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!
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July 27 2006 on July 27, 2006 12:00 am
Wow. So today I met with my plastic surgeon. You know going in that for insurance reasons you are fixing to bear it all, but you don't really realize what you are fixing to do until you start having to pose for the camera. After answering all the questions, I was given this wrapped up pair of underwear. I unwrapped them and thought oh those are not going to fit. They did fit, but not my type of underwear for sure! It's certainly not the most enjoyable experience having to show your hidden secrets. He came in toting a camera and all I could think about was what am I doing. Their office is located in a hospital, but they actually do the surgery within their office suite. It was a really nice office. The surgeon was extremely professional. He started out the coversation with something that I think locked me in. He said, " I see Dr. Martindale has a sucess". That made me feel great. He said that he does have people with higher BMIs coming for plastic surgery while still losing and you want to wait until you are stable. He was happy with where my BMI is at, said I'm a perfect canidate for the reconstructive surgery. I'm looking at a lot of work needing to be done. He said he would most certainly have to be done in series. He said the first place would need to be the tummy. I pretty much knew that I had a developing hernia and he said that it's actually a good thing, because while doing the hernia repair he can do the cut kind of like a triangle and then close me up like what is called an anchor cut, do muscle tightening. He said he really thinks I'll have good results. I asked about the lower body lift and he was concerned about doing that all at one time on me. I have a lot of skin to take off and he likes to keep people under as little stress as possible and not under long. So the first move is to remove the hang, repair the hernia, do the muscle tightening. Then go back in to do the back area or my butt, probably in the mean time doing lipo on my thighs. My arms and breast next, and then work on my legs (calf) area. Like it said in the brochure, pretty much for the best results it's going to be done in series and also the results take time, I'm looking at a few years work. He wants to make sure I'm healing good, etc. I keep in my mind trying to figure out how I will look just removing the panni first, I will probably look odd until they can get the back side. I'm not sure at this point what all will get covered. He told me that today he was going to dictate the letter and send it out as soon tomorrow. I should know something in 4-6 weeks. He's going to go for my legs under reconstructive due to my Lymphedema. I'm pretty sure my arms won't be covered, but he is submitting it all.
I'm nervous about doing this. He said in the tummy area it's probably around 15 pounds of skin, maybe more. Other areas here and there various amounts of skin weight.
He said no doubt I had done quite a bit of research. I had a ton of questions for him and he took the time to answer them. I was very happy with this surgeon. He seemed very confident, he kept good eye contact the whole time. When ever I make choices like this I always look for signs, I believe in them. When I went to meet my surgeon I had a sign then too. This time it came in a form of a butterfly. They put me in a room of all rooms with a beautiful painting of a butterfly.
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July 23 2006 on July 23, 2006 12:00 am
Do the professionals really know what is good and bad for us?
The reason I ask this is look over the past few years trends. We went from. NO Fat.... NO eggs....Then back to we need fats, we need eggs. Now the newest one is the carb craze. Some believe in NO carbs, and other preach we need them. So what is the right and wrong answer here? I don't think anyone can get on the same page.Did you ever notice that back in the "old" days when obesity was not an epidemic that they ate a balanced meal. There was not don't eat those fats, don't eat those carbs, don't eat that sugar. They ate home cooked meals typically? That would usually consist of a variety of foods, yet many people then never had a problem with weight like now? They also didn't have the luxury of "fast food", sugar filled drinks, sugar coated cereals, they did more walking back then, and farming. I think it's become a lifestyle of convenience for many people and this is why we are suffering now. I'm sure not everyone will agree with this, but I think there is some connection to how our lifestyles over the years have change so dramatically and I don't really believe there is a good or bad food, it boils down to balanced meals, and exercise.
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July 17 2006 on July 17, 2006 12:00 am
I made that plunge. Next Thursday I go for my plastic surgery consult. I'm excited about it, but nervous. They seemed very confident in talking with them that I'll be able to get a good bit covered by insurance. She said they have a lot of luck with getting approvals for weight loss surgery patients. I'm crossing my fingers. I know within time I'm going to be needing a hernia repair so I'm gearing up for that to be done at the same time. I'm going to see about my breast, arms, legs butt and tummy. I need a whole body re-do. I guess I don't really have one area that I want more than another.
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July 17 2006 on July 17, 2006 12:00 am
I've thought this over now for some time and I'm going to seriously look into plastic surgery now. Last night I was reading online about a surgeon in this area who does body contouring for weight loss patients. I'm not sure at this point his experience if any with Lymphedema, but that will be the most important factor in my choice. My weight loss is pretty much at a stand still and I've seriously got probably 50 pounds total skin all over. I know the skin removal would be the best thing. I'm very worried about the pain. I've seen others go through the plastic surgery and they say that it's very painful. The amount I'm needing is what is the scary part. I'm sure it would have to be done in steps. I truly believe I'll be able to get my insurance to pay for my legs, because it should be covered under reconstructive from the Lymphedema damage. I'm going that route with the legs. More than likely the only thing I'll have to worry about money wise is the breast area and the bat wings. I need something for the legs, butt, and tummy. Thankfully nothing wrong with my face or chin, that retracted back very well. So I've put in a request online to meet with Dr. Ewart. I'm going to be following up Monday to set up the appointment to move this forward and get some answers. I'll probably also get another opinion with the surgeons at MCG as well. I'm exited, but nervous.
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July 7 2006 on July 7, 2006 12:00 am
This is not something I've ever posted much about and I'm usually not the type of person to post something I feel is this personal. That being said. I remember growing up that because I was so different feeling/looking and because I was the only child that I often felt like people didn't like me. I felt I had to beg for their friendship. I didn't have hardly any friends and never did find that one true friend. Many times I realized that people really used me. I was always the friend who went beyond to help my friend, but in time when I needed the same I never got it. I never experienced what a true friend really was. I always wanted to be that person on TV who had someone to depend on, someone you could talk with, just someone you could actually be yourself around. I blame a lot of this in part to being hurt in my past by "friends". I later in life realized they were not a friend at all. I built a HUGE barrier up. Over time I've began to again let this barrier come slowly down, but I still have fears. I fear being hurt. Times are so different now I feel. I feel like when I was in school it was a lot of back stabbing that happened and now that I'm older things are different. I remain scared to fully have a friend. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense to those reading thus far, but I'm scared to let anyone in. I think what scares me the most is I have finally found who I feel are TRUE friends, but I still catch myself trying to build a barrier. It's like you want to trust they won't hurt you, but scared they will. I feel that being alone like I have been for so long is the way to stay safe...On the other hand it's so nice to have a friend you can talk with. I'm so thankful to the friends I've made on this journey, they have truly shown me that I should give people a chance again. I'm trying so hard to get those barriers down, but it remains hard.
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July 2 2006 on July 2, 2006 12:00 am
Today I went down to my mother in laws to visit. I decided to try on a shirt I got from Obesityhelp back in March. When I tried it on just a few months ago it fit, but was snug. I'm happy to report it fit. I told Kenneth that I believe it's a X-large. I finally had to get him to look at the tag and it's a LARGE! I'm so happy about this. I never in a million years believed I would go from a 6x shirt to a large. I have plans to go in August to start the process in looking into plastic surgery. I could probably wear a medium shirt if I didn't have this hanging skin on my arms, I continue to have to wear larger sizes because of my arms. I also know with a tummy tuck I'll be much smaller in the waist and could wear smaller pants. So the plan is to get my PCP in August and get the ball going to find out what can be done with this skin. I'm scared, but I also know that in order to be down anymore weight the skins got to go. If I had all this skin removed I would be at my ideal body weight. Either way I'm happy at the place I'm at now!
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