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Surgeon Testimonial Lawrence Dennen Dr. Dennen is great! He is very professional, yet friendly, and has a great sense of humor. You can tell he cares, and he believes in what he is doing. He is head of the bariatric dept. and I feel very comfortable with him as my surgeon. I honestly can say that I trust him with my life. If it were not for him, my cancer would not have been found as early as it was....he literally saved my life! He knows his stuff, and he lets you know he does, yet not in an arrogant way. He's an all around great guy, very patient oriented. Member Interests
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My Journey
Janel's Blog I Am A Cancer Survivor!!!!
As some of you know, my journey these past 2 years have for sure been eventful...here is a brief recap.... July '05: Approved for wls Sept. '05: My best friend, my mom, passes away Oct. '05: Dr. Dennen, My weight loss surgeon orders an ultrasound to look for gallstones, and cancer is found in one of my kidneys. Dec. '05: Kidney removal June. '06: Had weight loss surgery.....very successful, no complications, am now down 105 lbs!! Aug. '06: During a follow up CT, a swollen lymph node was found near original cancer site. It is decided that CT would be done every 3 months for the next year, to see if this is a recurrence of the cancer. Ok, so I had my last of the tri-monthly scans a couple weeks ago. Met with my dr. the day before Thanksgiving. The scan came back clear, and he said to me, "Janel I can never give you a 100% guarantee, but in my professional opinion, you are cancer free!" I tell you, I have never been so happy to hear words like that. For the past year, the fear of a recurrence has been hanging over me. He wants to do CT's every year until the 5 year mark, which is normal protocol. You know, there are a couple sayings that go, "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger," or "you can take whatever comes your way and become a bitter person, or a better person." They both sound so cliche, but as many of you know, when trials come your way, these sayings really ring true. When my mom passed away, I was so sad, but also thankful because we had such a great relationship, and the past 2 years, when we knew that she was going to be leaving us, were spent with such awesome memories. When my cancer hit a month after she was gone, I remember thinking, "why now...when mom is not here for me?" But, even as I wondered, I knew that the answer was that I was going to become stronger and learn to not just lean on my own strength and plans for my life, but to give all to God, and trust whatever plans he had for my life...whether good or bad. I can honestly say that I am happier now than I have ever been. Even this past year, when I had this worry about the whole cancer thing hanging over me, there has been joy. I am healthier (and thinner) than I've ever been, I changed careers and LOVE my new job, my niece got married, and I am having such a great time dating!!! I'm decorating my place for Christmas this week...it honestly takes me a few days because I have so much stuff...........my mom loved Christmas so much, my siblings and I inherited quite the Christmas collections! As I do this, I am so thankful for the best mom a girl could ask for, and for each and every day I have, what I gift we have, to live and be able to love. 1 Comment(s)
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I have not been to your profile since before my surgery. Your Dr Dennen and four other Kaiser surgeons watched my DS surgery at Dr Rabkins in San Francisco on 9/20/07! I had to fight Kaiser but, I won and got the DS I wanted. PM me and tell me how you have been doing. God Bless...Debbie.