Doctor Help!!

[VelvetKiss 0]

I thought I was all set with my choice of a Lap Band Dr and now I am at square one again. I was going to use Dr. Steven Tersigni in Coos Bay Oregon but I found out today that due to my High Weight which is 570lbs he requires you to lose 10% of your weight before he will do surgery. That is 57lbs and if I could lose that on my own then I wouldnt be having surgery. I am looking for a new Dr in either Oregon or California or the area who handles High Weight High BMI patients. I will be a self pay so not only do I want a good Dr but someone who is priced well also. That is what I liked about Dr. Tersigni he was a good surgeon and priced under $13,000 for the Lap Band. Any and all Help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tonya

[loopylou 0]

I'm in Australia Tonya, so sorry I cant help with any names, but I wanted to tell you not to give up and to wish you best with finding a new Doc.

[Victoriana 10]

Dear Velvet Kiss, I think the clinic I used is outatanding. I do know that the total charge is 18,500 as of today(I heard this in the office). Please review thier websight at www.thelapband.com for more of thier info, These 2 DR.s are proctors and This charge covers the first full year of follow up fills and unfills. The clinic has many staff workers there that hve been banded by Dr. Watkins and Dr.Montgomery and I think that speaks volumns about thier professionallism. We are just a little north of Oregon, Everett WA.

[Victoriana 10]

O by the way, there is a link on that website that directs you to the Today Show program that aired recently, very informative.

[vinesqueen 2]

Hey Velvet, the purpose of losing the weight is so that you have extra room inside for your surgeons to work. Mainly they want to shrink your liver down so there is less dagner to it.

I don't know anything about the surgeon that you have choosen to work with in OR, but my surgeon also banded my husband when he weighed 600 pounds. If you want to talk to someone in that office, the information is in my signature.

It isn't a test to see if you can lose weight. It's a personal safety thing for you. I'm sure that you can do it, I know it seems daunting, really I understand. A few weeks on the Optifast or what ever liquid diet will really go a long way to help.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE in this. We are here to offer support along the way. No, it isn't easy or even fair, but if things were fair, we wouldn't be in this place in the first part.

Like Capt'n Jack says, Strength and Courage!

[donali 57]

I'm sorry - I'm having a hard time buying the "personal safety" thing... If it's safe to operate on Tonya at 513 pounds, then anyone already weighing less than that should be good to go without losing the ARBITRARY 10%... I can't believe her liver would be THAT MUCH LESS FATTY after losing 57lbs than someone already starting out at 513 lbs, who would ALSO be required to lose 10% of their weight before surgery.

I honestly believe this is just some kind of power play, and yet another way to punish us for being fat and "unable to control ourselves" - the surgeon's way of "proving" that we are or are not ready to make the necessary changes.

SUCKS. I'd look for a surgeon that understood obesity better, personally...

JMHO...

[vinesqueen 2]

That is what I was told by our surgeons, the weight we first lose will come right off our livers, not our hips or anywhere else. Especially with a rapid loss technique, it comes right off the liver.

I can't say about the 10% body fat loss, I think my DH only had to lose something like that, but he was a super high risk patient, as are many of us. They wanted me to lose something similar, I think maybe only 10 but it might have been 20 pounds, I don't remember how much they wanted me to lose.

But I didn't lose the pounds as requested, I gained 10 instead. All my surgeon did was pat my hand, say that's okay, we'll get you fixed right up, and to not worry about it.

I really do not believe this request by my surgens' office is a power play. And in their case, it is a request, not a demand. As far as I know, they haven't turned anyone down because they couldn't lose the weight preband. And my clinic has done over 1,000 bands, and they proctor, so I believe that they know what they are doing.

I have heard that some surgeons use this as a power and control thing, but my experience has not been that.

[Guest ASPHALT ANGEL]

I agree with Vines on that the weight loss is to get the fat from your liver before surgery. I had to go on a diet before surgery and I lost 19 lbs in 2 weeks. It is really hard for the doctors to hold the liver out of the way so they can place the band on the upper stomach if you don't lose any weight.

[donali 57]

That is what I was told by our surgeons, the weight we first lose will come right off our livers, not our hips or anywhere else. Especially with a rapid loss technique, it comes right off the liver.

Okay, I hope that's true. But surely Tonya's liver isn't covered with 57 pounds of fat? However in your case, your doc didn't make it a requirement, and did your surgery anyway, even with an extra 10 pounds. There are a lot of surgeons out there making it a requirement, and then sticking to their guns. Even SAYING that the pre-surgical diet is to prove you're "serious" about losing weight.

The pre-surgery diet requirement would go over a lot better for me if the doc was very clear that it was ONLY to shrink the liver, and what would happen if I didn't/couldn't lose the weight he wanted.

I would also probably google search to see if I could find any collaboration of how a quick fat loss diet affects the liver, and how much fat is generally on a liver...

I'm not against being safer, but I am against jumping through needless hoops... We're already suffering. The docs should also be handing out prescription appetite suppressents for the time frame they expect us to drop the FAT. I do clarify that it's supposedly FAT they're concerned with, not WEIGHT in general.

Don't mean to be argumentative, but I do feel touchy on this subject (ya think?!?! lol).

xxoo

[vinesqueen 2]

Donali, honey, no worries. No Worries at all.

It occured to me that perhaps her current surgeon just isn't comfortable operating on someone as big as she is. I *know* how big she is, and I've never met her. I know many of her struggles, having lived with my DH who was 600 pounds when he was banded. Because she is Super Super Obese, she has extra physiolgical issues that need to be delt with.

I know that there are many surgeons out there who wouldn't touch her at the range she is in, and probaly rightfully so because of their skill level and experience with folks her size. It could very well be that they want her to lose so much weight because that will increase her survival chances.

Tonya, I'd like it if you could contact my surgeons because they have experience with people beyond simple Morbidly Obese. I worry about you.

[donali 57]

Vines, I think that is excellent advice. Tonya, you should certainly require that your surgeon be experienced in doing successful surgeries on higher BMIs.

Of course I had to go google stuff right away (LOL), and I found a very interesting link that didn't really have to do with what I was looking for in specific, but seems to have a lot of pertinent info on the liver's function in weight control:

http://www.liverdoctor.com/Section3/13_weightloss.asp

FWIW - I'll probably pore over the site more. I'm thinking a liver cleanse for me is definitely in order....

(((Vines))) xxoo

[donali 57]

Oh - reading further on that site:

http://www.liverdoctor.com/Section4/fattyliver.asp

Can you reverse a fatty liver?

Yes indeed you can and you will find inspiration in the testimonial from Dr Eanelli. Click here for his inspiring testimonial. Conventional or orthodox medicine has no specific therapy or drug treatment to reverse a fatty liver. Indeed many drugs such as cholesterol lowering drugs can exert toxic effects on the liver cells.

The article in the Journal Medicine Today encouraged a gradual reduction in weight which has been shown to improve liver function and reverse liver damage. However the authors warn against very rapid weight loss from fad diets or radical surgery which may have a negative impact upon the progression of liver injury. The good news is that gradual weight reduction , with as little as a 5 to 10% loss of initial body weight over 6 months is recommended. In general the treatments discussed in the Medicine Today article were somewhat uninspiring and I am pleased to tell you that in reality there is much that can be done to reverse the condition of fatty liver.

So, fatty liver can be reversed but this can take some time - years in some cases. If you are overweight & find it very difficult to lose the excess weight it is important to look at all the factors relevant to your present weight & state of health.

Again, FWIW. One site, one doc's opinion...

[VelvetKiss 0]

Thank you Vines and Donali for all your help! I will check into Vines Doctor's! Thank you Donali for the info on the Liver and Weight Loss. I did check with Dr. Tersigni's office again and they couldn't answer exactly why I had to lose 10%, she said it was just a requirement of the surgery and that they require you to follow a Low Carb version of Atkins. I explained I have tried that and South Beach and didnt lose weight well at all and she said that is what they would be prescribing. So I will see how Vines Doctors are and what they need me to do as I feel more comfortable knowing they have operated on Higher Weight Higher BMI patients. Thanks again for all the support. Plus I have been slowly losing weight over the last few months, I have lost 15lbs, but they said that wouldnt count towards the 10%, she said it would be 10% of what I weighed when I walked in there, so I will see how talking to the new Doctor's go. Thanks again you helped calm my fears!

[Teresita 0]

Good luck VelvetKiss that is great you have found a doctor that has more experience with higher weights. Don't stress about the weight loss. My doctor told me my liver was flopping around because I ate food food the last 2 days before my surgery but I had cut back on my eating and was doing liquids and one solid food meal a day. I just looked at it as practice for my new eating habits.

[gentlespirit 1]

donali~

That site on liver function is really interesting...I'll be checking it out further, too. What I've read so far seems to make sense...

Emily