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Joy P. Joliet, IL, USA Post Op - BMI: 40.4 Surgery Type: RNY Member ID: P1084929706 Surgeon: Constantine Frantzides, MD, PHD, FACS |
Click here for Joy's surgery support page Click here for the 08/2004 Reunion Page Click here to print Joy's cards (You can print your own cards, and if you're good at it, you can help print cards for your friends as well!) |
 |   I consulted with Dr. Constantine Frantzides on July 30th and I am scheduled for surgery on August 31st! I have been trying to get this surgery for going on two years now with no luck because I have Medicaid insurance, but my physician referred me to Dr. Frantzides and I was so lucky! He does not take Medicaid for the surgery but Medicaid will pay for all the preop tests and the hospitalization and sedation. I have to pay out of pocket for the cost of his services, which is surprisingly not that much! Because Medicaid is not paying for the surgery I do not have to get any Preauthorizations! I am so excited for the day to come!   August 3, 2004 My surgery date is in exactly 4 weeks. I haven't had any preop tests yet. I go tomorrow for some of them. I actually have had three of the tests in the last month but am having a hard time getting my faxed request for release of those records to go through. I have sent the fax several times yesterday and early this morning. This morning my fax said "successfully sent" but the clinic says they haven't received it. I am going to have to go in to the clinic tomorrow morning. I would have went today but Hubby has the car. I am so nervous about getting everything done before my surgery. It seems so overwhelming, but I trust in GOD that I will get it done! Well, more updates later-- I hope I get an angel soon! August 4, 2004 I now have an angel! She is a beautiful person who has had surgery with the same surgeon as me! Her name is Kathy. Today I went to Silver Cross Hospital and had my blood work done. After reading the message boards yesterday about the Blood Gas test and getting all worked up thinking it would hurt, I was pleasantly suprised, it didn't hurt any worse than any other blood draw! Next week I go to my PCP for a current pyhsical and also go to the hospital for my gallbladder ultrasound. I still have to schedule my endoscopy (spelling?). After today only 26 more days till surgery! Yippee!!! August 21, 2004 Well, just ten more days to go! I am starting to become nervous. I have to get a few more preop tests done on Monday and then I will be all ready. Well, except for the dreaded Golytely. I do not look forward to that! Things are rough on the homefront and it is so hard for me to concentrate on my surgery when I have so many different stresses at home. (too many to even go into right now) But I am trying to, I really am. I am really looking forward to being able to get a job soon. I have not worked in several years due to obesity. Actually I just started working from home about a month ago, but it is not going so well. I take calls for Home Shopping Network and I only get paid for actual time on a call. So if I am scheduled to work for 10 hours and only get 1 hour worth of calls, that is all I get paid for...even though I sat in front of the computer for that whole time and had to have my baby watched...but anyway. Things will get better I know they will. I am talking to another obesity help member who is having surgery on the same day as me. That is kind of cool. I want to stay in touch with her and talk about our experiences. I am starting to wonder about the mortality rate for this surgery. How do I find out my surgeons mortality rate? (I guess I should ask that on Q&A. August 24, 2004 Well, I am having surgery in exactly 7 days! I went to Evanston hospital yesterday and completed my tests. Also, I have made a couple of friends on this site who are having surgery on the same day as me! Biscuit (Melissa) and Jo. D. I am glad to have friends who are having surgery the same day as me so we can talk to each other about our experiences. One thing, I did not like that stress test I had to take yesterday. I thought I was going to pass out. Especially after I got off and had to go to the exam table -- the cardiologist had to catch me! I have to start the liquid diet in a few days and I am not looking forward to that. But I am looking forward to losing weight! September 11, 2004 Hi Everybody! Sorry I haven't updated my profile in a while. I had my surgery on August 31st. Dr. Frantzides is the greatest! I was in the hospital 2 days and had pretty bad pain for about a week but no complications. I am enjoying my food with so far no problems. I had clear liquids until ten days out. Now I have soft and semi solid foods. Creamy soups are my favorite and also cheese strips by Kraft called Rip-ums. They are .9 oz strips of american cheese that you can rip long strips off of that are very thin. I highly recommend them. I went to my 10 day consult yesterday and I lost 15 lbs! I am so happy with my loss so far. I go back for my one month check up on October 1st. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX00000000000000000000000XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Sept 14, 2004 Okay everybody! I love this site so much. It gives me such inspiration. Now, on to my fabulous news of the day: I lost another 10.5 lbs! Now I have lost 25.5 lbs in 2 weeks. WooHooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am eating mostly soups and my protein shakes, but I also have a little cheese and scrambled eggs. Also potted meat, and today I had Hormel Turkey beanless chili, 99% FF. It was very good, and it has a lot of protein in it too. (12g for a half serving) I am going thru some really rough times in the home right now, but I will survive! November 11, 2004 Sorry it has been so long since the last update. I am doing pretty good. I have now lost 61 lbs! All in all I am very happy with the surgery. I just am having a really hard time with the required protein. I cannot stand the shakes I have had so far, which is limited because I don't have a lot of money and they are expensive! I get frustrated a lot too because I will feel really hungry but then can only eat 3 or 4 bites of food. I miss food so much...but oh well, I don't miss the pounds. I have so much energy compared to before. Before surgery I was like an invalid. I basically layed around the house and depended on others to clean and take care of my baby. Now I get up everyday and clean the house. I hardly ever ask my 13 year old daughter, Taylor, to do these things anymore. I think before surgery part of the problem was being depressed as well as not having the energy. Well, I will try to update sooner next time. Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update Future Update
 You're Betty Grable!  8-21-04If you'd like your profile spruced up write to one of the HTML Volunteer’s here:  
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Hospital Reviews Member Interests: Click here to see interests of other ObesityHelp members. Surgeon Info: Surgeon: Constantine Frantzides, MD, PHD, FACS 10/01/04 I would like to tell you about how wonderful Dr. Frantzides is. I had searched for someone to do my surgery for 2 years and found they would only perform the surgery open. My BMI was 63 and the majority of surgeons who perform gastric bypass will only do it open with patients with a BMI that high. I was so lucky to find Dr. Frantzides, he was a Godsend to me. If you are super morbidly obese and you are told that the surgery cannot be performed laproscopically, don't believe it! Dr. Frantzides is a leader in his field. He teaches other doctors to do the surgery and is actually responsible for inventing a few of the tools that are used to perform laproscopic surgery. A vast majority of surgeons will insist that people with very high BMI's and large deposits of fat tissue cannot be operated on successfully laproscopically. This is completely untrue. Dr. Frantzides can do this surgery and his patients have less trauma and heal faster. I highly recommend him to anyone seeking this surgery laproscopically. He is great. 7/31/04 My first impression of Dr. Frantzides was he was on the top of his game. His office staff were very pleasant. He has a really knowledgeable nurse named Karen Thomas who was a patient herself, having lost 240 lbs. There are support groups too. Dr. Frantzides told me about the surgery and said he was going to give me my life back. I like the Dr. very much and even more as I read other patient testimonials. Insurer Info: ILLINOIS PUBLIC AID, MEDICAID |
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