Lookingup
Once upon a time................I was a skinny, sickly kid until I had my tonsils out at age seven.........At age ten I weighed 133.......at 14, 196. During high school I went to a diet doctor and took powerful pills helping me get to 135 where I stayed for about two days. I bounced around 175 until I graduated and then at 21 was 240. By age 38 I was 248 and had been up and down the scale between 195 and 248 a zillion times on a zillion diets. I joined Overeaters Anonymous in Fort Worth, Texas at 248 and in 14 months I was 141. I never went on maintenance.....just started gaining. Within three years I gained it all back and within another year was above 300. I started looking into wls in 2002 but was told I could not have it because all I knew about, and all that was explained to me was RNY and I had had previous stomach surgery which prevented that type surgery. In 2007 I met a woman who had had DS surgery and when she told me about it I decided to check it out. I found two doctors in the Atlanta area who do the surgery and one was a preferred provider for my insurance so there I went. Dr. Donald Maynard was a wonderful man, and his staff were very nice. Things progressed well and before long I was scheduled for surgery on Dec. 28. Unfortunately I got bronchitis so had to be rescheduled for Jan. 23. Dr. Maynard did the surgery as an open procedure only and a week before my surgery the hospital where he was on staff decided to disallow open procedures. I planned to wait until he got on staff at a different hospital but, in the interim, went to an informational seminar with the other DS surgeon in Atlanta, Dr. Dennis Smith. After that, I did additional research and decided to pay the additional fees to go out of network and use Dr. Smith. I had my surgery on Oct. 23, 2008. I felt very good about Dr. Smith and his staff. The educational phase of Dr. Smith's practice is exceptional. I have had problems with diarrhea, nausea and vomiting since surgery and the staff have been very responsive and helpful. Today is five weeks and one day since surgery and I have lost 31 lbs., 49 since my first appointment with Dr. Smith.
