cindywebb1667

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                                            March 14, 2007

I went to Dr. Wallace's office and brought a photo copy of my file from my PCP - I had had a complete physical and wanted to make sure the surgeon's office had everything they could possibly need.  My file was already very thick from my attempt to do Lap Band several years before.

I was weighed (310 lbs ) OUCH!  and given statistics on BMI - % body fat etc.  They took a picture of me - YUCK! and I met with Dr. Wallace.

I like Dr. Wallace - he talks fast and seems to be in a hurry sometimes but then sometimes he just sits down, crosses his long legs and acts like he has all the time in the world.

By this time I knew I definitely wanted to do the surgery so the only question I really had was if Dr. Wallace could do the surgery laproscopically.  I DID NOT want another  abdominal surgery with its risks of infection.  My mom went through hell with an infection after surgery and I had an infection after my hysterectomy.  The last thing I was prepared to do was have my belly cut open.  I'd rather be FAT !

Since my previous abdominal surgeries (2-c-secions - hysterectomy and herna)  were low in my abdomin, Dr Wallace didn't think there would be any scar tissue that would hinder a laproscopic surgery - gosh I hope it is laproscopic.  If I wake up with a huge incision I'm going to be really upset.  I'm considering tell them that if they can't do it laproscopically just don't do it.   Dr Wallace thought there was a 99% chance it would be laproscopic.  Lets hope so!

I left his office thinking they would begin work on the insurance approval process (which eventually did happen).  Anyway, I started making and keeping appointments for all the tests I thought they'd want.

                                             February/early March 2007

Somewhere in February - early March  I attended a bariatric seminar given by Dr. Wallace.  I had been to one of these once before but later found out my insurance didn't cover the surgery so I never had the surgery.

By the end of the seminar I decided that my PCP was right - weight loss surgery was something I should probably do.  I signed up that night requesting the first available appointment with Dr. Wallace.

I don't know exactly when I decided that I wanted the LAP Band Bariatric Surgery.  I investigated it several years ago, but found out early in the process that my insurance didn't cover it.  I didn't pursue self-pay...I started another diet...and another.....and another....two years went by and I was 30 lbs heavier (yes heavier)

The company I worked for went bankrupt and I was forced to find another job.  I found one I liked (alot) and resigned myself to being fat.  In a last ditch attempt at weight loss - I started Jenny Craig in January 2006. By April 2006  I lost 20 pounds and maxed out my credit card buying the food so I quit.  I went back to my primary care physician who had been working with me on weight loss for almost four years and he said he couldn't do anything more for me and suggested I do the lap band procedure.

I worked at a desk job during the day and at a sewing machine at night making fabric  cases for diabetic children wearing insulin pumps.  I was so stressed learning a new job and starting a home based business that my eating habits were the last thing on my mind.  I worked and ate.

Somewhere in late 2006 as my weight passed 300 lbs I knew I needed to do something so I started looking into the Lap Band procedure.  On a whim I called my new employers  insurance company to see if lap band was covered and it was!  There was another girl in our office doing gastric bypass.  Based on the criteria the insurance company wanted I qualified immediately but it wasn't  till March of 2007 that I really started the process.

I went to a seminar given by one of the doctor's (Dr. Wallace) from the surgical practice that had done a chest biopsy on my son and hernia repair on myself.  At the end of the seminar I walked up to the appointment table and said I'd take next available appointment with Dr. Wallace.

I have been working with Dr. Mitchell Weisberg on weight loss for about 3 years.

Since I take an anti-panic attack medication, I cannot use any diet drugs that alter the brain (like appetite suppressants or 'diet' pills.  

We tried everything (including diabetes medicine - even though I do not have diabetes) in the hopes that I would find the combination that would help lose weight and keep it off!  Nothing worked.

Finallly Doc (as I affectionately call him) said, "Cindy, there is nothing more I can do for you.  The risk of your obesity to your health is greater than the danger of bariatric surgery"  He urged me to consider Lap Band Surgery (he is not a big supporter of gastric bypass).  I had considered lap band before and discounted gastric bypass because I did not want to undergo something that drastic and permanent.

I went home thinking, "yeah maybe I ought to consider it again"