Weight Loss Surgery Questionaire

Here are the Pre-Screening Questions to help you decide if WLS is right for you. Copy and past them to an email or word document and send them to Dr. John to start your weight loss journey :-)
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For Driver’s who are truly interested in Weight Loss Surgery? Call, email or Fax the below information to Dr John’s Trucker’s On Call Center. Dr John will talk to each driver personally. See Trucker’s ON Call Center contact information at the bottom.

1. Name:
2. Age:
3. Sex: M F
4. Height: 0'0" Weight:000 pounds BMI:
5. Employer:
6. Do you have Insurance?
7. If yes does it cover weight loss surgery?
8. Call back phone #:
9. Number of years obese:
10. List of diets tried including medically supervised attempts:
11. Medication list and dosage:
12. List of previous surgical procedures and year of the procedure:
13. Do you have any of the following, answer with yes or no:
    -High Blood Pressure
    -Diabetes
    -Sleep Apnea
    -Indigestion (GERDS) requiring medication or over the counter medication
    -Cholesterol elevations
    -Muscle or arthritis problems, Back pain/surgery
    -Lung problems or Pulmonary Hypertension, Heart Disease/Angina, heart failure, COPD
    -Previous Cancer Treatment, Gout
    -Metabolic Syndrome (Circle if you have HBP, Diabetes, Cholesterol, a BMI over 40)
    -Liver Disease. For example Hepatitis, Cirrhosis.
    -Female drivers only: Polycystic Ovaries, Menstrual Irregularities
14. Alcohol consumption:
    
15. Tobacco history:
    
16. Reason you are interested in weight loss surgery?
    

Dr John’s Trucker’s ON Call Center
Fax or call 8am- 5pm M-F EST
Phone: 865-862-8902
Fax: 865-558-9551
Email any time: jmcelligott@ohswest.com

Recovery Time

Every person and every procedure has it's own personalized recovery time, so this is something you will not know exactly until you meet with your doctor and decided which procedure is right for you.

As for me I have chosen to have the 'Sleeve' done, which will be done laparoscopicly (laparoscopic surgery has a shorter recovery time) my down time will be anywhere from 2-4 weeks. The good news is they do not want you to lay in bed you will be up and moving around right after surgery, so you won't be bed ridden you just can do strenuous activities, like work. Personally I do not have a physical job but I do have strenuous chores at home, like walking my giant dog, so I will need help around the house for about a month to make sure I heal properly.

Pre-Op Diet

This diet is awesome it is simple to follow and has yummy choices on it. It is a very important part of the process, the Pre-Op diet helps you start changing your eating habit's which is extremely important. It also helps you start loosing weight which will be beneficial during surgery. The main goal is to get as healthy as possible before surgery which will be beneficial both during and after the surgery it will help speed up the recovery process.

So far I am doing rather well with the diet, I will admit I have had some slip ups but I am only human, plus my birthday was last week so I gave in and had cake :-)

Just a Reminder

This is a long process but it is a major surgery and a life style change that you have to embrace, you have to make a life long commitment to yourself and your body, I made my commitment and if you think you are ready to make your commitment take the first step and call The Dr John Truckers On Call Center and they will get you started on the right path 865-862-8902

UGH decisions decisions!!!

Now that I met Dr. Boyce and have the information I need to make my decision it is crunch time. I will be honest I changed my mind 3 times it was a process it took me 2 weeks but I finally decide that the Gastric Sleeve is the procedure that is best for me. The Sleeve is the procedure I had chosen months ago but after talking to Dr. Boyce about all the options I had a choice to make but in the end I believe that the Sleeve will be the best option for me.
Now I am getting closer to surgery with every tick of the clock, I haven’t set a date yet for surgery but just knowing it is in the near future gets me SO excited!!!! Finally I will have the tool I need to drop this weight once and for all and to be a healthy person I deserve to be!

Next step……… SETTING A SURGERY DATE!!!!!!

Next stop, the Consultation

All right now we are rocking and rolling!!!! Next stop consultation with Dr Boyce, I am excited to finally get to sit down with him one on one and chat about my options and what will be best for me.

Yay tests! And the hard kind I didn’t even have to study for these ones. First thing is first we get to find out what my BMI is, the way BMI is calculated by using your height and weight then the fancy machine pops up this magical percentage (well not exactly but the height and weight part is true but the rest is determined by some math equation I don’t know or understand I assume). So as of May 13, 2009 I am 5’9” (which I am excited about because that means I grew and inch) and I weigh 300 pounds so that means I have a BMI of 44%. According to Mimi (that’s what I named the machine that calculated all this) I should weigh 143 pounds, which mean I am carrying around more than double my ideal weight that is 156 extra pounds I am lugging around everyday! So that was the standing there test (yes I renamed them all) next I get to do the breath into the bag test that one was super easy too, and they gave me this yummy lemonade to drink, at least I thought it was yummy since I was starving since I couldn’t eat before the appointment so I could get all these fun tests done.

After doing the ‘Breath into the bag’ test I got to talk with Dr. Boyce we went over my options and we talked about what my goals are and which procedures would do me the most good. And then I had to do the worst test of the day I had to put a close pin like contraption on my nose and breath into a tube for ten minutes!!! I know it sounds silly but really I was not liking my nose being pinch and breathing through a tube and it is hurts your jaw to keep it open that long.

But the good news is after all my suffering all my tests came back normal so I am now ready to rock and roll!!! I did need blood work done also but I had that done a couple weeks before at a lab in Nashville so I just brought the results with me.

Now I get to go home and make the final decision on what procedure I want to have done, YIKES another major decision!!!

Ok! Went to a rocking seminar and know I have found my doctor what’s next?

Well the dread step is next…… Calling your insurance company to see if you’re covered….. Dun Dun.

This is where I can offer no advice; my insurance does not cover my surgery. Some of you will more than likely run into this situation and unfortunately those of us with out insurance coverage don’t have many options. In my case I am having to pay out-of-pocket which is a bit of a bummer but on the plus side I don’t have to wait for the slow poke insurance people to set my surgery date, HAHAHA, see there is a silver lining to every cloud!

My suggestion to those of you with insurance is to look at your policy and it should let you know if weight loss surgery is covered. There be some exceptions but everyone’s insurance is different so it is best to either look it up or call and ask your agent what is covered.

And that's all the advice I can offer in this area :-)

My next hard Decision

I finally found MY surgeon!!!! I am very excited after spending many months “interviewing” doctors I finally found one I am comfortable with. And the winner is……… Dr. Boyce.

Now for a bit about how I found a surgeon and things that you should look for:

I had no idea where to start so I used good old Google to help me locate a local surgeon’s here in Nashville. After calling several doctor’s office’s I found out that they hold informational seminar’s to explain more about the procedures and so you can ask the surgeon’s question’s they also give you a packet of information and paper work to fill out just incase you decide to carry on. I went a couple here in Nashville and learned a lot. I knew the surgery was right for me and I knew which procedure I wanted to have done I just hadn’t found the doctor that I wanted to work with. My search continued for several more months until one day while at work we had this awesome guest on the show for “Coffee with the Doc” (you guessed it, it was Dr. Boyce) we talked a bit after the show (as much time is aloud in my busy day like 3 minutes, haha) and then I called back and talked to some of the great people that work in his office.

After talking to Dr. Boyce and his staff I decided that maybe it was time to look outside of Nashville for a surgeon I feel comfortable with. So I made the trip to Knoxville to see what they had to offer me.

I could tell from the moment I walked in the seminar that this team was different and that I was on the right track. The seminar they conducted was not like any other one I had been to, it was a million times better. I walked out of the seminar with a sense of security in knowing that this team really cared about me and my success. I was really excited to get the ball rolling and meet with Dr. Boyce for my consultation!!


Here are few tips for choosing your weight loss medical team:

• Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence
• That there is a support team, you are not just choosing a surgeon you are choosing the whole team- Nurses, dietitian, exercise trainer- a good team is very important because they will be your support system before and after surgery they are a key to your weight loss success.
• Support groups are also very important here is a link to a support group- Knoxville Weight Loss Surgery Support Group

What next?

Ok so where do I start?

I started with a basic Internet search (but you need to be careful there is a ton of miss information out there!) I spent 6 months close to obsessed with finding out every detail of every option I had available to me in the whole world!!!!

Here are a few websites that I found helpful in answering some of my preliminary questions.

BMI calculator

General weight-loss surgery information

Find a Bariactric Surgery Center of Excellence

Here a few guidelines you can look through to see if you may be a candidate for WLS:

-100 pounds or more of excess weight; or a BMI of 40 or greater
(Excess weight is the difference between the patient’s actual weight and a healthy weight.)

-A BMI of 35 or greater with one or more co-morbid conditions

Some common Co-Morbid conditions:
* Type 2 diabetes
* Heart disease,
* High blood pressure
* High cholesterol
* Obstructive sleep apnea
* Acid reflux/GERD,
* Cancer
* Depression
* Osteoarthritis and joint pain
* Stress urinary incontinence
* Female reproductive health disorder

If you have any questions or think Weight Loss Surgery is right for you call The Dr John Truckers On Call Center at 865-862-8902 tell them you want to talk about WLS with Dr John!!

The start....

"I knew I was a bit over weight but I never saw myself as OBESE much less morbidly obese. Looking in the mirror today I finally see it, "Wow, when did it get so bad?" I ask myself almost in disbelief that this is happening to me. But it didn't happen over night this has been happening for more than half of my life, today is the day I realize I need help. I never thought I would be 304 pounds!!!! That is more than double the average weight for my height. So now that I know I need help it is time to decide what kind of help is going to be best for me.........."

The above insert is how I felt 2 years ago, I am writing you today to share my journey and hopefully help some of you who don't know where to start or even if Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) is right for you. My goal is share every detail of my journey and describe every step along my way of WLS and hopefully help others that are in the same situation.