Ken_P
Ken's Journey
Apr 10, 2008
In one sense i feel like i am crossing the finnish line (surgery) but i realize that the process is in 3 phases and this is only the first of those 3. The other two being the recovery and weight loss and then plastic's and lifetime maintainence of your new weight. But it takes such effort and a long time to get to and through the first stage it feels like a victory all in itself. This is something that i have wanted to do for several years. But either i didnt have insurance or if i had it, it didnt last long enough. Finally i have a stable job with good insurance that would permit me to pursue this. I started looking locally and there is on 1 doctor in my area doing this and when i finally had insurance the first time he stopped doing the surgeries for a time. When he started doing them again he tightened his guidlines and i no longer qualified for his program. At the time i was over 550+ and he stopped taking anyone over 500 so he was out. I had an apt with a Dr. Cole in Elmira and then i called to double check his requirements and he stopped at 400 lbs.
Everyone was pointing me to Rochester. I was referred to Dr. O'Malley and his process is that you attend a seminar first and if you return all the paperwork they require they will start you in the program for Nutritional counseling etc etc. Now i am a very proactive get it done now person which is hard when you have to wait a lot. I called his office in April 07 the next seminar opening was in June. I went and listened to him and sent back all my paperwork within 24hrs and my next contact was my first Nutrition session which was Sept. It is clearlt explained to you that Dr. O'malley has a ZERO tolerance rule for weight gain. If you come in for a weigh in and you have gained you'll either be shceduled for more counselings sessions to get you back to that weight OR you will be kicked out of the program. That alone keeps you focused on your goal!
Since i have to travel round trip 5-6 hrs for each visit there was no way in hell i wanted to risk having to add to my visits or spend all this time and get kicked out. I first had 3 months of visits with a dietician and weighed in at each visit then you meet with his staff for 3 more visits and 3 more weigh in's and the infamous psych exam. If you have completed all that they will then and only then schedule your face to face meeting with the surgeon. (side story...they pull reports from their computer weekly to see who has finnished all their requirements so they can call the patient and schedule the meeting... well they accidentally deleted a checkmark in some box on my file so that when the reports were ran my file sat dormant in the computer never getting pulled, when i called after 3weeks of waiting they discovered their error and rushed me right in). And now after 1 year i am scheduled to have my operation on April 25th.
I just went and had my pre-op paper work and tests done and it all looks like a go..... The cool thing also is that that have a deal with a really nice hotel and they get you a discounted price for the room and the hotel will shuttle you to and from the hospital. More to come !!!!!
Everyone was pointing me to Rochester. I was referred to Dr. O'Malley and his process is that you attend a seminar first and if you return all the paperwork they require they will start you in the program for Nutritional counseling etc etc. Now i am a very proactive get it done now person which is hard when you have to wait a lot. I called his office in April 07 the next seminar opening was in June. I went and listened to him and sent back all my paperwork within 24hrs and my next contact was my first Nutrition session which was Sept. It is clearlt explained to you that Dr. O'malley has a ZERO tolerance rule for weight gain. If you come in for a weigh in and you have gained you'll either be shceduled for more counselings sessions to get you back to that weight OR you will be kicked out of the program. That alone keeps you focused on your goal!
Since i have to travel round trip 5-6 hrs for each visit there was no way in hell i wanted to risk having to add to my visits or spend all this time and get kicked out. I first had 3 months of visits with a dietician and weighed in at each visit then you meet with his staff for 3 more visits and 3 more weigh in's and the infamous psych exam. If you have completed all that they will then and only then schedule your face to face meeting with the surgeon. (side story...they pull reports from their computer weekly to see who has finnished all their requirements so they can call the patient and schedule the meeting... well they accidentally deleted a checkmark in some box on my file so that when the reports were ran my file sat dormant in the computer never getting pulled, when i called after 3weeks of waiting they discovered their error and rushed me right in). And now after 1 year i am scheduled to have my operation on April 25th.
I just went and had my pre-op paper work and tests done and it all looks like a go..... The cool thing also is that that have a deal with a really nice hotel and they get you a discounted price for the room and the hotel will shuttle you to and from the hospital. More to come !!!!!
