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Surgeon TestimonialDavid F. Greenbaum M.D.I saw Dr Greenbaum on Oct 16th, 2008 and was very impressed with his professional manner and his personality. He explained everything to me about the procedure he was going to do and drew pictures for me as well. I liked that he did not \"talk down\" to me as some doctors tend to do. He made sure I knew the risks involved as well. I am so glad I chose him to be my surgeon and and so blessed that he will be able to help me. I have every confidence that putting myself in his hands is the right thing for me. |
Yearly Update on February 24, 2010 1:19 pm
I was sposed to have the DS last year, Jan 26th. It was to be a revision from a mini gastric loop. Only thing is, when they got in there, there was so much scar tissue I lost my spleen, part of my pancreas and ended up with a sleeve. His nurse said it was the worst case of scar tissue she had ever seen! (My Dr was in NJ- Dr David Greenbaum) Anyhow, he couldn't do the bottom half. Two days later I had to be opened back up due to a stricture. 3 Days later, I went down for my swallow test, there was a leak. I ended up going home on tube feeding for a couple of months. Ended up with pleurisy from my diaphragm swollen, rubbing up against my my lung. That happened 3 times, and had to be drained with a huge needle each time. Ok, so I recover from that. Get to the point where I can eat again and 2 months later they found that I had a fistula and stomach fluid was draining into my diaphragm, causing an abcess. Back on the tube feeding and a drain in my side which caused terrible pain. That brings us up to August. I went to another hospital in NJ to have the fistula glued-with a 50 % rate of success. They glued from the drain hole and also down my throat to my sleeve. Drain out, fingers crossed. I'm on TPN for nutrition. (Through a picc line in my arm), IV antibiotics and diflucan daily. Cut to September MAJOR PAIN arises and I have a yeast infection in my picc line, back to Jersey we go, and in the hospital for 5 days, the first couple I am shaking like a leaf from the fever. Old picc line out, new one in the other arm, and drain back in my side because the abcess is not healing.
That stays in until October at which point I get a clean bill of health. Yay! At this point I have lost 85 lbs. I get my appetite back and and am allowed to finally try eating again. I gained about 10-12 lbs back.
One last problem occurred. I have this hard knot-like ball of scar tissue around a stitch that Dr G says is nothing to worry about. 2 weeks ago it starts protruding out and comes to a head. You can guess what happens next-YUCK! I'm going tomorrow for a CT Scan to confirm that this is another fistula. (A fistual is like a tunnel) I go to Dr G.'s next week for my 1 year check up and we will decide what to do.
I want to stress, though- all this stuff that happened was just dumb luck. Dr G is the best and took awesome care of me through all of it. What happened wasn't anything he did wrong. Stuff just kept happening.
Would I do it again? HELL YEAH! Now that I am all better, I am so happy, and thinner than I have been since high school. I do go to Overeaters Anonymous though because I am a food addict and do not want to end up back where I was.
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Post op on February 13, 2009 11:33 am
I posted thie earlier on the DS board the other day but I wanted to add it here..
Post Date: 2/11/09 10:51 am
Today is the first day I have even felt like coming on the computer-it's been a long, hard road since the 26th. It's getting better everyday though.
FIRST- I want to thank everyone on here for helping me through all of this. From well wishes on the board to visiting me in the hospital, calls and even my new fluffy hat (lol) I fell apart more than once and I would never have made it without the support you have given. I can not find the words to express my gratitude-you all hold a special place in my heart.
Most of you already know that I didn't get my full DS.( thanks to everybody updating the boards) You probably know more than I do at this point..lol..Everything has been pretty much a blurr. What I did get was the sleeve. When Dr G. got in there, it was a mess-adhesions everywhere. Everything was pretty much glued together. He removed my gallbladder, and also had to remove my spleen and a part of my pancreas.The 30th he went back in because I had a stricture. The 2nd he took out my NG tube and I went for my swallow test-there was/is a leak.. I got out of the hospital on the 7th and am still on IV antibiotics and am tube feeding.
The pain is much more tolerable now, and since I finally poopied-I feel even better. Next friday I go back to get another swallow test, then over to Dr G's. Hopefully things will be more healed and the leak will be gone. If that's the case then he's going to start me on some liquids. It'll be a while before things are a little closer to norm, but it's so great that everyday when I wake up, I feel better-even if just a little.
So now I have more research to do, since I have the sleeve instead, what supps and stuff. I'll email vitalady for her schedule for that (If she has one) Hope I can still call the DS Board home though...
Bascially today finds me with a lot of hope-it's not the surgery I wanted, but at least the problems I had with my first surgery are gone. All things considered, I guess I'm right where I am supposed to be.
Love and Light to All!
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Beat on January 21, 2009 4:17 pm
I went for my pre admission testing today in NJ and I am wiped out. It's almost 3 hrs each way.
I had to fast for the labs, and when I was almost there Dr G.'s office called and asked if I could come there first instead of after. I said sure, but by the time I got done there, a killer headache was coming on from the lack of caffeine. Combine that with the huge amount of people at the hospital waiting for their own labs and such, it was taking it's toll. Luckily they drew my labs first and I had excedrine on deck waiting to be popped in my mouth. It took a good 2 hours and more excedrine to go away, but thankfully it didn't turn into a migraine.
Soooo....that being said, I got everything taken care of and it's a go for monday. I don't know if I am just wiped out or what but I feel kind of down. I think part of it is those old tapes playing in the back of my mind- "Your going to fail this too you know", "Your not strong enough to do it right", "You'll be sorry" are among the many. It's stuff I'm sure everyone goes through, but writing it down usually helps me. None of it will change my mind though, it's just old baggage I have to turn over, sometimes more than once or twice.
Hopefully all will go well and I'll get my full DS, but of course we'll just have to wait and see. God willing..
At any rate, I refuse to wallow in self pity or unproductive thinking, so I'm off! Chilling on the couch under my nice sweatshirt blanket the my DH bought me for our 21st anniversary.
Tally Ho!
Love and Light to all...~
Robin
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Down to Single Digits on January 17, 2009 12:01 pm
Well, I only have 9 days until my DS! I'm so excited and of course still nervous. It doesn't seem real to me.
I'm keeping as busy as I can, and I've been on the phone as much as possible to keep my mind off of complication possibilities-that's a joke though coz it's all I talk about. But it makes me feel better so I'm not stopping.
Yes, I am still STAAAAAAAAAAAARVING!! But really it IS just in my head and mouth, not in my belly. I made it this far though, so I know I can do it.
Everone on OH still continues to be of great support and I also have my support network from NA. I have such gratitude for everything and everyone. I know I'll be having buyers remorse after the surgery, but the good news is "This too shall pass". I do worry that people are getting sick of hearing me talk about this so much, but if they don't tell me, then it's on them if they suffer through it..LOL..
Anyhow, this is a short post, I wish i had more to write coz I don't know what to do with myself, but I'll close for now and update when I can.
Love and Light to All!
Robin
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Day 5-getting better on January 15, 2009 8:18 am
Today is the 5th day of my 2 week protein prep and it's getting better. The first 3 days were awful-between carb/sugar withdrawl and emotions rising to the surface that I usually stuff over. I never really realized just how many times a day I reach for food until this fast. I have had to put food down more times than I can count-but I am not blowing my chance to have surgery and to get the full DS. If something happens that causes me to NOT get the full DS, it will NOT be because of something I did or did not do. It was touch and go a couple of days ago when I tried to wrestle Grace's (my dog) "Beggin Strips" away from her, but that's all fixed now, DH hid them from me. (LOL-J/K!)
Time is passing way too slowly though, it seems like it should be next week already and it's only thursday. I know keeping busy is a great help, but I'm kinda stuck..it's hard to explain...it's like I know there's so much to do, what with cleaning and packing-but I am just glued to my seat waiting for it to be "time". Maybe I am just lazy...lol..Sitting here waiting to be magically propelled into the day of Jan 26th simply by chanting "I think I can..I think I can..."...LOL!
I have to talk about my fears-they are valid and I believe everyone goes through them. I've stopped worrying about MOST of the things that are beyond my control, except for a few flare-ups. I worry about not getting the full DS. Our back-up plan is the Distal RNY-which is way better than the way I am now, but it's still not the DS. I worry about complications-not so much for myself, but more so about being a burdeon on other people. Not to mention the "I told you so"s. I'm not "too" worried about dying on the table-there are "worse" things for me, but again-I don't want to hurt anyone in any way. I've written letters to my family just in case. I don't want to leave anything unsaid. I've heard the same from a lot of people who are getting ready for their surgeries-it just makes good sense in a lot of ways. All in all though, my faith is carrying me through my worries and giving me peace about things.
I can not say enough about the support I have been given on here. There are so many people who have given in such unselfish ways. Every question I have had has been answered with kindness and concern. Every fear I have expressed has been met with reassurance and everytime I just needed to vent, people listened and told me what I needed to hear, not just what I wanted to hear. The support on OH is amazing. It's been a long 6 months since I began this journey, and yet-it is just beginning. I have great dreams for my future-and now I have been given the hope that they are possible.
Thank You everyone! You have no idea how much you all mean to me!
In Love and Light To All,
Robin
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My Story
Well, I figured it was time to write a few lines about what brought me to this place..so here goes:)
I wasn't always overweight. I was curvey, but not too heavy for my height. I never had a big problem with keeping weight off either. That is until I went into the NAVY. During bootcamp I learned to eat-BIG TIME. It didn't matter at that time because they were running us ragged so nothing stayed on with weight. After bootcamp I married my first husband and went to my first duty station at a desk job. Same appetite-no exercise-AT ALL. I partied and ate and cried and ate some more. (My marriage was pretty bad so I ate to stuff the pain) After having my 1st son, more stuffing, more pain, infidelity of my husband, more eating..well you get the picture. That was to be the cycle for a long time. I did remarry a wonderful man, but I always delt with everything by eating in excess so the lifestyle was already in motion. With every child-more weight....it never stopped. I ended up being almost 300 lbs.
On December 13, 1999 I had what I thought was an RNY-turned out to be a mini-gastric-loop, but at any rate I lost around 80 lbs and stopped...then the pounds just started creeping back on again slowly until I'd gained a lot of it back. Feeling like I'd failed the surgery, ( I thought "Who does that, fails a surgery??) I tried to numb the pain with anything I could, food money, drugs-you name it My weight was not the only source of my pain, but it was/is a huge part.. I had this big problem with self-loathing and the weight didn't help.
Eventually, I hit what I call my "Holy Shit Moment". (Some people call it rock bottom) and ended up in the fellowship of NA-which saved my life. My problem was not just the drugs, but a defect in the way I thought. I could have used anything (and did) and gotten the same results. (NA focuses on the problem of addiction, not the particular substance, so it covered everything) I began to work the program, slowly and methodically, following direction, sharing my pain and learning to live through it. I started to realize that as bad as pain felt, it wasn't going to be there forever. As long as I could hold on, pray and lean on my network of support I could get through it, and that maybe next time it wouldn't be as hard. I also learned that I didn't have to be perfect about it, and just had to do it. (Imagine that huh?) Anyways, enough about that.
I really thought that there was nothing I could do about the failed WLS. I thought I had my one chance and that was it. But a friend of mine who had her 1st surgery last year said "Hey, maybe you could get a revision?" I never thought of that. I thought it was crazy to think about going through it again and I knew my DH would lose his mind-which he did,, but more on that later. She gave me her surgeon's number and I called. I had an appt and some tests and he said he could help me-he would do a revision to a true RNY.
It's was almost like the next day when I started checking out the DS board-just out of curiosity, wondering what it was. The more I read the more I felt it was for me, so I checked out surgeons of the DS website and after looking at his credentials decided on DR Greenbaum. I emailed back and forth with his coodinator Tina, she mailed me some test orders and set up a phone consult with DR G. I finally got to talk to him for a while about the DS and he kept circling back to the RNY. Feeling defeated, I got off the phone, thinking I was destined to have the RNY-(which I was certain I would fail at also) I called my original surgeon and decided to go back to him. I stayed away from the boards on OH for almost three weeks-I was so depressed. I don't know why, but for some reason I decided to peek in on the DS board and see what was up. There was a post about a woman whose dctr was trying to talk her out of the DS. Someome told her that they thought her dctr might be testing her committment to having the DS. (I think they had experience with that particular dctr) Anyhow, a lightbulb went off in my mind-maybe that's what was going on with DR G.!!! Well, long story shot, I kept my appt with him, determined to be firm in my choice and got my wish granted-he will do the DS if at all possible, if he can't I will get a distal RNY!!!-(small pouch, less absorbtion.)
Well, that pretty much brings me up to date-more to follow:)
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