tammy J.
I am a 44 yr old female who has struggled with my wt my whole life. I weighed 180 lbs when I became pregnant with my first baby. I gained an additional 25-30 lbs during the pregnancy and just never lost the wt. After 2 more children I cont'd to gain wt until I had gotten up to 268 where I pretty much maintained. Though at one time I did gain on up to around 300 lbs but lost back to the 260's.
2 yrs ago I went on nutrisystem and lost down to 225, but I was hungry all the time and I was becoming tired of the food. Once I went off the program I gained back up to 262 lbs.
For several yrs I've been thinking about gastric bypass but I never really had the money and my husband wasn't agreeable to this drastic measure due to horror stories he had heard.
Luckily I had started working with an agency that carried blue cross/blue shield insurance and I had met several different people that had the surgery.
Finally, I talked my husband into going to an initial consult with Dr. Wade Barker in Dallas, Tx. After the consult my husband was sold on the idea.
What impressed him the most was there was a lady in the office who had succeeded on the wt loss and was showing before pics. Also, because of my being diabetic, hypertensive and just miserable, Dr Barker explained about the possibility of me being completely taken off my meds.
So, due to my insurance I had to be under Dr's care for 180 days before being eligible for surgery. Well, my 180 days was up on 12-09-08. I was warned of possible denial the first time my request was sent to the insurance company. I was thinking possitive and on 1-12-09 my request was granted and my surgery date was set for 1-30-09.
I can't tell you how great the office personnell in Dr. Barker's office was. They are all very encouraging and Dr. Barker and Dr. Thompson the GI physician in the office were awesome.
On 1-30-09 I had my surgery at Doctor's hospital in Dallas. I was placed on 2s the Surgery Suite unit. It was really nice. Looks like a hotel, private rooms, the staff are so attentive and caring. My husband, Darrell, stayed by my side the whole time, I can't say enough good things about this guy, he has been so supportive.
I'm home now, dealing with some pain especially gas pains but I've got my eyes on a goal and am determined to achieve that goal... I will be healthy, active, feel good and look good.
