Dr. Gerald Kirshenbaum - Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum

[Woofay 0]

Tied2bfit~My insurance paid for my prescriptions, but it's not an expensive med even if yours doesn't pick it up. What does get a little pricey is your Protein supplements. You hafta figure out what works for you, what kind and what you are willing to pay. A lot of us have really sensative taste buds and protein supplements are, well, not always very tasty. (no, some of them are just awful! Not sure how even athletes get them down!)

[Taynuh 1]

Well all,

This evening I tried the kids' menu at TGIF's. They were very nice about allowing me to order off the kiddie menu (in fact the server's friend had lap band in November -- down 80)... Anyhow I ordered the bbq ribs and a salad with bleu cheese. No beverage.

Hmmm...they were tasty...perhaps too tasty. I kinda tore into them like I used too... so, anyhow, after my bulemia routine...after my 2nd rib...and definitely way more than a PB... I'll be trying them and my salad tomorrow... maybe, some how I kinda don't think I'm going to be able tolerate them... but its the principle of the thing... I gotta kinda mad seeing that greedy look in Paul's eyes, knowing he was all set to swoop in on MY ribs... so for now, they are hands off setting in the fridge with my name on them (not literally...why that would be down right petty). hehehe Which brings me to the salad...does salad go down okay? Some one let me know before I try that....

I think I'll stick to Mexican for dining out in the future... enchiladas and refritos seem to like me... at least they treat me better.

Tina (whose "mind" is still wanting those ribs despite the consequences already experienced... silly mind!)

[Longhorn 1]

Hi Longhorn:

My mindset is this. I am a self pay so I can pick who I want to go to and where. I researched, found this doctor to be the most skilled, the most impressed patients and who can NOT like Colorado? (I'm from flat Florida).

I flew to Colorado because of my impression with him, his staff and feedback from others. His price sealed the deal for me.

This doctor is worth the trip ( IMHO) He is methodical, patient, and when you journey far, he seems all the more sensative to working with you and your schedule and the distance issue.

He calls you back. >>>He calls you back! Not his staff, HE will call you back. He is internet savvy and my consulation was done with him conference via web and phone. My kinda guy!

My experience as for flying back for fills has been one of mixed emotions. I wish I could go there every month but that isn't a reality for me. So I go when I can and am going next month. I should have gone last week but I have too much happening right now.

This man is a surgeon. If you have had any experience with what they call "the surgeon's touch" you can relate to what I will say. I went locally for a fill in July. This was above my experience with Dr. K filling my port. The nurse practitioner who is trained to do band fills used a machine to radiate my stomach so she could see the port and what she was doing. So she had a device that let her see where my port was.

Despite that, she inserted the needle and was moving it to find my port.

Did she find it? She looked at my face to see if I was okay. I wondered if she was looking for me to be in pain. Contrast that to doctor K's visit and fill. He took the needle, one time, hit the port boom I sat up and we began adjusting. He simply knows by feel what he is doing.

I trust him as a doctor. When I had other medical problems with my stomach and my own physicians office wasn't getting a handle on it, I called him. He called me back. He made recommendations and I did them...guess what? Three days later the problem was resolved!

When I describe doctors who are "Healers" as in they love medicine for the healing of humans...that's him. You can sense that about him.

No question is a stupid question. I never felt rushed. His staff is friendly and if they don't have the answer they will find out and get back to you.

Hope this helps. I highly recommend him. Email me if you have anymore questions.

Patty

Thanks, Patty! I just assumed you were from Colorado so it's great to hear from another out-of-state patient on this thread. I'm pretty much sold on Dr. K. If my fills aren't too complicated, I think I'll go to him for the fills, too, since, as I said, I can also visit my daughter. It sounds like they can cost almost as much as a plane ticket and I'll be earning frequent flyer miles with Frontier Airlines.

I'm going to email his office right now and ask for my phone consultation. I teach at a community college and it would be ideal for me to have the surgery between semesters, which would be sometime in early January.

Fingers crossed!

Thanks, y'all! I look forward to joining your thread as a fellow fan of Dr. K!

[nicnaknut 0]

Hello everyone..... I'm still on the road and should be in Denver on Saturday evening the 13th for my surgery on the 16th....

Dynamo and Mal..... Could we make arrangements for Red Robin on the 15th when want2beme and I can attend? I have my pre-op appoinment with Dr K at 2:00pm and the 15th and want2beme will be in town for her first fill.... I think both of us would like to attend....

Longhorn and Tied2BeFit.... Welcome to the Dr K thread.... This is the best thread around as well as having the best Dr around.... :biggrin1:

I see that you are having a cold front come through and could possibly snow up in the high country.... I sure hope that it passes and stays nice for awhile so that want2be and I can make it over the mountain on dry roads.... I am watching the weather channel daily....

Happy Sunday to all and have a nice Columbus Day on Monday....

[want2bmeagain 0]

Hey girls! Wow, I miss a couple of days, and all kinds of catching up to do! I had an awesome day...got to meet Kat817 and visit for a few hours! It was so much fun! She is a great gal! I hope that RR can be changed so more of us can meet. Keep us posted and let us know!

After she and I visited, I had to run to some stores and am now at my mom's. Ok, what did she make for dinner? ? T-bone steak....:hungry: :omg:

Did I weigh it? did I measure it? did I CARE?? uh...nooooooo. I have read that we should take a very long time to chew and eat. I did. Took me about 2 hours to eat the whole damn thing! Then, to top it off an hour later, well, she buys these evil ice cream nuget bar things from Schwan's. Geezeohpete...Good thing I don't live here. I didn't PB, didn't even burp, it didn't even hurt. I am so hoping that my first fill will change that a little bit. I felt like a pig ~ I am not going to agonize, whine, plead for encouragement, rub my face in the dirt. I overate, and gawd...did that steak taste GOOD! So, onward and upward..ok, I didn't make any heaving sounds, my mouth didn't fill up with mucous, I didn't chew my cud...but I am still very full, and it's been a while. Ok, maybe I will whine. Maybe you should tell me it's ok and I haven't completely fallen off the wagon, but just dropped my shoe on the parade route. How bout if I change the subject????

I am just going to list my input to some of the questions I read:

-My insurance totally excludes any weight loss surgery, and paid for my meds.

-Clear Isopure is what I drank for about a day, and decided it was too gross to continue. Gosh, I had just been beat to a pulp, why in the world would I want to torture myself?? It might hamper my healing:rolleyes:! Had a lot of canned broth (Swanson), tasted good. Had iced tea, and didn't worry about Protein for the first 48 hours

-got a LOT of help from wasabubblebutt on protein ~ and shopped around. I bought Matrix, and wasn't fond of the Splenda taste, but am being a good girl and drinking it. I learned that collagen protein is junk, whey is best. I then found and read about Jarrow..a whey Protein Powder that I bought on www.vitacost.com ..great price. I got the vanilla and unflavored. No artificial sweetners :whoo:, tastes yummy.

- by day 3 or so, I was ready for the liquid version of "real" food. So, I made some different Soups and roasts, threw mine in the blender and thinned a ton with the broths. Dr. K seems more liberal on the liquid phases, and emphasized NO throwing up as his mantra.

~ Supplements...something I have been meaning to post. Now, I am not a health nut, or I wouldn't be fat and hate exercise:p, but have picked up a few things along the way. Flinstones and Centrum are NOT the best. I finally found a liquid multi vitamin/mineral combo from Nature's Plus, I also bought their chewable Calcium, C, and Zinc. I love the calcium...tastes like malt. I bought everythign on vitacost. Their shipping is cheap, their prices far below a health food store. The liquid multi is not pretty to look at, dark green...maybe chlorophyll. But, it isn't bad...kind of tropical taste, and palatable enough for a good supplement.

Shelbi~ How much do plane tickets cost to get to Denver for a fill? How much would the local doc charge for a fill? You brought up a good point about what happens if another doc damages the band stuff...I never thought of that. I found a local surgeon who said he'd be happy to unfill me if I run into an emergency...that's what worried me the most....Would it make sense for you to find a doc for emergencies and get your fills from Dr. K? It seems that for many of us, the fill part is the pain. I will have about a 12 hour round trip drive for mine ~ ugh. Or, if you had your first fill with Dr. K, then look around? It's a hard thing to figure out....but, follow your gut feeling, it's usually right, whatever it turns out to be. By the way, how are you feeling?

Gurly ~ how are you doing?

Woof~ how's the job situation and planning doing?

New mommies....congrats, congrats, congrats again!

everyone else...keep on truckin'...you are an inspiration to me!

Longhorn, and Tied...WELCOME!!

health to all!

[Lafs 0]

Hi All,

I made it home from Denver where Dr K banded me on thursday. He was wonderful and his office staff was so friendly. My surgery was done at Crowne Point Parker Adventist Hospital . The Surgical staff and anesthesiologist were very attentive . The hospital facilities were spotless.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn across the street from the hospital and I would recommend it for anyone having their surgery in Parker.

Surgery was Thursday at 1pm and I got back to the Motel about 4:30pm . I felt better than I thought I would. I took a 1/2 dose of my pain killer and crashed for several hours. That evening, I was up and moving pretty good. On Friday I showered and we took a long car ride up into the mountains. We stopped in Blackhawk and played the slots for about an hour until I got tired. When we got back, I had some warm broth and a 1/2 dose of pain meds and slept great all night. I found that holding a pillow against my tummy when I laid on my side helped support my incisions and they didn't hurt.

Saturday we flew home . What a long day with 2 flights and a 3 hour car ride afterwards, I was dragging. I asked the airline clerk if we could pre-board so we didn't have to stand in line and that really helped..

I have felt some "gas pains" in my left shoulderblade from the co2 but it's not bad. The other "gas" is bad enough! I puttered my way across the USA . Thank goodness the airplane has loud engines. LOL..............

__________________

[ShelbiCallie 0]

Want2B -- Thanks for the link to the supplements site. Those prices are are excellent! I'll be shopping there soon. Steak is good Protein and ice cream goes down too darn easy -- you get a pass! Just think about what you would've eaten in your pre-band days at mom's---you probably did much, much better!

Dee -- My insurance wouldn't cover my surgery, but did cover my post-op prescriptions, too. I had liquid Keflex/cephalexin, liquid Vicodin/Lortab/hydrococodone, and phenergan suppositories. I was told to get a Dulcolax suppository OTC and use one the night before. The GAS-X is the melt-n-your-mouth strips OTC -- best money I spent!!

Lafs -- glad to hear everything went well! Are you going back to Dr. K for fills?

Longhorn -- that's a good point you brought up about the frequent flyer points. I'll have to add that to my list of pro's/con's about heading back out to Dr. K. for fills.

Have a great week everyone!

[ShelbiCallie 0]

Forgot to add --

Want2b -- If I do a day trip to Denver ($328 at today's flight rate, plus transportation to/from Dr. K's), it will cost a little more than going to the FillCenterUSA Dr. ($299 first visit&fill, then $155 for each fill afterwards -- more with fluroscopy) who is a 45 minute drive away. My big fear is that if the fill doc might puncture my port and then I'd be stuck (pun intended) with a problem that Dr. K didn't cause and I'm concluding wouldn't fix for free, as he does with his guarantee. I've got a 10/29 appointment with the local doc, so I've got a little time to think about it.

[Woofay 0]

Hi, Girls!

Tied2bfit~ your post brought a tear to my eyes. I was a dietician in a skilled nursing facility when I lived in Phoenix and helped take care of some of those patients that did not do well with gastric bypass. I knew then it was not for me, regarless of how big I got.

Lafs~ Not sure I've seen you post on here before...exactly how far did you come? Sounds like countries away! Congrats on your new band and your new life. If you choose to come back for fills, I would love to meet up with you. I'm an hour from Denver in The Springs.

Want2bmeagain~ You're posts are great. I almost died when I saw the term "geezeohpete". I thought I was the only one (and now my kids) that used that term. I think you must be a long lost sister or something. (time to have that long talk with my mom....hahahahaha:pound:)

Okay, about the Red Robin night....I don't care which night anyone chooses. Not sure if I'll be able to make any of them. :hurt But I'll do my best, just need to make arrangements for whatever is chosen. More is always good, but Dynamo, are you out of town for a while this month? Drews, Mal, any planning ideas? Miss you gals!

Have a great day all. I'm getting excited about tuesday...Josh Groban has a Christmas album coming out...you know how I am! Gonna start with the Christmas music early this year!:bounce:

[gurlygirl 0]

Dee - I had to pay for my own perscriptions and for the liquid Keflex/cephalexin, liquid Vicodin/Lortab/hydrococodone, and phenergan suppositories at Walmart it was approx $130. Then you have the Gas X chewables or strips and the Dulcolax suppositories in addition to this cost.

[gurlygirl 0]

Gurly! That's a bummer! I hope that doesn't happen to me! I better be prepared. I know meds can be very expensive! Thanks!

I had to pay for them up front myself because I am from Canada. But I hoping to claim back on my extended medical for out of country prescriptions. We will see if they get approved.:faint2:

[DynamoMini 1]

Let's plan on a date -

I hear two of you from out of town want October 15, which is Monday. Drews can only make Tuesday. Woofay, what's this about not coming? Anyway I vote for the 9th as I am leaving for Mexico on the 16th. Now, there isn't any reason that people can't meet more often. How did I get stuck with this organizational job anyway? So - I need to hear back from you all and tell me what to do.

:help::help::help::help::help::help::help::help: Michelle

[want2bmeagain 0]

Let's schedule both dates for RR. I think that will be the best option~If any of you can go to both, PLEASE do so that we all get the chance to meet/see everyone we can! I am getting quite excited, and I really think Michelle should cancel her trip so I can meet her!

I can take up the helm for the meeting on the 15th...anyone, PLEASE pm me if you think you can go. This is such a big deal for us out of towners, and personally, I wouldn't be where I am today without all of you! So, if you have to knock down walls to make it...

GASTRIC bypass thoughts:

Absolutely broke my heart to know there is a memorial board...Makes me so sad. I hope to god that Lapband begins to replace most of the bypass surgeries, and that the docs who make more income on bypass will surrender and do what's better for the patient. I have talked to several folks who have a friend or loved one who has been so disabled by the surgery...I suppose the calling to all of us is to talk, talk, talk, and maybe we will save even one person

:think

RED ROBIN, ladies....let's communicate and solidify plans~

hugs....

[Woofay 0]

Dynamomini~ see, with this new job thing, I'm not sure if I'll be working that night. Prolly not as I requested to work days. But my hubby leaves for Tenn for business on the 14th, so I hafta ask my momma to watch the kids if I go then. Plus, cuz I didn't let him know soon enough schedule wise, my hubby closes on the 9th, so I also hafta do the momma watch the kids thing that night too. Freak storms also come into play this time of year too. So, I gotta see either night.

So Goils...is everyone planing for both nights? I can start my planning and see. I think my best bet is for the 9th. My background check is still being processed and chances are I won't be working by tuesday.

HAHAHAHA! Have you ever seen anyone make something so simple so complicated? I'm great at it!

[DynamoMini 1]

:car::car::car::car::car::car::car::car::car:

Okay - So let's plan for the 9th and then if others want to plan for the 15th please do.

Come one come all to Red Robin at 7 pm. We would like to see new faces and old. Please, out of towners organize a get together the next week, too. I may even get to come to that one too.

Tuesday - October 9th at 7 pm

Red Robin is located a block west on Arapahoe and I 25.

Who can be there????

I know we all want to see Woofay's new hair. Mal, can you be there? Drews? Marilyn? Anyone else?

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: