and maybe that is why he felt he didn't have to. More paper work! this visit was $62.00
November 13, 2003. I met again with my PCP and he says he will give me what I need to be approved for the surgery.
November 25, 2003. I got a letter from my PCP explaining the medical necessity for the surgery and listing the different diets I have tried for the past year and a half. He says he is not going to give any handwritten notes. :(
December 2, 2003I got a check for 62 dollars. My insurance covered my visit with Dr. currie.
I brought the letter to the surgeon's office along with my gym documentation. The lady who does the scheduling says it won't be approved because the insurance company told them they would not accept a letter. I told her to submit it the way it is because my PCP called the insurance company to find out exactly what was needed. She harumphed and went away. I hope she submits it....
December 4, 2003 Hooray!!! my surgery had been approved! Now on to the tests! I have a gall bladder ultrasound scheduled for December 12th and endoscopy on the 17th and an EKG and lab tests on the 18th. whew!
Well I made it through all the tests with no problems. I now have an appointment with the nutritionist on January 9, 2004.
I will update again after I have that appointment. This sure is a long process!
January 9, 2004 Well I have had my nutritionist appointment and now I just wait (again) for them to call me with a date!
January 12, 2004. Wow got a call today from the surgeons office. My date is January 28th!!! WOW
January 14th My FMLA papers have already been filled out by the surgeon's office.. I just gave them the packet yesterday! I went and got it and took it right back to HR... yea!
January 27, 2004 Well tomorrow s the big day. The hospital called today and said to report at 10:30 tomorrow morning. I am getting nervous about not being nervous LOL See you all when I get back!
January 31 2004 Well I made it! Came through with flying colors. I am very sore and tired. My surgery was scheduled for 12:30 but my surgeon apparently had an emergency. I finally had my surgery at 4:30 and guess what I STILL wasn't nervous.. isn't that crazy?
Any way I woke up in the recovery room and ready to go to my room about 7 pm... I'll tell you that was some pain there.. before I got the pain meds.. whew...
February 4, 2004 here is my one week update.. I was so sick on Monday... my dr has clear fluids for 3 days.. and even though I bought hi protein gelatin and cold drinks called protidiet from the surgeons office.. it was just way too much sweet stuff I guess... I never want to feel like that again! I had my husband stop by the surgeons office and pick up hi protein broth and after I had that I felt so much better! I am still having some issues with pain.. but I am getting there! I don't have any one to help me during the day but I am getting on ok by myself. Monday I was asking myself why I did this.. LOL but it passed.
Any way I will post again when there is something new to tell.
February 6 2004 I had my first Dr's appointment and I have lost 12 pounds. Not spectacular but quite respectable I think. 12 pounds in 9 days ain't too shabby for this old gal ;-)
February 10, 2004 I have now moved off full liquids on to the soft food phase. Everything seems to be going well I did not have any problems transitioning from fluids to soft foods. I am happy about that. I never thought that less than one egg could make me feel full nor 1/4 cup of mashed potatoes (which I fortified with protidiet hi protein vegetable soup mix. I will update whenever there is more to tell.
Had my second appointment with the surgeon on 3/5/04 and weighed 234. I am pretty happy about that. I should be measuring also but haven't yet. I guess I better get around to that very soon!
I am on a regular diet and tolerate it well enough. My biggest problem is that I have 0 interest in food and don't really care if I eat. I have taken to drinking isopure 0 carb o sugar drinks... 160 calories BUT 40 gms of protein. I know it isn't ideal to be drinking the protein.. but it beats not getting it in. I do eat... just not very much.. nothing appeals to me at all. (sigh) Any way I will update again when something is new.
have I mentioned lately that I adore my surgeon???? If anyone is from Central PA and looking for a great surgeon... get in touch with Dr. Scot Currie. :-)
4/28/04 I had my 3 month check up and weigh 214. I was hoping to have lost more.. but all in all life is good! Still have not measured! Gosh I wish I could get around to that! I am so lazy sometimes! My next appointment is 7/28/04 my six month check up/ BTW I still don't have any interest in food and am still drinking my protein for the most part. For some reason meats and cheeses make me feel ill but carbs go down easy.. I am NOT happy about that! Carbs are what have gotten me in trouble my whole adult life! The brightside is I cannot tolerate sugar (at all) or fat.. most of the time.
5/28/04 Well I weighed myself this month and weigh 208.. so I have only lost 6 pounds this month... not very happy about that. I was going to curves (since last June) But have since joined a gym at my doctors request. He feels I need much more cardio and weight lifting... so here I am off on another adventure. I will update again at the end of next month! See you all then. :)
7/26/04 Well here I am again :) Sorry it took so long to update.. any way I had my six month check up and I am 187. things are going along pretty well however I am struggling with the carbs issue. They just go down so much easier than the protein. Now why the heck did I start eating them in the first place! I wish I hadn't then I wouldn't know that the carbs go down easier for me! :(
8/26/04 I am now 179. Still having carb issues... It is still a struggle for me with the protein but seems to have gotten a lot better over the past week and a half. Still a long way to the century club and a longer way to goal. I have been lagging in going to the gym... lots of family things going on now.. and YES I do know.. that is a darn excuse! LOL. Any way I am going to make a greater effort to get to the gym more often! Have only been going twice a week.. sometimes once! NOT GOOD! I have to get back to my four days a week routine!
8/16/2010 Wow I cannot believe I must have had three accounts here. I was able to retrieve this original one, and the one I created in 2009 but not able to find the one inbetween. So my advice to you... don't stop coming here or you may lose the postings and updates like I did! So here is what has been happening in the intervening years! Dr. Weigher did some kind of work-up and determined that I would wind up at 170 pounds when I finally settled on a weight. That was a shock.. I was hoping to have something a lot less than that weight! I am sure he based that on pre-surgery compliance which was ok but not great I must admit! Well to cut to the chase at about year 4 my weight was around 153. Dr. Weigher was happy about that. So was I. I then went on to gain back 15 pounds of the 110 pounds I lost! Wow that was a wake-up call! I had heard that it was possible to regain the weight you lost, however, I didn't know it was going to be so easy to do it! My advice to you especially if you are just starting out on this journey is DO NOT start taking liberties with your new way of eating or you will be disappointed down the road! However, if you are in the position I was in.. do not give up! Just go back to the tools you were given in the beginning and start again.. it still works! By year five I lost the 15 pounds I had regained and went on to lose another 13 pounds. So now here I am 61/2 years later and I have lost 138 pounds! So I started out at 263 and now weigh 125 pounds. My only regret is that I did not continue with cardio and weightlifting. THAT was a big mistake.. because now I have a lot of sagging drapey skin... and the worst of it is that I have huge fat deposits around my knees that is gross! There is no way to get rid of it that I have been able to find.. even with liposuction... so that is a great disappointment to me! I cannot wear anything that goes just below my knee because the fat hanging there will be seen. Bummer! However I did join the YMCA and was hoping to get into a weightlifting and cardio regimen to see if I could get rid of the fat and tone the saggy areas... unfortunately I was run over in the crosswalk next to my house on June 28th. My right foot was "compressed". My foot was trapped under the tire of the car that hit me. So my right foot was under the tire and the impact threw me down on my left side.. with my right foot still trapped under the tire! So I am still off work on FMLA... with no paycheck! Not a good position to be in. I had an MRI last Tuesday... and it showed that nothing was broken.. no torn ligaments... which you would think would be a good thing.. it isn't. The orthopeadic surgeon explained to me that if it had been broken or the ligaments were torn... surgery could fix that and I would have a finite date for recovery. Not so for a compression injury.. in effect the bones in my foot are bruised and there was blood leaking around the bones. There is no way to tell how long it will take for this to heal. I am trying to use the crutches less. however that is not working out too well. If I don't use the crutches after a short time of walking with just the boot on my foot is so swollen and painful I am nearly in tears. I cannot return to work as long as I am using the crutches... this is terrible. Every day that I am off without pay I lose one day of seniority. It looks like by the time I get back to work I will have lost the seniority gains I have made over the past 19 years... I can not afford to retire on what my pension would provide.. and I am still 2 years away from being able to collect social securtiy... so basically I am screwed :(
HOWEVER, I have not regained any of the weight... which is pretty amazing considering I am not able to walk very far.. so not much expenditure of calories! This surgery is amazing!!!
I will try to be a lot better about keeping this updated!
Hospital Reviews
- (Harrisburg, PA) - Community General Osteopathic Hospital
Surgeon Info:
Surgeon: Scot Currie, M.D.
Dr. Currie is very personable. He attends almost all the support groups. I find that very reassuring. He was very thorough in his explanation of the surgery. He not only answered my questions but was happy to answer my husband's questions as well. I did not feel in the least bit rushed by him. The office staff is very nice, however sometimes they are overwhelmed. Steve the office manager is very nice and caring and is working hard to improve office/patient relationships. I find that commendable. Most offices don't really care what goes on "up front" I think both Dr. Currie and Dr. DiMarco care very much about their patients. I do think that the office staff is not as supportive to people who do not do as they are told, or who do not seem to want to work hard at this new way of life. It is a very busy office and I think they just can't afford to take the time with people who don't listen. I will come back and update after I have my surgery.
Insurer Info:
HighMark blue Shield, PPO
Everything went smoothly. The first thing to do is find out exactly what they require and then comply. That is what I did, even though they changed the rules in the middle of the process by requiring a 6 month diet history and a 'supervised" exercise program, I was still able to comply. How? you may ask.. I was following the trend of others insurance and following what was going on here at the site with different postings. Even though my insurance did not require it when I started my journey I saw the hand writing on the wall and went to my PCP and also joined a gym.. I had my diet history and my "supervised" exercise in hand when the time came.