Author Archive: Ron Garrison

Let’s get ready to rumble!!!  Ok up and dressed making the final checks to make sure we have everything and then getting in the car to head to the hospital for the surgery. Family will be blogging during the surgery and day; I will try to blog when I come out of it depending on […]

What a long day! Finishing the antibacterial skin washes and then finally a few hours of sleep. Will post hopefully hour by hour tomorrow!

Well it is finally here, I have everything packed and all my affairs in order.  Now I will be getting a good night sleep yeah right.  Anyway I will be trying to go to bed here shortly and be up at 3am to get ready to head into the hospital. I will arrive at 5:00am […]

Getting everyone packed. Later Zach goes to Aunt Brandi’s then to bed super early! Drama cause clear liquids are not fun!

So after a 4 hour delay they placed the filter in with success. They had an emergency patient they had to do first so I had to wait. Then they took me in and put the filter in and it took all of 15 minutes and I was done. They also completed the Echo today […]

Here at the university of Chicago checking in and getting ready for them to place the Ivc filter going to ask if I can get it on video for the blog lol Ron just texted and said the filter went in fine. As soon as he is released the he has the echocardiogram scheduled. 8:30pm-Ron […]

Ok today is my last day of work before surgery. I also got a call just before five last night that the anesthesia preop now wants me to do an Echo before surgery. Have to call them back today to see when that can be scheduled.

Here we are the week of surgery. I only have today and Tuesday left at work then I am off until November 15. The nerves are in high gear now. We have the house close to being done for visitors, I have the legal stuff left to finish and before you know it, Friday will […]

Ok that was one long day. I am home now minus like 20 vials of blood. Getting closer to the day.

Ron at the anesthesia pre-op visit.

Up getting ready this morning to drop Zach off at school and we are heading for Chicago for the final Pre-op visit. It is going to be a long day. Zach was up at 3am with a nightmare. Ron is doing fine but he is worried about his cousin Jerry Bacon. Jerry is going in […]

Just placed my first order for the vitamins I will be on for the rest of my life. I would so much rather take these vitamins then all the harmful medications I was taking 🙂 Just think no real side effects from vitamins.

Got conformation today that my FMLA has been approved. One step closer to making this dream a reality. It is finally setting in I am going to be healthy!

Greetings family and friends, It is with great excitement and utter terror I write this. My two year long quest has finally come full circle. I have been fully cleared for surgery by the insurance company and from the University of Chicago Surgical team. I will be completing my final nutrition, pre-ops and lab work […]

Well I saw the Doctor today and he was excited that I had no weight gain since the last visit. He has verified we have everything and is meeting with his team later this week to discuss setting a date for my surgery.

Duodenal Switch Animation httpv://youtu.be/Sdks7Muv9LE Here is another animation of the procedure I am going to be having done. This one shows it a little better but no sound.

I am intergrating this blog with my facebook page so that it keeps everyone up to date easier as I go thru this transformation. Today i updated my will and got the paperwork ready to take to have signed by the witnesses and notary just incase.

Duodenal Switch operation httpv://youtu.be/lf4rUbKWC1I   This is the procedure I will be having. The duodenal switch (DS) procedure, also known as biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD-DS) or gastric reduction duodenal switch (GRDS), is a weight loss surgery procedure that is composed of a restrictive and a malabsorptive aspect. The restrictive portion of the surgery […]

Meet the man that is going to save my life. Associate Professor of Surgery Vivek Prachand, MD, is an expert in minimally invasive abdominal surgery. He is skilled at the most advanced laparoscopic procedures, and performs more than 200 laparoscopic abdominal surgeries each year.

Today I saw Dr. Alexander Bozanich and he cleared me for surgery.  He said he would write the letter and have it faxed by the end of the day.

Today I saw Dr. Desai and they started the paperwork for the new health and physical and letter for surgical clearance.  They said they would have it faxed in by next Friday.

So today I contacted the University of Chicago and told them that I have been approved to come back and that my surgery has been cleared and asked what I have to do to get started. They want an updated history and physical and surgical clearance from my Primary Care Physician. They also want an […]

This morning I called Healthy 4 Life center and told them that the insurance states they have not received their referral and that the manager at the insurance company gave me her direct fax number and asked they refax the information directly to her.  The staff faxes not only the referral but also the conformation […]

Ok I have received nothing from the insurance company in over a month.  I am fed up I call the insurance company and ask to speak to management. The head of case management calls me back I explain all of the issues and concerns.  Also going thru all of my documentation she agrees something does […]

I had an appointment today with the surgeons of the Healthy for Life center at St Mary. They think the insurance company is crazy and fully document why I should be sent back to the University of Chicago and that it is medically beneficial for me to have the duodenal switch procedure instead of the […]

I had an appointment today with Dr. Champsey of the Healthy for Life center at St Mary.  He listens to the entire thing I have been thru over the past year and I provide him with the documentation of everything that has been done. He agrees the best solution for me would probably be the […]

So the insurance company drops a bomb on us today.  As of May 1st, they no longer cover the University of Chicago as in network since my Hospital has now opened their own Obesity Treatment Center. I will have to start the process all over again and go see this new center and have my […]

Ok so we follow another twelve weeks and they again send the paperwork in this time with full progress notes and details each week and everything so we are good now right. Now the case worker for the insurance company is complaining that the progress notes do not have the Primary Care Physicians logo on […]

Ok so the primary care physician sends in the documentation again, and once again they don’t like the information and they say they now want more lab and blood work and want full progress notes on each step of the diet procedure.

All day event consisting of visits with Dietitians, Psychologists, Surgery team all went well and I was accepted as a good candidate for the surgery. They informed me to compete the final step, which was the insurance approval.

After the 12 weeks on the physician supervised diet, my primary care physician sends in the letter and details of everything we did. The insurance company contacts me and informs me they do not like the documentation and they want actual progress notes and I will have to start the 12 weeks all over again.

After the recommendation from someone in the respiratory field that I work with and trust, I chose Dr. Alexander Bozanich, he evaluated me and my sleep Athena and had me go thru some tests and cleared me for surgery

The first hurdle in the battle was seeing my Primary Care Physician and getting him to agree to the sugery, this proved to be the easiest step.  He agreed as he had been treating me for years for all of my medical issues and we started the 12 weeks of required supervised diet required by […]

After years of trying to control my weight with diets and every other type of “fad” there was, I finally decided to seek surgical help for my weight control issues. I decided to go with Center for the Surgical Treatment of Obesity The University Of Chicago Medical Center a friend at work Michael Brady highly reccomended […]