Hi Nanette!
I am Karen and live about 1-1/2 hours from you in Danville, VA. I had gastric bypass at Durham Regional through the Duke Weight Loss Surgery Center on January 24 of this year. I would highly recommend you going through Duke. It is recognized as a Center of Excellence for gastric bypass surgery.
You will need a referral from your physician, if your insurance requires it. You can attend one of the seminars at Duke WLS Center and sign up to have the surgery. You will then be given an appointment for your initial consultation. You will have to have a variety of tests done. They have in-house psychologists and a nutritionist that you will also meet with. If you are interested in knowing more about their program, contact me privately at
kwdooley@adelphia.net and I will give you as much information as I can, including out-of-pocket fees you may incur.
The whole process for me included an initial consultation and physical, meeting with the nutritionist, and a visit with the psychologist. Then, my file went to surgeon's review and on to insurance for approval. Once I got a surgery date, I had to go back to the clinic to meet my surgeon. After that, I had to go back another time to attend a group session that consisted of one of the surgeons going over all the paperwork and consent, a group psychc session, and pre-admission testing at the hospital. Then, the next step was surgery. The entire process can take 2 to 3 months.
I am only a little over two weeks out of surgery and am doing great. I am not far enough along to give you a lot of information, but I will say that the men and women here at Thinner Times have been my mentors throughout this entire process. As a group, there is so much knowledge and wisdom here that you will be able to find out just about anything you need or want to know.
I wish you the best in making your decision and would be happy to chat with you should you want to talk via e-mail or phone.