[birdies]

I'm giving WLS some serious thought. After the first of the year, I think my ins. will cover it, since I appear (in my mind) to meet their criteria.

I'm curious if anyone here is from the general Atlanta area, and what you might have to say about recommendations or warnings about bariatric surgeons. It kind of scares me that most bariatric surgeons are not specialists in this surgery in particular, but are general surgeons, even though they are in a Center of Excellence.


I have a general question for anyone -- I already have reflux. If I had WLS would I have the feeling of indigestion all the time? That doesn't sound like a fun way to spend the rest of your life.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[melanie6]

I live in So Cal so I cant help ya with the references, but I cant give you a little insight on the reflux. I USED to have it too, in fact one of the main reason on why I decided to go with RNY instead of a different WLS was because with RNY the part of the stomach that causes the reflux is removed, essentially healing you from reflux...that was according to my surgeon. I asked if reflux can be developed in the future, he said it was possible, but the chances were slim to none.

With the gastric sleeve, reflux may get worse and in some rare cases can cause ulcers. This was the reason I chose NOT to go with the sleeve.

I have no info about reflux and the lap band.

[birdies]

Wow, that's helpful information. I've been a little scared to even think about RnY because of the drastic re-routing. I was leaning toward the sleeve because I've heard it takes away the part of your stomach that makes you hungry. I've lived 60 years feeling hungry all that time. If I do the surgery, I sure don't want to be stuck feeling hungry but not really able to eat. Grrrrr. Hard to figure out all the possibilities. Thanks for responding.

[sara5214]

Hey and welcome ! I live in South Georgia and I had my surgery at Emory in Atlanta by Dr.S.Scott Davis, everyone was great. His staff,the staff at Emory clinic, and the hospital. The surgery was done at Emory Midtown, (old Crawford long) but I had to go to the Emory clinic for all my pre op. Visits. With my insurance I had to have six months of dr. Supervised weigh loss . Good luck with your decision! And again welcome to the group!

[mlh1119]

Hi! I live in Rome, Georgia and Dr. Ryland Scott was my surgeon. He is WONDERFUL! He does the surgery here in Rome at Floyd Medical Center which is a center of excellence for bariatric surgery. You stay on a special floor at the hospital following the operation and it is more like a hotel than a hospital room! Dr. Scott is a general surgeon but does specialize in bariatric surgery.

[birdies]

How cool that both of you have the same surgeon and felt good about him. If you are agreeable, I'd sure like to ask some more questions. Like, I know the first couple months are tough, but knowing what you know now, would you do it again? Do you feel like you have indigestion all the time? From what I read, it seems like the first two months can be hell. How hard was it for you all to learn how much and what to eat? Do you cheat? Pros --- Cons? Thanks in advance for your advice.

[dulcinea3232]

I used to live in Marietta and then Acworth. I went to Dr. Titus Duncan he was really good but the follow up was horrible. I had a few complications (a small leak) but after that corrected itself everything went fine. I started having gallbladder issues and it took 3 months of ER visits and visits to his office and they finally agreed to take it out the day before Thanksgiving in 2004. The surgery was outpatient and the problem was they never told me to take time off from work. They called me on 12/18 and told me I was cleared to go back to work and I said what are you talking about you never told me to take the time off!! I was so mad as you can imagine. No wonder I had been feeling lousy and so tired and just sick feeling. It took me over 6 months to get over it all and start feeling better.

What I am trying to say with this long tale is that you really need to find someplace who has a followup program that works for you. I was so far from their office that the follow up was not feasible for me.

Good luck to you on your journey!

[codeysmama]

Hi Birdies! I just had my surgery 4/10, I went through a 8 month pre op 6 due to insureance requirements, and the way i had to schedule a couple visits detained it and then waiting for insurance to okay my surgery then the 2 week scheduled wait.

I live in Auburn, GA. So, I had a choice between a few places. Either way, a long haul. Except maybe lawrenceville. I ended up going to Dr. Alex Nguyen. He is very detailed , particular about your choices for your health of corse, the best recovery. He also does the laproscopic Ru-N-Y gastric bypass robotically. Which leaves less problems in most cases. As he explained surgeons arms get tired sometimes and with the robot, they can maintain less fatigue in the arms. He was awesome and thorough. He is in Gainesville, Ga Right in front of the hospital his office is. His assistant co-ordinater, Tracey, had the sleeve done. She looks fabulous and feels great, has way too much energy for me to keep up with at my appt. lol The hospital is very nice. It's been redone and additioned about 3yrs ago. Very nice. It was a 45min. drive for me each way for ALL appts. and pre reqs. And the group meetings too. But, they give you a list of group meetings to in other locations if you want to go to any.

I am diabetic, I was 251lbs when I started and now am 219 1 week post op. I'm adjusting slowly. But, that is the phase I am in I guess.

Good luck with your journey, and stay in touch. I don't know if all doctors call the post surgery product or not, but, my stomache is now a "tool", for weight loss. Hope I make good progress, as well as you and everyone else PRE and POST operation.

[Tricia Igo]

as Melanie mentioned the RNY can actually help to eliminate reflux. I'm in the NE, so I cannot answer questions about Atlanta - but it looks like you've gotten some great advice.

[NowaDiver]

Originally Posted by birdies

How hard was it for you all to learn how much and what to eat? Do you cheat?

Not from Atlanta, but you've gotten quite a few local recommendations.

This particular question of yours concerns me. Everyone slips in their eating habits - it's understandable and it's unfortunate that it happens. But if you are thinking of it as "cheating" and are already thinking about "cheating" in terms of what you're going to be eating post-op, then I would have to say that you're not ready for surgery.

In order to have surgery and be successful at losing all your excess weight permanantly, you HAVE to CHANGE YOUR LIFE. WLS is not some kind of magic pill. You CANNOT eat what you want whenever you want - you cannot "cheat" regularly and expect to lose the weight.

After WLS, you will have to watch EVERY BITE that goes into your mouth - even more so than you ever did to become obese or whenever you dieted pre-surgery. You HAVE to become VERY aware of what you eat, because post-op, you're eating to nourish your body and to provide it all the essential nutrients it needs - not just for fun. You WILL NOT be able to eat sweets - most people dump from eating them and even if you're one of the lucky few like me who don't, eating sweets, drinking alcohol and eating a lot of any kind of simple carbs will be the one thing you can do to guarantee you will NOT lose the weight and/or you will NOT keep it off.

You will never be "on a diet" again - however, you will have to watch your diet every single day for the rest of your life.

As far as feeling like you have reflux - I'm not sure where you seem to have gotten that idea. I can count the number of times I've had reflux since my surgery 18 years ago on one hand. And that's only because I ate my dinner right before going to bed. RNY doesn't cause gastric reflux.

I don't want to be super discouraging to you, but from your posts, I think you need to do a WHOOOLE lot more research about different surgeries and in particular what is required about post-op life before you start talking specifically about any surgeons. There are plenty of articles out there, but just know that you will be irreversibly changing your lifestyle - you will have to exercise regularly and eat healthy foods for the rest of your life - WLS isn't magic...

Betsy