kraney

Hello everyone, I'm sure this information is in the 'Considering Dr K' thread, but it's so huge, I don't even know where to begin! I hope to be banded by Dr K in the spring. I've contacted their office, but haven't done anything official yet, as they said I wouldn't need to schedule until the end of the year. Anyways, I have logistical questions: 1) Will I need a car while I'm out there for surgery? The best rental I can find for 3 days is about $200. I don't know how close the hotels are to the office/surgery center (are they two different places?). 2) I live about 7 1/2 hours away. I'm considering driving, but I don't know if I'll be comfortable enough to sit that long for the drive home. What is your advice on that? It'd be cheaper than flying (2 plane tickets would be about $260, gas would be about $100), but if someone thinks that I'd be foolish to expect to be able to handle a day long car ride, please tell me. 3) If we do fly, and we don't need a car, do we take a cab or a shuttle from the airport? Where do I look for that? 4) Is there any sort of shopping/restaurants close to the hotels? I'm sure my husband will want to get out for a bit, and I need to know if there is anything within walking distance for him. 5) Regarding fills, follow up appts, etc, is it reasonable for me to expect to be able to fly out there, have the appt, and fly back the same day? My husband works about 5 minutes from the Omaha airport, so I'm (maybe ignorantly) thinking that I can ride with him to work, take the 1 1/2 hour flight to Denver, have the appt, and then get back to Omaha by evening. And if that works, how do I get myself from the airport to the office without spending $60 on a car rental? That's all I can think for now, but I'm sure I'll come up with something else. Thank you!

Hey all, I've been out and about on this thread for a while, posting here and there. I just wanted to let everyone know that my surgery is now less than 3 weeks away. I start my 2 weeks of no carbs next Thursday, the 25th, and have surgery on March 11th. I'm getting nervous, but I'm so excited to get this done! I'm glad that I have Dr K's patients to assure me that he's a great doctor. Thank you everyone!

Hey all, I'm being banded on March 11th. I start by pre-op diet in about a week. For my pre-op diet, I need to have little to no carbs. In in dieting days, I only did Weight Watchers, never Atkins, so I'm not well versed in low-carb recipes. I know I need to avoid bread and Pasta and rice and potatoes and such, but how do I cook a meal without carbs? Can anyone give me ideas of what I can make for dinner? I know I can google it, I just thought I'd give it a shot here. Reply here, or visit my blog in my signature!

I'm about 5 weeks pre-band. My blog is in my signature!

I haven't been banded quite yet, my date is March 11th! My blog is in my signature!

I thought I'd seen on here a place to post your blog for others to find. Now that I've started one, I can't seem to find the place to post it. Help!

Thanks Robin, that's exactly what I was looking for. I just didn't know how to search for it. Thank you!

Hi everyone, I just have to butt in with a quick question: For those out-of-towners, how do you travel from the airport to the doctor's office on the days of your fills? A cab price is around $125 (one way, yikes!), a car rental is around $100 (per day, that's the best I could find on Expedia) and a shuttle is around $25 (one way). But I can only find shuttles to near by hotels, not the office. How does this all work?

Thanks for all of your help, I really appreciate any knowledge that can be passed on. My hubby and I were talking about traveling, and we thought about this. Tell me if you think it's ridiculous . . . I'm thinking of us both driving out there, doing the surgery, and then me flying home, while he drives the car home. I'm obviously trying to save money (this is all self pay), but I don't want an 8 hour car ride if you say it's going to be miserable. But can I be trusted for 3 or 4 hours by myself in an airport/plane? I don't know how out of it I'll be. Also, I have plenty of family that could pick me up from the airport, I don't need to worry about my hubby being several hours behind me. Thoughts?

Which would you do after surgery? I live in Nebraska, so I can fly to Denver from Omaha for about 1 1/2 hours, or I can drive for about 8. My surgery is scheduled for March 11th, so I might have weather to consider, too. I've had some people tell me to drive, because then I can stop and such whenever I want. I've had others tell me to fly, because a bumpy 8 hour ride would be miserable. What should I do?

So Dr McBride in Omaha is who you see? Is she trained to fill you to the point of liquids coming back up? How much do you pay her? Hmm . . .sounds like the Lincoln office isn't all it's cracked up to be - unless of course you've had your surgery there. That's unfortunate about your first fill in Lincoln. How long was it before they took half back out? Lovely that they make you feel bad about it. I've never had heartburn issues, even when I was pregnant. Honestly (I may be ignorant here, so help me if I am), I'm hoping to avoid too many major issues. I think I'm fairly young for this (29), don't have a HUGE BMI (39), and I have zero medical issues, other than being over weight. My BP, heart rate, cholesterol etc are all within a normal range. I take no meds. HOWEVER, I have diabetes, heart issues, and cancers related to weight all in my immediate family. So I'm trying to get on it before I really have to pay for being overweight.

Hmm . . . see, some other folks have recommended driving over flying, as they said I can get up and move when ever I want, take my time, etc, and not be stuck in a plane with no options, even though it is only a short flight. Especially because I'd still have an hour + drive to get home. I guess to each his own. I've been planning on driving. But I guess there's nothing stopping me from changing my mind. I had been planning on going back to Denver for aftercare, but I had never looked at anyone in Omaha for that. I visited Dr Taducci (sp?) at St E's in Lincoln, before I had found Dr K and had been planning on going to Mexico. To put it nicely, he didn't seem so fond of providing me aftercare when he didn't do the initial surgery. He basically told me he would do it, but he wasn't going to be happy about it. That obviously turned me off from aftercare there. How many fills have you needed since the surgery? Is everything going well for you? Hope you're doing well with this blizzard!

Really? How is everything? Do you have any vital information for me? I just scheduled my surgery a few days ago. March 11th is my day!

Oh man, if you haven't seen St E's since the 80's, it'll be quite the change. Maybe you'll have time to see it when you're back for your reunion. Surely you'll be going by the stadium, won't you? It's had quite a few changes done, too. I think it now holds over 80K, which is probably quite a bit more since you were there. Regarding the Bryan/LGH merger, I guess I'm not sure if it's better or not. My mom spent significant time at Bryan in the early 90's, so my family did too, but I really haven't seen either of the Bryan/LGH hospitals since then. I purposely avoided having my kids there because I spent so much time there with my mom as a kid. I wanted my kids' births to be at a happy place! I would love to meet next year! I'm hoping to schedule my surgery in February or March (our income tax refund is our main source of funds for this), so we'll see what shape I'm in! Thanks for all your help!!

Well, Omaha is northeast of Lincoln. I'm 20 miles north, so I still have about 20 miles east to get to Omaha, or at least the very west edge. The Omaha airport is downtown, though, so that's about another 40 minute drive from the west edge of town for me. My husband works in downtown Omaha, and his commute is about an hour and 15 minutes, and he's a short drive from the airport. However, the interstate is a direct route from Omaha to Lincoln, so from the airport to Lincoln would be a little over an hour that way. St E's is beautiful. Not sure if you've seen it recently, but it's had tons of remodeling done. I had both of my kids there, and it's like a vacation going to the hospital. Also, if you haven't been here for a while, Lincoln General and Bryan hospitals combined. They still have the same buildings, but they're now BryanLGH East and BryanLGH West. Both of those buildings have had extensive remodeling, too. Lincoln really is a lovely town, we just wanted our kids in a small school. My husband and I were in the same high school class, and we had 22 kids, so we didn't want our girls in a huge school. I would obviously be pleased if I could get good restriction form the beginning. I'm not starting at a very high BMI (40, I guess it's all relative), but hopefully I won't have to travel too much. Speaking of flying for cheap, my sis-in-law has been kidding about getting married in Vegas and saving all the money that she's spending on a huge wedding in downtown Lincoln. I was looking at flights yesterday, and for some strange reason, little ole' Grand Island, NE has direct flights to Vegas for $39 one way! Isn't that crazy? Hotels in Vegas are SO cheap, and I don't gamble, so my hubby and I could take a trip to Vegas for a week for about $350. Ridiculous! Talk to you later! Kim

Party! I live 20 miles north of Lincoln in Wahoo! It's such a small world! Lincoln was the "big city" that I went to as a kid for shopping. We lived there for a few years out of college, and then moved to Wahoo when we started having kids. It's a lovely town! Yes, I've talked to Dr Hung's office, and they were willing to do aftercare if I had the surgery with a different doc. They were pretty pricey - I think around $350-$400, depending on if you need flouro, but they were willing to do it. I think they are quite experienced. I know that the ER at St. Elizabeth's knows to call one of those doctors if you need emergency care. If Dr K's office was anywhere farther than Denver, I'd probably go to Lincoln for after care. But I think I can fly to Denver for cheaper than that, plus I'd have the benefit of seeing my original surgeon. Thanks for the invite over to the Considering Dr K thread. I'll post my questions there from now on! Thanks so much! Kim

Thanks for the info, Party. I'm sure flying in and back out the same day would make for a really long day, but I would hope I could handle it by my later fills, perhaps when I'm more used to the process. Plus, I'm sure my flight from Omaha is shorter than Deb's from Oregon! I live 20 miles away from these guys: Weight Loss Surgery Lincoln Nebraska NE - Surgical Associates Bariatrics Division - Gastric Bypass Lap Band They're pretty experienced, and have been designated as a Bariatric Center of Excellence. I've been to their seminar and been seen as a patient. I like the office and the docs, but they charged close to $18K. My insurance won't cover the surgery, (we have an exclusion, appeals won't help), so I'm on my own. Hence my choosing of Dr K. I've read a good number of pages in the considering Dr K thread, and I can tell there is a pretty tight-knit group. I just didn't want to butt into a conversation. Thank you so much! Kim

Thanks for all of your help, Robin. Hopefully by next spring, I won't have to pick up the kids, but at this point, they still need help getting on the potty, climbing up into bed, getting into the car, etc. I suppose if I was super conscience of it, they could probably make it through a day with out being picked up, but I'd run into an issue somewhere, probably with the car. No, I won't be driving. My hubby will be with me the entire time. I like your idea of staying the night and taking a mini vacation for myself when I do my fills. I do live by two major cities that I could use to get an unfill, but I'd pay out the nose to have it done, so an $80 hotel room would probably make more sense. I'm glad to know that your car ride was ok. That makes me feel better!

Yeah, I know they will send me stuff, but I thought I would do all that when I scheduled, and I don't want to schedule until the end of the year, as I won't have the money for surgery until mid to late spring. I should probably just call the office and touch base again. I haven't talked with them since April, I think. Thanks for your advice.

Hi Jill, I thought of another questions, thanks for helping me out! What are Dr K's pre- and post-op diet requirements? I've see some folks on here say their docs require a month of liquids post-op, and others only a few days. I'm curious as to Dr K's requirements. Thanks! Kim

Indeed, you have! I'm sure I'll come up with more questions, but for now we're going to plan on driving. Yes, my husband is coming with me, and he plans to take a week off after to stay home with me and the kiddos (currently 2 and 3). Do you think a week is long enough for him to stay with me? I'm a stay at home mom, so after he goes to work, I'm on my own.

Jill- Thank you SO much for your information!!! I was beginning to think that no one would answer my questions! Here's the first question that comes to mind: So if you were really uncomfortable on the 6 hour drive home, would it have been better to take a 1 1/2 hour flight? I guess the way that I'm seeing it is that if I'm in my own car, I can stop every 1/2 an hour, get up, stretch, use the restroom, recline my seat, etc. I'd only be able to do that on a plane to a limited extent. BUT, it'd probably take me two days to get home, whereas maybe I could just suck it up for the short flight to Omaha? I know I'll have more questions, but I wanted to get this one off before I lost track of it. Thank you!!! Also, because I'm curious . . .do you have a success story?? Thank you again!! Kim

Hello, Anyone with BCBS of NE with a low BMI? I am just getting started with the process, my BMI is around 35-36. As far as I'm aware, I have no co-morbities, but I plan to get a full work up from my PCP after the holidays. I do know that my cholestorol and blood pressure has creeped up the last two years, as I've had to complete a health assessment through my husband's employer to qualify for insurance. However, I am on no medications for such issues. Has anyone had experience with BCBS of NE with similar circumstances? Were you approved or denied? Frankly, I fully expect to be denied, so I'm trying to prepare for that. Thank you in advance.

Hello, Anyone with BCBS of NE with a low BMI? I am just getting started with the process, my BMI is around 35-36. As far as I'm aware, I have no co-morbities, but I plan to get a full work up from my PCP after the holidays. I do know that my cholestorol and blood pressure has creeped up the last two years, as I've had to complete a health assessment through my husband's employer to qualify for insurance. However, I am on no medications for such issues. Has anyone had experience with BCBS of NE with similar circumstances? Were you approved or denied? Frankly, I fully expect to be denied, so I'm trying to prepare for that. Thank you in advance.