Dr. Gerald Kirshenbaum - Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

OH ya......just wanted to add....since that dreaded picture of me at Christmas 2 years ago (my moment of "fat" truth)....I'm down 80lbs! Woohoo! :thumbup::biggrin:

That's great!

80lbs is a lot of weight!

You must feel so much lighter!

Why are your old friends PB back?

I'd be happy to never meet those friends!

Ugly! Just Ugly, I say!

I can't wait to see the Biggest Loser of Lapbandtalk! YOU! You ole skinny minny!:tt2:

[TracyinKS 7]

GOOD MORNING Dr K'rs........

My mom has decided to get banded in 2009.. and I have picked Dr. K for her as she will be self pay. She is nervous.... but she has watched me lose 81 lbs over the last year and she is now at the weight where I started.......... She is going to use her/and stepdads 2009 FSA account to pay for it... I wish she'd do it sooner... if anyone would like to email her your experience with Dr. K, PM me and I will give you her email address......

Many thanks!

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

GOOD MORNING Dr K'rs........

My mom has decided to get banded in 2009.. and I have picked Dr. K for her as she will be self pay. She is nervous.... but she has watched me lose 81 lbs over the last year and she is now at the weight where I started.......... She is going to use her/and stepdads 2009 FSA account to pay for it... I wish she'd do it sooner... if anyone would like to email her your experience with Dr. K, PM me and I will give you her email address......

Many thanks!

Hi TracyinKS,

I take it your name is Tracy and you live in Kansas?

Ha!

Your Mom is making a great choice! As I'm sure you've read here, we love Dr. K and his office staff! The band has changed my life and I will be forever grateful to Dr. K for making this surgery possible for me!

[cara51183 0]

I have my phone consult today! I can't wait!

[Lap_dancer 8]

HEY HEY TRACY! Remember back when? Fighting the mean old insurance company, those were the days.

Cara luck with your consult.

[cara51183 0]

Ok so I'm freaking out a little. I was supposed to have my consult with Dr. K at 4pm mountain time today. I called about 10 til and checked to be sure they have the correct phone number for me. They (Marilyn?) took note and said he'd be a few minutes then he'd call me. He never called! I called back about 5:15 mountain time and the office was already closed. I'm stressin...is this normal? I hope everything is ok with him, and I really hope that this is not a reflection of him and his office as my surgeons. Any input?

[bahotmomma 0]

Ok so I'm freaking out a little. I was supposed to have my consult with Dr. K at 4pm mountain time today. I called about 10 til and checked to be sure they have the correct phone number for me. They (Marilyn?) took note and said he'd be a few minutes then he'd call me. He never called! I called back about 5:15 mountain time and the office was already closed. I'm stressin...is this normal? I hope everything is ok with him, and I really hope that this is not a reflection of him and his office as my surgeons. Any input?

Cara,

That is not like him or his office at all. Not sure what happened but I would sure call first thing in the am. Best of luck to you.:thumbup:

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

Ok so I'm freaking out a little. I was supposed to have my consult with Dr. K at 4pm mountain time today. I called about 10 til and checked to be sure they have the correct phone number for me. They (Marilyn?) took note and said he'd be a few minutes then he'd call me. He never called! I called back about 5:15 mountain time and the office was already closed. I'm stressin...is this normal? I hope everything is ok with him, and I really hope that this is not a reflection of him and his office as my surgeons. Any input?

Cara!

That's not like him or his office staff!

Call first thing in the morning and ask them if you can talk to him.

I am so sorry! I know you were really looking forward to talking to him.

Things happen sometimes that can't be avoided.

Don't give up! Please.

dee~

[TracyinKS 7]

HEY HEY TRACY! Remember back when? Fighting the mean old insurance company, those were the days.

LOL!~!!! yeah and look at us now baby! :wink2:

[GreenChrysalis 1]

Hi all, glad to hear that everyone is doing well for the most part!

I have to say, I'm feeling a bit sad. I went for my first fill on Tuesday, with an appointment at 2 p.m. Walked into Dr. K's office, signed in and waited. Mary gave me some paperwork to fill out. About halfway through it I realized, wait, why would they need this particular packet of paperwork for a fill?

So I went up to the window. Mary then said that my appointment was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. I said no, my card said 2 p.m. Of course I'd left it on my fridge at home (I checked it when I got home and I was right). She said I was there for a consultation. I said no, I'm here for a fill. Then she asked about my surgery date. Eventually, she realized that they had a consult scheduled for 3:30 p.m. for someone with a name very similar to mine. But I was not on the books anywhere for my fill appointment.

I had a pretty bad headache and I'd been up since 4:30 a.m. I was already nervous about my first fill. So as you can imagine I started feeling upset and panicking...what if I couldn't get a fill today? I came all that way. I could not take off more days. I texted my husband, all freaked out.

After talking with Marilyn, Mary said they'd get me in, and I didn't have to wait too long. She stopped by Robin's office to ask if she needed to see me. I have no idea why she would -- I didn't owe anything -- and she didn't. Then Mary took me into the room to weigh me (wish they could weigh me nude & first thing in the morning as I do -- is that TMI? :wink2:). She asked if I had my card and I said no, you told me you'd mail it to me, but I never got it. So she made me one. I figured I had the standard AP band, but of course I needed a card that said so.

Then she took me into the fill room. Dr. K came in shortly and he thanked me for the birthday card I sent. He had two students with him. The needle barely hurt at all, although sitting up with a syringe sticking out of you is an odd thing (and so is the feeling when it's pulled out!). I ended up with 1.6 cc, and I definitely feel some restriction. I was worried about getting too tight, so we erred on the side of caution.

Dr. K was kind and genial as he had been in my past experiences, chatted with me and made sure I was doing OK. But I was disappointed with how I was treated by the office staff. Yes, they got me in and I got my fill, that was the most important thing. Everyone makes mistakes and I get that. But it wasn't very friendly at all and I didn't really get an apology for the scheduling mix-up. I don't plan to go back -- not because of this -- as I'd already intended to do the rest of my fills locally.

On the plus side, the weather was gorgeous and I did a little sightseeing. The Museum of Nature & Science is fantastic -- much bigger and nicer than a similar one that we have here, and cheaper. I was in and out so quickly (left early yesterday afternoon -- I could only take two days off work). I knew you guys had just had the RR meetup recently, so I'm sorry I didn't get to see any of you locals. But I'm also painfully, seriously shy. :wink2:

Edited March 20, 2008 by GreenChrysalis

[GreenChrysalis 1]

Ok so I'm freaking out a little. I was supposed to have my consult with Dr. K at 4pm mountain time today. I called about 10 til and checked to be sure they have the correct phone number for me. They (Marilyn?) took note and said he'd be a few minutes then he'd call me. He never called! I called back about 5:15 mountain time and the office was already closed. I'm stressin...is this normal? I hope everything is ok with him, and I really hope that this is not a reflection of him and his office as my surgeons. Any input?

Cara, I think that someone in the office dropped the ball on that one. Dr. K is given a schedule each day (he pulled it out of his pocket to show me when I was there), so I doubt it was his fault. Even if something came up, someone should've called to let you know and reschedule. I wouldn't take one mistake as a reason to give up. I hope you have rescheduled and all goes well!

[marcyinak 0]

Hey folks, been a while.

So I got filled a few weeks ago (2/25) and usually I lose 4-8 lbs. right away then "bob" for a bit then lose a couple more, but I haven't lost any since this last fill! STRANGE! Granted it was a small fill and I sort of regret not getting a little more while I was in Anchorage, but oh well. I know my eating habits aren't particularly stellar, but I'm not eating THAT much!

I think I'm going to start writing down what I put in my mouth to see where I'm going wrong. I haven't been excersizing a whole lot either...it's friggin cold here right now! At least it warmed up for the Iditarod last week!

Guess I'm just looking for a little support...Andrew's idea of support is bringing home a candy bar for me!

[lizzieann 0]

To anyone

I will be having a preop exam the day before my surgery. Can anyone tell me what this will include ?

Thanks Lizzieann

[GreenChrysalis 1]

Hey Lizzieann,

It may vary depending on whether you have co-morbidities (I don't). But my pre-op visit was pretty basic. I filled out a lot of paperwork. I was weighed and had my blood pressure checked and my lungs listened to. Dr. K described the surgery to me again and gave me post-op instructions. I asked him questions. think that was it. :wink2:

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

Hey folks, been a while.

So I got filled a few weeks ago (2/25) and usually I lose 4-8 lbs. right away then "bob" for a bit then lose a couple more, but I haven't lost any since this last fill! STRANGE! Granted it was a small fill and I sort of regret not getting a little more while I was in Anchorage, but oh well. I know my eating habits aren't particularly stellar, but I'm not eating THAT much!

I think I'm going to start writing down what I put in my mouth to see where I'm going wrong. I haven't been excersizing a whole lot either...it's friggin cold here right now! At least it warmed up for the Iditarod last week!

Guess I'm just looking for a little support...Andrew's idea of support is bringing home a candy bar for me!

Marcy!

I'm here to support you!

I have used several online diet journals and found that very good.

FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal

Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate

Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople

What I love about them is I can log all of my food, see how much Protein I ate and adjust my dinner accordingly. I think Sparkpeople is my favorite one, because it also allows me to log in my exercise and gives me how much calories I've burned. You might already know about these sites, forgive me for repeating this information, but I just think it's helped me a lot.

Another thing to consider is doing a plateau busting diet -- which is basically meat and veggies, very much like our pre-op diet. I have some friends who have done it and it's gotten them moving again. If you're interested I can try to find it for you.

Good Luck Dear! :wink2:

hugs, dee~