Hello fellow nurses...

I am a pretty new member of this wonderful website. It helped me make up my mind once and for all to have the surgery. This is the third time contemplating it. I am a hemodialysis nurse at a local hospital near me, and see the effects obesity has had on my patients. I certainly do not want to end up like one of them. Being overweight often = diabetes and hypertension....the two leading causes of renal failure. So many of my patients have gangrenous toes and feet....BKAs, AKAs...Can't picture myself dancing without feet or legs. A big "lucky for me" is, my brother is also a nurse. He works in the ER and supports me 100%. I changed back to my old PCP Friday cuz my current PCP and his insurance coordinator have not been very aggressive in getting my approval. My old PCP and ins. coordinator already got me an approval for a consult with a surgeon in 2002. I switched from her due to the system she was affiliated with. It's further away from my home than my current PCP's affiliation, which is where I work. But I figure, the best thing for me right now is to have a PCP who knows how to work the system and get me my approval. Anyway....I'm babbling on here....I am sorta surprised there are not more postings on this message board. Anyway...wish me luck with my approval.

Hi, Mary. I'm an RN is southern Calif. Most of my career has been spent in MCH (Maternal Child Health). I've been a nurse for so long (33 yrs) that we used to just call it "maternity." Eventually I went into administration which was THE PITS. Since 1996 I've been teaching nursing, which is heaven sent. I do both theory and didactic, so I still hang out in hospitals 3 days a week. Having this surgery had been in the back of my mind since 1999 and I guided my husband's selection of insurance so that if I decided to have wls I could do so. I had Kaiser and I thought that they didn't do wls. As it turns out, they do provide the surgery. But I didn't decide to have it till last Aug. My pcp was great but the process still takes a while. Then the surgical group is so popular/busy that there are delays all along the way. My surgery will be in just a few days--Feb 6 in San Diego. Yes, there aren't as many nurses who post here as I expected. Part of it may have to do with the attitude of "you should have known better than to get this way." So I think there is some hesitancy to come forward. Well, we're here now, so we have to just deal with it. Good luck to you as you progress towards surgery.

Just a hello, and best wishes. I have been visiting this site for a while and never looked at the nurse messageboard! This is great! I have had my consult Jan 30, waiting for insurance approval. You are so right, I KNOW my future and want to change it! I was fat going through nursing school and bigger now. I am still working, but tired. Good luck on your approval! Pam

Hi Pam, I was big going through nursing school as well, and also bigger now. I'm late for work every day, I hate waking up in the morning. I'm tired too and over the past month my knees have really been hurting me (in addition to my constant back pain). Kinda hard to be an effective nurse when it's difficult bending and then standing back up again. And transferring patients from stretchers to the bed and back to the stretcher again (I do inpatient dialysis and most of our patients are not walkie talkies). Unfortunately, the bariatric clinic at the hospital in which I want to have my surgery won't even speak to me until my referral for the consultation AND the surgery is approved. Since I switched back to my old PCP I am just biding my time until my appointment with her (Feb 13th). I have no doubt that she will manage to get it approved for me, but in the meantime I'm having so much knee pain it's bringing me down. I've noticed lately that I think there's even pain in my hips when I climb the stairs. Needless to say....this only makes me more determined and unwilling to take NO for an answer from my insurance company. Where are you from and where was your consult? How did it go? Thanks for your support. Mary

Hi I'm Denise from Iowa, I had wls 8 weeks ago & I feel wonderful. I'm down 47lbs & for the 1st time in years & was'nt afraid my belly was going to get in the way of our OB's sterile field. I was'nt aware I had toes. I spend alot of my time on the Iowa message board just because this one is so empty most of the time. Talk to you all later, time to go to bed, Denise

Hi Mary..I am a fellow nurse with knee problems too. I have had once knee surgery and am facing another. Because of my weight I have developed osteonecrosis of my knee. Psych is my specailty but I am currently working as a school nurse. No lifting thank goodness but the getting up and down from my desk 100 times a day is really stressing my knees to the max. I'm still waiting for an appointment with my surgeon. I hate how long this process takes. Debbie....Peekskill New York