Just curious if anyone out there that was effected by Dr. Bock's injury has had their surgery rescheduled with Dr. Au? My surgery is the 24th of Aug. 34 days to be exact! Whoo hoo!! Lori

I am going to email you.... Lori

I totally agree Carol. I have been saying this too. Why depend on 2 surgeons to do everyone???? I doesn't make sense. Group Health did ask surgeons to come forward and do this surgery and I guess Dr. Bock was the only one interested. This was of course several years ago. I think they need to re-evaluate the program and make some changes. But maybe that won't happen now that they are making it harder to be covered for this surgery. If you employer doesn't purchase the rider, you are screwed. Which is the case for those of us pushing to have this surgery before Sept. I just pray that Dr. Bock heals quickly and that he decides that maybe he shouldn't ride his bike anymore. Good luck to those of you in the waiting game. I hope they get you squared away and things go smoothly. Lori

Hi Lori, Ditto, Ditto. I just talked to a former patient and she said that when Dr. Bock broke his leg they sent some of the patients to Virginia Mason for surgery. I hope this doesn't affect Dr. Au's patients. Just hoping/guessing, but maybe Dr. Au can take over some of Dr. Bock's people. Who has been called? Mari

I'm doing really well, I think. I have been feeling weak a lot, but started drinking more water and with being 10 days out, I feel stronger now. I got my stitches out by Harriet today and found out I lost 12 lbs! She said a 1 lb per day loss is typical for the first month. I'm starting to get out more. Today was busy with the GHC appt., picking up my son at the airport, and then back to Kent for a campaign kickoff for Julia Patterson (KC council). I wanted to go mostly to thank Governor Gregoire and my local congressmen for reinstating the education initiatives and supporting the education system in WA. I got to talk to her for a bit! I figured I'd go say hi and leave. It turned out that the Governor spoke, then there was a dinner, then Patterson spoke. Boy, that dinner was a challenge...I thought about leaving, but ended up talking to people and checked out the meal, thinking maybe I could eat potatoes and gravy. It turned out that it was delicious Indian food. What I did was take some rice and ate it with yogurt and a couple of samples of yummy sauces. I ate little bites off the end of my spoon and made sure I really grinded up that rice before swallowing. The sauces were already pureed! Wow, real food, I did not not get sick! I'm sure glad I didn't vomit! I have a goal in mind. I am going to continue making contacts politically and then try to get the state to pass a law forcing insurance companies to cover bariatric surgery. They have that in some states. I'm not sure how far I can go, or how fast I can do anything, but it is a worthy goal! Am I insane? Drug/alcohol rehab money was ordered by the state to be in ALL insurance policies. Maybe WE can do it too! On another note, I hope you all got started with your nutritionist this week. Good luck! Mari