Trent R.
My name is Trent and I live in Ithaca Michigan. I wanted to share my Bariatric journey with others in hopes that it will encourage just one person to start there own life changing journey. I have struggled with obesity my entire life. Childhood is something I like to forget because of the struggles I faced and the constant comments from kids at school. As I grew older obesity stood in the way of job promotions and my low self-esteem caused me to let things go by and I didn’t really live life to its fullest. Then in 2000 I heard about Bariatric surgery but when I found out they had do it open I chickened out. A few years pasted and then I became employed at a local hospital and soon afterward they brought a new surgeon on that did Bariatric surgery laparoscopic. So I went to a seminar and that started my path to my re-birth. I found out at the seminar that there were some things to take care of for the insurance company. First I had to go to my doctor and get a letter of recommendation that was no problem because my doctor and I had already spoke about it. I also had to have documented proof of failed weight lost attempts for a 12 month period. Luckily I had been working with my Doctor and he had documented it. Once I got all that around I took it to my first appointment with the doctor and they went over everything and then I got my first bad news. To my discouragement they couldn’t do my surgery because at 460 pounds I was over the weight limit for the existing equipment in the OR, so I started to diet yet again.
In the mean time my wife also was looking at the surgery so she started her pre-op work up. First the stress test to make sure her heart would be able to handle the surgery then she had a sleep test to rule out sleep apnea. Next on the agenda, the appointment with the psychologist to insure she mentally could handle the surgery. She came threw all that and it was submitted to insurance. She first got a rejection but once they we worked some of the items she was approved and had her surgery in April of 2005. In 12 months time she lost an amazing 106 pounds! She looks awesome and feels so much better.
Well six months had passed and it was October of 2005 and I had lost the weight I needed to in order to have the surgery. So I called the surgeon and started on the path once again. I finished up my pre-op and was scheduled for surgery on December 5th, 2005 then the night before surgery I received a call stating do not start the pre-op for surgery and to call the surgeons office in the morning and they would explain. This was a blow to say the least. Here I was all ready to go and the brakes were applied. I called and was told my labs didn’t come back clean that my billiruben levels were too high and I would have to have my liver checked out. So I went to that appointment and was told by that specialist that I really should think about what I was about to do to my body. Did I really think this surgery was the best choice. This enraged me and I knew I wasn’t going to get anything from this guy so I left and called my surgeon and explained what happened and went to another specialist. They checked everything over and said it was more then likely caused by a combo of meds I was on pre-surgery so they scheduled me again. This time I am on the table in pre-op holding 10 minutes from surgery and the surgeon comes in and tells me he is sorry but my surgery has been canceled again!!! This was all it took I broke down and lost it. I thought I have worked so hard for this and now it just isn’t meant to be. My levels had gone up even more and they wanted to make sure I didn’t have any liver issues before they did the surgery. So I went to another specialist and they cleared me and told me I had a disorder that caused liver levels to appear to be high but actually they weren’t. So I called the surgeon back and we scheduled a 3rd attempt on December 20th, 2005. I had a very successful laparoscopic roux-en-y done at Gratiot Medical Center in Alma Michigan.
I have lost a total of 235 pounds, lowered my BMI from 65 down to 32 and went from a 64 inch waist to a 38 inch waste. I can’t believe what this surgery has done for me. I have more energy now and can actually play with my 2 children. I am even working very close with the Bariatric Program at the Hospital. I run the on-line support group and also speak at the seminar’s they hold and attend all monthly support groups. This is something that I would have never done before.
My wife and now have 2 birthdays. The one when we were born and our surgery dates. Now we are finally the couple we have always wanted to be. We could never have imagined life could be this fun and rewarding! As you can see I had a tough road but I wasn’t going to let obesity rule my life any longer and now thanks to Dr. Cudjoe and Dr. Smith of Great Lakes Surgical Associates and Gratiot Medical Center I will be able to live life to the fullest extent. Roux-en-y surgery is the tool that helped save my wife & I and insure that we will be here for our family for a lot longer than we would have been if we continued on the path that we were on prior to surgery. We wouldn’t change anything even with the set backs. Our only regret is that we didn’t do the surgeries sooner!
