Now that I've decided on surgery and had the confidence it would work, I took the necessary first step of going to an informational seminar. I already knew what surgeon I wanted. Dr. Jessee was the obvious choice. Of course she had a great reputation as a top notch surgeon, but also was one of the few who would perform the surgery using the spider technique. Probably most crucial in my choice of Dr. Jessee was the old standard of word of mouth. As I had mentioned in a previous post, I watched a dear friend have an incredible transformation under her care including the spider technique. For those not familiar the surgery is usually done laparoscopically, where you have several small incisions around the belly, so they can insert their instruments to perform all the surgical tasks. This is much better than open surgery as it reduces the risk of infection and speeds up the healing process as well. The spider technique takes this a step further where they reduce the number of incisions from 4-5 down to 2. They are able to do that by using a special instrument(the spider), through the belly button, which takes the place of several other instruments. Although the belly button incision tends to be a bit larger, it's a good trade off as the location hides any scarring well and reduces the number of incisions around the belly in more prominent and visible locations. Not all people can elect to have the spider, because it is heavily dependent on the patient's size parameters. A reputable surgeon familiar with the technique such as Dr. Jessee should be able to give you an honest assessment after a quick physical examination.
The seminar took place in a hotel meeting room. They have them scheduled periodically and in different locations to be able to reach as many people as they can. It was quite informative and I highly recommend that anyone considering such a step as bariatric surgery, should do some good research and attend one of these seminars. It was very informal and offered a comfortable environment. I have to say it was a bit reassuring to see so many folks there in the same boat I was in. There was also some success stories there who were able to share their stories including my friend who volunteered to have a fill done on his band in front of all of us. A fill is when they add saline to your band to adjust it to a more restrictive state. This is another very interesting aspect to the Lap Band. When you first have it inserted it is an empty hollow tube in essence, which is restrictive enough to start out with. As you lose weight, it loosens as you heal and you lose some fat in that area and becomes less restrictive, so periodically you go in for an adjustment where they add some saline to tighten it up. This is done through a needle into your port that resides just below your skin on your belly. I will try and describe this more in detail later after I have my first one which is scheduled for July. From what I saw it was a pretty simple procedure. It also works in reverse. If you find yourself feeling too restrictive you can have an adjustment where they remove some saline to loosen you up. Again a very ingenious aspect to the Lap Band, that allows individual tayloring of your band, so it can work for you.
At the seminar they gave a presentation discussing the different options as they offer more than just the Lap Band. There of course is the traditional Gastric Bypass and the newest procedure I believe is the Gastric Sleeve as well as the Lap Band and a couple other variations. I like the Lap Band as it is less invasive and doesn't require the usual tinkering of your digestive system as the others do. I'm a big believer in less is more and I felt the Lap Band was my best option. There was plenty of opportunity to ask questions and there were lots of them. Of course some of them are financial, and they offered comprehensive information on that as well as a contact(Ashley) in their office to look into what your options are including a review of your insurance. Dr. Jessee's practice is called Suncoast Bariatrics and they have a lot of good information on their website http://suncoastbariatrics.com including procedure info, seminar schedules, and information on the team. If you are in the area, this is a good place to start.
At the seminar I found out about the contest offered by Palms of Pasadena Hospital. I was planning on submitting an entry for the contest regardless, but became even more important as Ashley informed me that my insurance didn't cover the procedure regardless of the circumstances. This was a blow to me mentally I have to say. It felt like just when I found a solution to my health issues related to my weight, it was yanked from me because of an insurance company was being short sited trying to save money in the short run when they could have had some vision and considered the savings in the long run as who knows how expensive my diabetes or other health issues would mount to over the years. The surgery in the long run would be cheap in comparison. Unfortunately I couldn't afford to pay out of pocket as I'm currently unemployed and am too fiscally responsible to incur a substantial amount of debt to cover the costs. There was still the contest, but I wasn't feeling like it was realistic as I envisioned how steep the competition would be; I thought of it more as like a lotto ticket to be honest. Of course you can't win if you don't play. What did I have to lose? All that was required was to attend a seminar, which I already had and to fill out an entry including answering some questions on what the surgery would mean to me. Certainly it was well worth my time. I really took my time and took an introspective look at myself and my life and allowed my answers to flow from within. In the end it was some what an emotionally painful process, but theraputic at the same time. In the end it's these first steps that got me to where I am today and am so glad I took them. Thank you Palms of Pasadena, Dr. Jessee and the kind and helpful folks at Suncoast Bariatrics, and Susan Kay from Palms of Pasadena, who also spoke at the seminar. Thank you for taking the time to share your stories and knowledge and answering all of my questions; all of the information was invaluable to me and is very much appreciated.
Thanks,
me :-)
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