Time to introduce myself...

I started this journey in January of this year. I had to start with the 6 month diet with my PCP since I live in the wonderful world of Cigna. I was very worried they would not approve me but the only problem I had was I did not have a nutritional evaluation with my packet sent in. My packet was sent in on a Wednesday but my appointment with the nutritionist was the following Monday. Cigna says NO because no Nut Evaluation included. After they received the evaluation I was approved two days later. I admit I was worried but something told me this would all work out. I have a date of Oct 31 at Lexington Medical Center. Dr Strickland is the surgeon performing the RNY Lap. This is a life saver for me I have Diabetes,high cholestrol,high blood pressure, and now found out I have sleep apnea also. If anyone has any experiences with this hospital and/or surgeon I would love to hear from you. Also I have been glued to this board during the last few months and appreciate being able to read others experiences and suggestions. I figured it was time to join in and say Thanks!!

Welcome!!!!!Welcome!!!!!! Congrats on your upcoming surgery!!!!! I don't know anything about your doc or hospital, but I know someone will be able to help you out!!! I just wanted to say hello and welcome!!!! Melissa

Welcome! I had my surgery at Lexington, and it was a great experience (weird as that sounds!). The staff was awesome, the nurses and assistants were great, and it went perfectly. I had Dr. Givens, who is Dr. Strickland's partner, but I know them both and you couldn't be in better hands. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me -- I'm a medical librarian. Are you coming to the support group meetings, the first Monday of the month? I won't be there for October's meeting, but I usually attend. For the record, I had diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol also, but when my regular doctor got my most recent test results she nearly cried she was so happy -- EVERYTHING is normal now, and I haven't been on any medication since my surgery. Good luck, and congratulations on your surgery date! Lisa

Congrats on your date and welcome!! Both Dr Givens and Dr Strickland performed my surgery....almost 3 years ago this month. They were in another practice at the time though so not sure if they still operate together anymore now that they have their own practice. I do all of my follow-up with Dr Givens. LMC main hospital...from what I recall, all was fine with my inpatient stay. Most of my recent experiences have been with the outpatient center at Irmo (fabulous!). Probably a good idea to have someone there with you though who can be available to assist more readily than the nurses since they support the entire surgery floor. Get you some comfy PJ's for those walks around the surgery floor. It's kinda funny thinking back to my laps around the floor in my tweety bird PJ's (yep, still have them for size comparison).......what must other people have been thinking??

Dr. Givens and Dr. Strickland do still perform the surgeries together still in their new practice. So you get two surgeons working on you in the OR!

Hey M , I am Kelly, Dr. Strickland is my surgeon too. He is WONDERFUL!!! He takes his time with his paitents and always answers any questions that I might have. I couldn't have asked for better care from him or the nursing staff at LMC. LMC is a GREAT hospital. (I am a little biased here) I work at the hospital. The nursing staff is top notch and will do everything possible to make your stay comfortable. We just opened a new wing of the hopital with state of the art OR's and surgery rooms for your recovery. You will have plenty of room for friends and family to visit and even a built in bed for someone to stay with you if you want them to. I personally love the staff at Riverside, Dr. Stickland and LMC...I think you have made the best choice possible. --Kelly