Surgeon TestimonialRobert G. Martindale, M.D., Ph.D.
12/02/05
I recently emailed Dr. Martindale to see how he's doing. He was so nice as always. This man is amazing. I can't even imagine someone so thoughtful and passionate about a field like this, but he his truly devoted to helping those people like myself who have lost all hope of living anymore. I just hope he know's what a difference he's made in so many people's lives.
4/15/2005
I went to see Dr. Martindale for the last time before he leaves for his new job in Oregon. I will miss him so much. I gave him a heart shaped box filled with Hersey kisses. I told him at this point I had lost 250 pounds. I had counted out the kisses and give him one for each pound I had lost. This man is amazing. He's been such an inspiration in all that he does for other. He took on my case when no one else would do it and for that I can't thank him enough. He's saved my life and my husbands. I can't ever repay someone for doing something so special for me. Dr. Martindale will be grately missed at MCG. What a shame to lose such a special surgeon.
2/16/2004
I will have to tell you. I've been to now going on my fourth surgeon. Up to this point I was not 100% impressed with the ones that I had gone to. There was something about each one of them that held me back from wanting them to do surgery. I feel extremely BLESSED to have Dr. Martindale as my soon to be surgeon. This man is HIGHLY educated in this field. When we came in to meet me he was very friendly and kind. I felt like he was concerned about me. You could tell from the way that he talked about this that it was a passion for him to help people. He gave time for me to ask questions and did so very wonderfully. He made me feel very good knowing he deals with many patients that are over 500 pounds and has a true concern for those super obese. There are NOT many in this field that will even do surgery on someone these sizes, yet he takes the chance and helps us. What a man! Just to tell you some pluses. He takes the gallbladder out during surgery, he said it only take 3 minutes while your there. I said what about insurance, he said he doesn't charge them for it. He's done over 500 bariatric surgeries dealing with mostly high risk patients. He said to keep in mind he also does other surgeries such as hernia repairs, and other gastrointestinal surgeries, as well as be a professor, and he goes to other countries donating his time to help the less fortunate. He's done maybe 50 patients under 500 pounds the rest where over 500 pounds. He said the average BMI is 60, whereas most are around 45. I felt a huge relief that he's so experienced with high weights. The highest weight he did was over 900 pounds. I asked him about deaths. He has not had a patient die on the OR table. He has however lost 7 patients and he went into full details of each one, he said that patients had died anywhere between 8weeks to a year for various reason. He's only had 3 leaks. I asked him about certain patients and he remembered each one of them. That said a lot. Anyway I spent an hour and a half with him. He also knows and understands about my lymphedema. He felt that I would lose a good bit of weight from therapy. I could tell how he spoke that this was a passion. He said he does this surgery to save people's lives and give them life back. I fell in love with him. While he was talking to me I could see a glow around him. It was the most amazing experience, when we left I KNEW it was right and had major relief. I fully trust him and would put my life in his hands.
8-18-2003
I orginally went to Dr. Gooden in Augusta. He said that he didn't have an OR table big enough for me. Dr. Goodens staff was fine, I just wish someone there would have asked prior about my weight instead of waisting my time and the surgeons time. I was disappointed. This is just my opinion I would not recommend some to go to this surgeon. I was not impressed with his office or how his program was set up for the obese. I am now going to see Dr Burrowes in Atlanta on the 29th of October.
10-7-2003
I went to a Siminar for Dr. Duncan. I will say that I was quite impressed with this man. He is very smart, and had great dry humor! I would recommend him to anyone. His program is very well set up and he took the time after the siminar to talk with me personally. He only now does the Lap RNY. He does however have associates that do the open percedure too. I sent my packet to them and I'm suppose to go see him on November 20th. Provided I pick him to do the surgery.
10-29-2003
Dr. Burrowes was a very informative, and smart man. The longer I sat and spoke to him the more I understood that he does this surgery for the soul reason to give someone their life back. His office was very nice. You can park on the 3rd level in the parking garage and go across the cross walk into the office building. Take the elevators to the 5th floor. It's not very far to walk. His office had chair with and with out arms. As a very comfortable couch. His staff was very kind and took their time with me. Once I got in the office I didn't wait to long. I was then taken back to get weighed and also they take your picture with some measurements. They had no problems with my husband accompanying me back there. We then watched a couple of videos. Dr. Burrowes is a huge fan of the Fobi pouch, which was designed by a surgeon in California (Mathias A. L. Fobi). (http://www.cstobesity.com) I knew going in that he was liked this percedure over the others. If you want to have that done you will have to pay out of pocket $4500. I told him that I could not get the funding for that and would prefer just the RNY without the Fobi. He had NO PROBLEM doing that. Infact he does SIX percedures. RNY, VBG, LAP-BAND, D/S DUODENAL SWITCH, and FOBI POUCH. He said that most insurance will only pay or allow the VBG and RNY. Any other would be out of pocket expense involved. My overall view of Dr. Burrowes was very impressed. He's definately on the HIGH end of the scale. His death rate is very low and he had done over 1000 of this surgery. He took the time to answer all my questions. He doesn't want an answer that day. He told me again all the risks involved. I got a very thick aftercare booklet that explained what I will be able to eat, things to expect, a long list of potential problems that can be resolved by the patient to cut down on calls to his office. It listed ideas for meals. I was extremely impressed. It also described what to expect 1-4 days. I guess what I most impressed about is how he does the percedure. He does it open with an incision of 2-3 inches long!! I know that he is a very skilled surgeon and feel this will be the one for me.
11-20-2003
Well, I decided to go see Dr. Duncan today. Just wanted to feel him out too. I was very disappointed. I knew before I went that he doesn't want you to gain weight, but he wants you to do that for 90 days supervised BEFORE he will do surgery. I understand him wanting to shink the liver, but when I've been trying to diet since May this made me somewhat upset. I've been doing all I can. Not to meantion I was told on the phone that Dr. Duncan would be there. NOPE! He had an associate take a look at all of us. I was told one on one and I'm very upset that I went 150 miles to not ever see the surgeon. Total waste of my time. The staff is friendly, but people need to be told before hand the truth.
Latest Surgery Support Comments
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HI Amy-All I can say
is wow. I have been
overweight all of my
life and I started
this journey almost
a year ago. I
didn't see your
first episode on MTV
but I have been
reading your posts
for the past 5
months since I have
been a member of OH.
You and Kenneth are
such great people, I
wish you nothing
happiness and good
health.
Sincerely, Sharon
Johnson
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Hey Amy....just
checked out the
updated MTV video.
You and Kenneth look
awesome and I still
can't tell you
enough what an
inspiration you both
are. I also wanted
to say a Happy
belated Birthday to
you. Hope you had a
great one!!! Sending
you lots of Love,
Nadine!
Click here for the surgery support page
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Wooohooo going to Orlando! on April 23, 2007 10:19 pm
I had a blast in Irvine and didn't want to miss out on the next one. I just decided I'll be going to the event in Orlando! I cannot wait to go. I'm probably going to be catching a ride with a friend from the Georgia board. It's less than 2 weeks away!
So if you are in the Orlando area I hope to see you there!
For details on the event go here:
http://www.obesityhelp.com/events/uzone,events/action,event_details/?pkid=209&key=60565b94f15c5e61e8f90f4c31448eae
So who's going???
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I am so thankful! on April 22, 2007 1:26 pm
This past week in Irvine I had a WOW moment. Well it was kind of a journey into something I've not done in years. I wore my shirt tucked in! I still have a lot of issues with tucking my shirts in and I still hold things in front of my stomach to hide something that's not there anymore! It's such a mental thing and I do it out of habit all the time. I'll catch myself putting my purse in front of me, a piece of paper, anything I can find. This past weekend taught me a lot of things, one of them is to be proud of who I am and how far I have come. It's a work in progress still with the physical aspects of myself and confidence, but slowly I'm coming out of my shell. I am also starting to accept that my lymphedema will always be apart of my life. I am cursed with this condition forever. Although thanks to the weight loss it is much more manageable the reality is still there. I came home to my legs being extremely swollen in just a weeks time. The plane ride home was very painful and I am now having to do some heavy therapy to get them down again, possibly will need to go see my therapist again. Some days I want to just cut them off, but then I drive myself to be thankful to have legs at all. I also remind myself that I'm able to walk again, even though it got painful this past week and I started to realize how easy it could become for them to start swelling very badly again. I just keep pushing myself. Then I pull out my photo of my wheelchair and I am even more thankful and reminded of how far I have come! This surgery saved my legs from being amputated and my life being taken away. I have so much to be thankful for! I've still got one more month for my 3 year mark and I want to reach my 400 pounds lost. Only 7 pounds to get there.
 
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What a whirlwind! on April 21, 2007 6:46 pm
I cannot believe that the Irvine conference has already passed. What happened to all the time? It never seems like we have enough time to talk with everyone and mingle! It just flies by so quickly. It all started with me flying again. I had a great time, a lot of extra room with my airplane seat belt! No tummy! That was great. I got to Irvine last Thursday and we had a lot of last minutes things to take care of for the event. I met some of the most wonderful people, Becky, Mary Ann, Rebecca, Marcy, Kim G, Jaira, Jackie, Nadine (Boo), Yvonne, MV, Beth, Darlene..... OMGoodness it's such a LONG list of people! I enjoyed every minute with everyone. Then everyone I got to see again... Sally, Tooter, Sarah, Melissa...... I love being with the OH staff too, LOVE YOU GUYS! It's always nice to be with my OH family from the boards, but also those I work with on a daily basis. I wish the entire staff could have been there, maybe next time! I didn't get nearly as many photos as I had hoped to. I had a great time at the office the days following the event. On my last day in Irvine we had a bonfire at the beach, had a great time. It was my first bonfire! It was freezing that night, but the fire warmed us up. I cannot wait until the next big event. I miss all my buddies and co-workers! If you have never attended an OH event you are missing out!
Here's a few photos:
Jackie Guerra (OH Spokesperson) and I
Jackie is an amazing speaker and motivator!
Tooter and Amy sandwich with Eric (founder of ObesityHelp) Eric is an amazing man to work with.
Click on the link below to see all the photos from my Irvine trip.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/photos/uzone,photos/action,galler y/albumId,21094/
Sensitive Topic about TEETH! on April 20, 2007 2:42 pm
This is a subject that I don't see talked about much, but it was brought up during the Irvine convention. We had a cosmetic dentist as one of our speakers. He was really great! One of the things I have always had a problem with are my teeth. Since my baby teeth came in years ago I had damage from antibotics (tetracycline) and too little fluoride from being overseas in Europe during my teeth development. I had several stains on them. Even during the time I was homebound I still took care of them as best I could, but going to the dentist for regular cleanings was not something I could do. I'm sure I could have, but breaking the chair was a major anxiety for me and being scared in general of leaving the house. So needless to say for several years I didn't have any form of check ups or cleanings. My teeth became darker as a result. I was blessed to only have 1 cavity when I finally did end up getting to the dentist. Over this past week I had an issue with a cracked tooth, I found out the filling was coming out, so thankfully the dentist that was there said come on by his office, so I did. While there we talked about several options, I do need my teeth straightened. He talked with me about the discoloration and I told him this makes me not show my teeth. He recommended to eventually get veneers (they are expensive), but in the mean time we could try Zoom whitening. I had seen this done on ABC's Extreme Makeover, but in Georgia you can't find any dentist that do this. I was very interested. So I gave it a shot. I couldn't be happier with the results. There is pain involved from the whitening process that can make your teeth sensitive. Mine did become sensitive, but quickly went away by the next day. It was hard for me to find a before shot. I wish I had taken one before we did it, but I didn't. The results have just blown me away. My stain on the very front two teeth from the antibotics are completely gone! I feel so much more confident about smiling now. It has completed this whole process for me!
Here's a photo of before about 1 1/2 ago and current. Like I said it was hard to find ANY photos with my teeth showing and I still need them straightened, but the whiten results are amazing and instant!
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Irvine April 14 & 15th on April 2, 2007 11:09 pm
Melissa Mermaid made this for the Irvine event. It's great! Click link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfR94HtHGt4
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