Puget Sound Surgical Center

Hello everyone,

I’ve been wanting to stop by and introduce myself.  My name is Cindy Tobiason, and I am the Bariatric Nurse Coordinator for PSSC in the Bellingham office.—But I’m also in the Edmonds office at least once a week.  So I’ve been fortunate to meet and get to know many of you.

As most of you know, I also am a banded sister and travel this journey with you.  My greatest wish for all of you is for you to find what I’ve found at PSSC—-a group of professionals who are genuinely and sincerely interested in your success.  A few of us have had smooth sailing, but for most of us this journey holds many speedbumps, a few mountains, —and oooh, those dark lonely rutts.  Please know you’re never alone.  E-mail or call anytime for questions, support,—or just to chat.

Cindy

Hey y’all!   I am one week post surgical and have my good days and bad days - mostly good.  I never thought that finally being able to have pureed potatoes would excite me more than a new pair of shoes but here I am!

So let’s have some fun!  What are some habits that make you a “Gold Star” earner as a Lap Band-ite? What are some that might put you in detention?  With school starting soon it makes for a fun game.  I’d love to hear from y’all - I would hate to think I am alone on this board!

Go Hawks!

Jill

I have lapband surgery almost a year ago.  While I lost 35 lbs during the first 6 months, I did not lose more weight from months 7-10  As I’m sure many of us know, the nutritionists are very conservative in their approach to fills, and we understand why.  However, at 10 months I was only at a fill of “2″.  A friend of mine who had the same procedure done in Olympia talked to me about the bariatric xray that she’d had and how you could see what was getting through and when a fill was enough.  One of our nutritionists suggested that I go to a 2.2 fill.  I went ahead and scheduled the X-ray prior to the fill and Dr. Billing found that it wasn’t until 2.9 that I personally (and I know this is a personal situation for each of us) was getting any type of true restriction.  Now I can actually feel fuller yet still get enough protein through to be healthy!  Thank heavens for modern science and equipment that helps us “know” where the restriction works rather than have it based on guess work.  I’m now starting to lose weight again. Good luck to you all in your journeys- Jan Schiffner

Hi!  I just found the new weblog site.  This is so great!  We now have our own surgical center blog!  I was at a seminar at the clinic this evening and Dr. Billing told me about this.  The seminar was really fun and informative.  It brought back memories of a year ago January when I was one of those people sitting and gathering info, trying to make one of the biggest decisions of my life.  So glad I did!  I think at least 5 people asked me if it hurts to get a fill and I, who am deathly afraid of needles, said no, it doesn’t hurt a bit…and it wasn’t a lie!  There was one woman there who said that two of her friends had lapbands inserted last year and neither one is doing very well with the band.  She said they have no support system, no nutritionist, nothing… It’s sad that there are places out there doing this surgery and then just kind of “throwing” the patient out there with no support to help them along.  We’re so blessed… Anyway, glad I found the new site.  Have a great rest of the week!  :0) Allison

The April 20th, 2008 episode of 60 minutes on CBS showcased the incredible benefits of gastric bypass surgery to what some claim to be a cure for diabetes. The cure is not attributed to the weight loss that results from the surgery but the surgery itself.

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With this latest medical report from CNN, gives a personal testimonial of how bariatric surgery is making a huge difference in people’s lives. The emotional and psychological healing that comes as a result of the physical transformation is a life saver.

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PSSC is offering the Stomaphyx Procedure for patients who have had gastric bypass and have had some weight gain. It is an endoscopic procedure that pleats the stomach, creating a smaller pouch. We know that pouch dilatation is one reason why patients may have weight gain. This is an outpatient procedure. We are the first in the area to offer this new technology. Make an appointment if you are interested. Here is the website for more information. http://www.endogastricsolutions.com/