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Before & After There are currently no before and after photos for this member. See these instructions if you wish to submit your own Before & After photos. Surgeon Testimonial Leslie McClellan, M.D. My surgeon was Dr Leslie McLellan. My first impression of her was that she is a very intelligent and skillful person. As I have had appointments over time, my impressions have been proven accurate.rnrnHer office staff are very helpful and friendly. They are just a phone call away. They treat every question seriously. They do not seem to mind what time of day that you call. rnrnI have not encountered any negative things about Dr Mcclellan. I highly recommend her. rnrnI have had excellent after care. It is highly structured. I have been given excellent handouts to follow and at my visits we talk about my progress and any questions that I may have. My eating plan is on the very conservative side but I think that is good. I have not had any issues with dumping or vomiting.rnrnDr. McClellan made sure that I understood all the risks of this surgery as I was considered a high risk patient. But every thing went without a hitch. rnrnI would highly recommend her and her staff. Her bedside manner and surgical competence cannot be matched. Member Interests
Latest Surgery Support Comments
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 I have been considering surgery off and on for the last 5 years. Up until now I have either been chicken or just did not think I was a candidate. I finally have my nerve up and hope that I can be accepted for surgery. I am in the process of selecting a center/surgeon after doing lots of research to make the decision of going ahead with the surgery. I have been to one of the locations seminars and cant wait! I have fought the weight all my life and it has been a never ending battle. I am 56 years old, a single christian woman who has never been married. I rely on one of my aunts answers when asked why I am not married ... I"I never thought my last proposal would be the last!" and maybe it won't ... who knows. I am active in my church, our local animal rescue group and shelter, I am a foster parent to cats, and I am a volunteer for a local project that supports our troops in Iraq. Last Christmas we sent 13,000 homemade, stuffed stockings overseas in a little over 2 months! In the last 2 months we have completely equipped a recreation center plus have sent goodies for every holiday since Christmas for one medical unit we started corresponding with after they got stockings. My cats number 2 of mine, 2 foster cats plus a feral mama cat and her last baby before I had her fixed, who adopted me last year. . I also cared for 3 of my nieces cats after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans where she lives. They stayed 3 months until she moved back home. Its a good thing I like cats! I am employed in a call center. Before that, I worked professionally as an educator for 33 years in two different positions but both positions were eliminated due to loss of funding. I have a masters degree in counseling and a bachelors in home economics. I have basically done family life education and youth education in my career. I am retired from a previous job that eliminated my position due to funding cuts. I do work on Saturdays teaching a class for people that have been turned over to the District Attorney for prosecution of writing bad checks. I really enjoy teaching it and the folks are relieved to take a class instead of going to jail so it is a win/win situation for everyone. I have 2 sisters, 3 nieces, 1 nephew and 3 great nieces and a great nephew. One of my great nieces has Down syndrome and is the light of our lives. The great nieces range in age of 1-6 years of age. I love to work in the yard. My dad was a horticulturist as was my grandfather and I think it is in the genes. It is starting to get warm and I am itching to get outside. I am looking forward to a thinner me with less health issues. Right now I have severe arthritis in my knees and hips, have diabetes, am starting to have issues with congestive heart failure, and I have sleep apnea. I have had multiple blood clots in the lungs which I thought would rule surgery out but found out that is not the case. I welcome hearing from all of you. Well thats it for now. April 26, 2006 Well, I have picked my surgeon and have been to my first visit with her, the nutritionist, nurse and physical therapist. I have chosen Mercy Health Center in Harvard IL. The surgeon is Dr. Leslie McClellan . I've scheduled my appointments with the cardiologist and the psychologist. As soon as the psychologist appointment is finished the BIG hurdle of insurance approval begins.
My Story I cannot believe that I am now 3 months post op. It took me two years to get to this point. After the initial consult and seminar, I got my preapprovals, psych evaluations and hit a brick wall. I got a new job and new I could not take time off from work for a year. Meanwhile the weight kept piling on until I got to a 55.5 BMI. So I dragged my heels for a while. Then I found out my insurance required a 6 month supervised diet. OK started that with my doctor and got to month 6 only to discover he had not kept good enough records every month so had to start all over again! Finally got my 6 month diet done. Then I herniated 2 discs in my neck and took 3 months FMLA leave. So much for time off for WLS surgery. I waited a few months and then submitted my papers for approval. I had to get another round of cardiac clearance, a clearance from my pulmonologist and then they discovered that I was 4 units short of blood! This almost delayed my surgery. So after 2 eight hour days of getting blood and many talks with my surgeon's office I finally got the "go" approval two days before my surgery was scheduled. I had already been doing my liquid diet and was so psyched I did not want to cancel at that point. I was so psyched for this surgery. I was like a kid at Christmas. I could not sleep the night before surgery. I got to the hospital April 7 to check in and when they weighed me I found out I lost 40 pounds on my preop diet! I had to get on the scales twice to believe that one! I had surgery on Monday. It lasted only 2 hours. 1 hour preparation and 1 hour for the actual surgery. When I woke up in recovery I could not believe the pain! Finally it subsided after they loaded me with pain meds, wrapped me in a binder and gave me a pillow to hug. I was up and walking later that day. My neck was killing me and I wondered how they had me positioned during surgery. It was only a few days later that I discovered the more I walked the less my neck hurt that I realize the gas had settled in my neck and was causing it to hurt! I left the hospital on the morning of the third day. I went to my sisters house. She only lives 30 minutes from my surgeon where I live 1 1/2 hours away. I stayed there a few days. One of my great nieces really pulled my heart strings when I arrived at my sister's house. When I sat down, she came and covered me with her favorite blankie! She is 4 years old. Maggie also loved helping me eat my jello. I had found 1 ounce containers and my sister had made jello in them. Maggie had 4 containers to every 1 I struggled to get down. My sister had a hard time keeping jello made! I came home 6 days after surgery. I was so glad to be home. I could not wait to sleep in my own bed! It was good to see my babies (cats). But I did not realize just how much it hurt to bend over and cleaning litter boxes was a huge challenge! So was getting food bowls filled and placing them on the floor. A chair in the kitchen has become my best friend. I have done extremely well since surgery. Only one minor complication. My largest incision got a seroma (fluid pocket) under it 5 days after surgery. That incision leaked for 6 weeks before it closed up. Such a nusciance. So far I have not dumped. My surgeon is really strict so I think that is part of it. I am still on pretty bland foods ... cottage cheese, yogurt, soyburgers, shrimp, mushed veggies, soup, beans, canned fruits, deli meats and sf popsicles which I cannot live without. I have been really good and not tested the waters. So far so good. |
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I get frustrated over the stalls. I wish they would not hang on so long but the scales do eventually move again. 
Four months out. I cant believe it. It has all gone so wonderful. It is so hard to believe that this is really happening. I highly recommend this surgery to anyone considering this surgery. I wish I had done it earlier. Life is so much better. I cannot believe the difference. I move easier, breathe easier, do not fear the scales, do not feel weighed downed, have more energy and look forward to each day. 
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