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on November 25, 2008 12:55 pm
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Surgeon Testimonial Andrew P. Kramer, D.O.,FACOS Dr Kramer is now located in Kingsport, TN. He is very knowledgeable and well educated in Bariatric Surgery. He is very kind and is a good listener. He simplifies the process so you can understand exactly what each phase will entail. His staff is amazing! They are very supportive and friendly. There is a very good aftercare program to help you have a safe and speedy recovery as well as help you succeed. All of the risks were clearly outlined and explained. I would rate Dr Kramer and his staff the highest possible rating. I couldn't ask for a better team to help me achieve my weight loss goals! Latest Surgery Support Comments
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Kimberly11's Blog
November 20, 2008 ~*~ 1 Year Surgiversary ~*~ on November 20, 2008 1:43 pm I cannot believe that it has already been one year since I had my band surgery. Where did the time go? Oh yeah, I have been living my new life!
2 comments | Click here to leave a comment.This year has been nothing short of fantastic! Not only have I gotten smaller, but I have gained the confidence so anything is possible. I feel like I can do anything! My attitude has completely changed...for the better. I am so thankful I had this surgery. I feel like the rest of my life is a blank canvas that I can paint anyway I want to using the colors I have created this past year. What a feeling!!! It is incredible!!! I LOVE MY BAND!!!! Now for the stats. --------------------------- Tops/shirts: Last year I was wearing a 4x or a 5x, now I am wearing a misses XL and sometimes a Large!! Pants/Jeans: Last year I was wearing a tight 24w or a 26w, now I am wearing a loose misses 16 or a tight 14. Weight: Ugh. LOL Last year I started out at 307 pounds.  And today my scale decided to mess with me. It gave me two different weights...why is this a big deal? Well, I am really wanting to get past a certain weight and I did see it!!!  It was beautiful.....then, like an idiot, I got back on the scale...it did not show the same thing. I know, what did it show? I'm getting to it. LOL I actually got to see 199.6!!!!  Woooohooo!!! Then....when I got back on the stupid thing, it decided to show 200.2 . So I am not going to claim onderland officially today....but tomorrow....we will see what happens.I am still going with the 199.6 for my weight since I usually go with the first thing I see, so that makes my loss for the year 107.4 pounds!!!  I can't wait to see what this next year will be like!! Thanks to all of my friends for getting me through this year! I couldn't have made it without all of you!! I hope you will hang in there with me as we start the second year!!! Love you my friends!!  ~Kimberly BTW, here are some pictures... 307+ pounds:  Day before surgery:  Now, 107 pounds lost: 
November 4, 2008 on November 4, 2008 2:43 pm I forgot to update about my Dr appt concerning my gall bladder. Not really anything new. I had my appt on Oct 24. I told him about the type of pain I have and where and when it occurs. He said that he needed me to have a HIDA scan before he would consider removing my gall bladder. I had my HIDA scan yesterday, so I was radioactive for a day...woohoo...NOT! If it is my gall bladder (which I really don't see how it can be anything else), I am going to try and hold off having it out until the first of the year. I said try. I am really tired of this pain and would like it to go away, but with the holidays and the concert I am going to at the end of the month, and the fact that I don't want to meet my insurance deductible at the end of the year, I really want to wait if I can. I have a pretty high pain tolerance...but this is getting old very fast!! I can't eat anything it seems like. The only thing that seems to do okay is soup....I am so freakin' tired of soup I could SCREAM!!!!! Anyway...that's it for now. I am just waiting to see what the Dr says about my test and I will go from there. It better not mess my with concert!!! LOL
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October 12, 2008 OMG!!!! on October 12, 2008 7:55 am This is the best picture I have EVER posted !!!! I can not tell you how proud this makes me!!!!
Be the first to leave a comment. I now know I can do anything!!!! I am so thankful!!!
October 9, 2008
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on October 9, 2008 1:57 pm Well, it finally happened....my gall bladder won.
Be the first to leave a comment. I knew it would eventually, but I really didn't think it would happen this soon. I made the call today to start the ball rolling on getting it removed. I don't see the doctor for 2 weeks...ugh!!!  I hope I don't have too many more attacks between then and now. I have had several attacks lately and they keep getting more and more painful and they last four to five HOURS!! Yes, I said hours!!!  So far if I only eat soup with crackers I am okay. The problem with this is I am not getting in my protein like I should and the sodium is about to kill me!! I am so swollen...my poor ankles!! LOL All well, this is temporary and will be a memory soon enough. I will update when I have a surgery date. My Story    Background: I've been overweight all my life (ever since I can remember). I don't know how much I currently weigh--I don't look when I go to the doctor and the nurse knows not to tell me. (For now anyway)! I do know that when the doctor went to show me my BMI on her chart that it wasn't on there!! (It was off the chart, so she pointed beside the chart on the wall and said you are here somewhere). Lovely! (I love sarcasim btw!!!). I have been researching WLS for about 2 years +. I have never approved of the RNY for me. I just get a really bad vibe from it. When I found out about the Lapband I immediately had a good feeling about it. Of course I thought it was too good to be true that someone had actually invented something that made so much sense!!! August 1, 2007 11:30am I thought today was going to be the be the beginning of my weight loss journey, boy was I wrong!!!!  I finally got up the courage to make that first call to make a consult with a bariatric surgeon. The nicest woman answered the phone!! Great news, so I thought. She told me that I needed to call a different number to schedule an appt with the doctor at his other office located at the Hospital. Okay, no problem. So I called the other number she gave me. I told the woman that answered the phone that I wanted to schedule a consultation with the doctor. She rudely asked if I had been to a class yet. I said no because I don't know what all I need to do--the reason I was calling, duh!!! She then asked about a referral from my PCP. I do not have one and was told by others that I did not have to have one since I will have to pay everything myself. Once the woman heard that I did not have a referral she would not talk to me any longer!!!!! I am soooo upset right now!!!! I do not live extremely close to the this surgeon and I don't know anything about the area. At this point, I couldn't find the hospital if I tried!!! I needed some information about the area and when and where the classes are, etc. I have heard absolutely wonderful things about this Doctor and really want to use him, but his staff apparently does not share the same concern for ppl as he does!!! I am just so upset right now!!!! I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but come on!!!! A road block on the first day!!!! This Doctor just moved his practice from 30 minutes from where I live to almost 2 hours away. (Should have mentioned that earlier!!!) Sorry!! I am at such a loss right now. The doctor I have been seeing I just recently started going to (about 3 months ago). They will not give me a referral. The doctor I was going to before would give me a referral, but I have not been to him in about a year and a half. He said then that he thought I should have RNY, to which I said NO!!! I told him about Lapband then, but he said that he didn't like it and just wanted the best for me. Now what???  Sorry to go on and on!!!! I am really hoping that one day I will be able to look back on this post and laugh!!! August 1, 2007 2:00pm It's me again!! What a day! After I calmed down and had lunch I decided to call back. This time I decided not to mention seeing the Dr. I was just going to ask about the seminars. I was ready to let that mean woman have it and let her know that I didn't appreciate how I was treated and wouldn't you know it, I got a recording because they were on another call. Grrrrr! So I left a message stating that I needed information on their WLS seminars with my name and number. After just a few minutes a woman called me back--different than the one I spoke with this morning. I did let her know about my earlier experience though!! She was very nice and willing to help. She gave me the information for the seminars and who I needed to call to Register. She also told me that the office requires a referral, just standard policy. That is going to be fun!!! I'm not so sure that my PCP will give me the referral. Anyway, before ending our conversation, she gave me a ballpark figure for the surgery------$25,000!!!!! OMG!!!! Next I called about the WLS seminar. The most wonderful person answered the phone!!!! Her name is Carla. She was so helpful and nice!!! She said that they have the seminars every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month. And, they had an opening for tomorrow night!!!! This is good news and bad news for me. The good news is that things are starting to happen and move towards my new life, yay!!!! The bad news...the seminar is in Kingsport, TN (2 hours away). I know absolutely nothing about driving to Kingsport!!!! At least I don't have long to dwell on it! LOL The good news (other good news) is that the seminar is being held in a mall!!!!! Shopping!!!!! Well maybe not, esp since I just found out that the surgery is going to be $25,000!!!!! LOL Now I just wish my head would quit hurting from crying this morning!! What a ride this is going to be!!!! Wheeee!!!   August 3, 2007  I went to the seminar in Kingsport, TN last night. I am glad to say that I made it there and back safely without getting lost!! The meeting was called "Exploring WLS". This class is required before you can see the DR. Even though I knew pretty much everything they went over from my research, it confirmed that the Lapband is what I need!!!! That is both good and bad. Even though I will have to pay out of pocket for everything, I still have a lot of "hoops" to jump through to just get to the surgery. I was told again that the cost would be $25,000 and that this amount does not include everything!!!! This does not include the gallbladder screen that must be preformed, not to mention that if the screen shows probs you must have the gallbladder removed before you can have WLS!!!! This does not include the pysch evaluation and this does not include the appt with the dietition (sp?) Not to mention that there are about 5 different classes you must attend before you can have surgery. (I would have to drive about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs one way to each meeting. That's a lot of gas and time. I know it's worth it in the long run, but I do have two children. It's not easy to make arrangements to have my husband get off from work early that often to watch them. Since the rest of my family is not extremly close by I don't have anyone to watch them. Yesterday was just a weird day. For some reason I was scared to death about making the trip to Kingsport. Not about the seminar, just getting there and getting back home. While I was gone, there was a freak storm at home that caused between 3 and 4 inches of rain to fall in little over 1 hour!!!!!! The town was majorly flooded very quickly!!! If I had not been out of town I would have been right in the middle of the worst of it with my two boys!!!!! I never go out of town and the one time I do this happens--what are the odds?!!!! I am a little discouraged at this point. I really don't see anyway that we can get a loan that we can afford in order for me to have this surgery. My husband says we will find a way, but it is not fair to him or our boys. If we were able to get the loan, there would pretty much be no Christmas, birthdays, etc. All of the money would be tied up. I know I am worth it, but I think the guilt of causing such a financial strain on my family would jeopordize (sp?) my weight loss to a point. I have severe PMS at the moment, so I know that is effecting my mood and judgment right now. I just don't see anyway to do this without causing problems. I think my only option is going to be waiting a year until my youngest son is in Kindergarten and me getting a job while the boys are in school. Currently I stay at home so I can raise my boys. I guess that's if for today. Maybe after this PMS goes away I can think clearer. Right now I just feel like I have been kicked in the stomach by the great obesity monster that has held me prisoner for so long. One day I will escape! Hopefully next time I won't be so down. This will just make other days look better, right?! Decided to finally start blogging!!! This continues there! 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