2/22/08 It's been a long long time! Almost 5 years since my original Open-RNY with Dr. Slotman. The first 18 months were wonderful, my life had greatly improved, co-morbidities dissipated, lost a good amount of weight. At my heaviest, I was 576, I saw 340 in 2004-5 and am now back up to 423. I am and have been severely disappointed for quite some time, as a matter of fact, I avoided this site. I am scared to death of gaining more weight and winding up right back to where I started. In 2006 I researched a possible revision with a DR. in NYC who was mostly concerned with recruiting new candidates for the endoscopic revision studies they were doing at the time. Believe it of not, I was excluded from this study because I was TOO HEAVY. That was a huge blow to me and pretty much ended my search for a revision at that time. Fast forward to the present, I'm 423, with about an 80 pound regain following my original RNY surgery and actively pursuing a revision to BPD/DS with Dr. David Greenbaum in Willingboro, NJ. I wish I had met this surgeon 6 years ago. I'm fully confident in his abilities and will do whatever I need to to try and get a new found lease on my life. I would love to meet people who have done this, either locally with Dr. Greenbaum or nationally. I've done alot of reading, but would love to hear everyone's pros and cons with revision to the DS. :)


6/26/03 3 weeks post op!!! Went to Dr's office today! Down 47 pounds in 3 weeks! It's amazing!! I can feel the difference already! I'm so happy. I have had minimal pain, minimal leaking from my incision, I am truly blessed!

5/7/03 Today I had a follow up appointment with the Cardiologists, who treated me in the hospital, to get my consent for surgery from them officially. I was in my car on the way there, when my cell phone rang, it was Shirley! I WAS APPROVED! First try with my new insurance! (Thank you god!)I got my clearance from my cardiologist, and then spent the rest of the day pinching myself and calling and trying to get other loose ends tied up. OMG, 4 weeks! 28 days!672 hours til the day I have been waiting for for so long! Today was a GOOD day :o)

5/5/03I have been away from this site for awhile, first let me thank the people who were thoughtful enough to post their well wishes to me when my first date came and went. Unfortunately, I did not get the procedure in October due to insurance complications. I am the poster child for the frustrations and depression one suffers, after decided to take this huge step and then having every obstacle in your path keeping you from getting it! But the one thing you can't give up on is HOPE! Where there is a will, there is a way... In August of 2002, I suffered a back injury at work, which my weight has doone nothing but aggravate the situation, so my quality of daily life has been drastically reduced. Of course being out of work, I have gained weight, I was 454 at my initial consult with Dr Slotman, and just recently was admitted into the hospital for 4 days with Congestive Heart Failure, due to my Sleep Apnea, weighing in at 576 pounds! I cried my eyes out! Good news is, that most of that weight gain was fluid based, thus the CHF, so 3 weeks out from my hospital stay I am 53 pounds lighter! Another blessing from the hospital stay, is that they checked anything and everything on me, even discovering that I was Diabetic, and also giving me meds for a slighlty slow thyroid. Hey, I'd rather know than not know! So now a year after seeing Dr Slotman initially, I'm taking a bunch of pills and am sooooooooo ready for this surgery! I feel like I have been doing time in my body, trapped, unable to do the things I want to do or used to be capable of doing. EVERYTHING is a chore now, from the simplest tasks of walking to the car, to even bathing and toileting! It's probably the biggest mental challenge I have ever had to battle in my life! So, I have a new date, JUNE 4th, 2003, I'm ready to start my NEW LIFE on a road to WELLNESS! A path where I can help others instead of always needing the help, a path where I don't have to strategically master out in my mind... where will I sit, how will I fit, will I be a burden to others, a path where I can share my life experiences and hopefully educate and help others save their lives too! So here I sit with fingers, toes and limbs crossed as I await a reply from my new insurance provider, any and all support would be greatly appreciated! I promise to be a little more timely in my updates! Much love and well wishes to my brothers and sisters involved in their own journeys!

About Me
Pine Hill, NJ
Location
65.8
BMI
Surgery
06/09/2008
Surgery Date
Feb 25, 2002
Member Since

Before & After
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Friends 32

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