In Preparation for and beyond surgery...

An important part of the comprehensive Rocky Mountain Weight Loss Surgery Program is patient and family support.

We continue to serve Cheyenne residents with excellence and we are pleased they have chosen us as their weight loss surgery program. We think that serving patients outside of our immediate area is the greatest challenge of any top-quality weight loss surgery program.

We think the The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center is unique among surgical weight loss centers in our region and we hope you will agree

The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center includes:

• Support Staff
• Nutrition Education Program
• Education Manual
• Psychiatric Evaluation and Counseling
• Office Staff
• Peri-operative Nursing & Support Staff
• Follow-up Program
• Support groups
• Website Resources
• Reconstructive Surgery

Patient service begins with organization, but is founded in individuals. Professionals within our program, truly care about your convenience and success.

1. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Support Staff
   Our Network is really about professionals who are available and who care. This starts with your surgeons, Dr. Fermelia and Dr Pullos. Constance Schmidt is our Rocky Mountain Weight Loss Surgery Program Bariatric Nurse Coordinator. Leigh Christy is our Bariatric Office Coordinator. In addition to Constance and Leigh, we have a strong team who will be with you throughout your experience. Please get to know them, and other very important people to our program in our Key People and Meet the Surgeons sections.
   
   
2. Rocky Mountain Weight Surgeon Lectures & Website
   CRMC Lifestlyes Mangement Program Preoperative Education
   This site is maintained for the benefit of our patients and is an important part of our preoperative information and education program. Please take the time to explore the whole site. Dr. Fermelia gives monthly lectures at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Cheyenne on Weight Loss Surgery. Dr. Fermelia also travels to give lectures across the state and hopes soon to offer these lectures via a teleconference network. Dr. Fermelia discusses Weight Loss Surgery Options and all procedures in the lectures, but the lectures do have emphasis if you are more interested in the Gastric Bypass Roux-en-Y, or in the Lap-Band respectively. If you are exploring your options either lecture is appropriate.
   
   
3. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Nutrition Education Program
   Before your surgery, we begin the process of helping you learn healthy eating habits that, combined with the surgery, will help you lose weight and build your new life. First of all, you will need to know in great detail what you life will be like after surgery to make an informed decision about having surgery and which procedure you might choose. You will need to know how to use your weight loss “anatomical tool” from the first post-operative day. You will need to have effective strategies not only to achieve your initial weight loss, but also to maintain you weight loss through your entire life. Weight loss surgery will be a permanent solution to the problem of serious obesity if you continue the good habits we will teach you, and continue to reinforce, so that you make changes that will be effective in the long-term.
   
   
4. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Education Manual
   This is an easy-to-follow guide with detailed information to follow learn before your surgery and to use during your recovery. This manual includes the following:
   1. Preoperative Manual on how to progress through the necessary preoperative steps in your education and preparation for safe surgery.
   2. Hospitalization Manual with emphasis on how the patient can contribute to achieving safe surgery, what to expect at the time of surgery, and how to care for yourself at home.
   3. Post Operative Manual on what to expect as you heal from surgery and begin to use your “anatomical tool” for weight loss with emphasis on “Rules to live by.
   4. The Diet Manual that is your preoperative learning tool and your post-operative resource that explains the Goals, stages of the post-surgical diet, with Guidelines and Key Habits for “A Lifetime of Weight Control”.
   5. Nutrition Supplementation Manual that discusses specifically the Vitamin/Mineral supplementation protein intake strategies and supplementation necessary to remain healthy.
   6. The Exercise Manual discusses the importance of and safe strategies to compound your initial and long-term weight loss through lifelong activity.
      
      
5. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Psychiatric Evaluation and Counseling
   The surgeons of this program, the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, and often insurance companies insist on a psychological evaluation before surgery. It is not something that should be done just so the patient and insurance companies can just “cross it off the list”. Weight loss surgery is as much a psychological tool as a physical tool. We often say that weight loss surgery is “not brain surgery”. You have to have a healthy psyche and be ready to use your “anatomical tool”. We want to be sure you are an appropriate candidate for surgery and it is the appropriate time in your life for you, on a personal level, to make this profound change in your life. We have specially trained weight loss surgery psychologists who do these evaluations, and can give you the confidence that weight loss surgery is right for you. If psychological counseling is necessary before or after your surgery, we can work with a therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist of your choice or recommend a number of choices to meet your needs.
   
   
6. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Office Staff
   Brittany Thorpe, our patient coordinator is the hard working individual who gets the patient into our program by collecting and organizing patient data for the surgeons. The surgeon prepares detailed consultation and synopsis of the patient and with the help of the Rocky Mountain Weight Loss Surgery Associates Office. Our experienced staff will advise the patient on payment options. If the patient is a candidate for benefits from the their third party payer (insurance company), an application for benefits is made by our office. We will coordinate an appeal if appropriate.
   
   
7. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Peri-operative Nursing & Support Staff
   We have specifically trained all personnel at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in the care of the weight loss surgery patient. The preoperative nursing staff, the personnel in the operating room, the recovery room nurses and staff, the surgical unit nurses and staff, the radiology staff, and many others have had specific training and have experience in the management of weight loss surgery patients. You can be assured of their knowledge, expertise, and willingness to make you and your family’s experience as safe and pleasant as possible.
   
   
8. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Follow-up Program
   Dr. Fermelia, your registered dietitian,, the bariatric program nurse coordinators have a formal follow-up program. Your surgeons literally commit themselves to a lifetime of follow-up with you after your surgery, and will coordinate with your personal primary care provider and your medical specialists. You will receive an easy to use Patient Care Follow-Up Guide to keep you on track. It outlines when your appointments are, what laboratory and other tests you need and when, and gives you forms to get them accomplished.
   
   
9. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Support Groups
   At these meetings, you'll have a chance to share your experiences with others, hear about their new lives, and even develop some lasting friendships. It is important that you have a chance to hear what it is really like to live life after having weight loss surgery before your surgery. We want you to speak to someone who has had surgery as you make your decision. Your surgeons have a perspective that they can try to relate, but there is nothing like interacting with and being able to ask questions of other patients. Some will be early after their surgery and some will have had surgery some time ago. You will have some of the same questions as other patients. Postoperatively, you may become curious about a number of issues that may not occur to you until you are experiencing them. Often, other patients can make you feel like you are not the only one that has experienced one concern or the other, and they can give you a perspective that will make all the difference in the world. See our section on support groups where you will find an up to date support group schedule.
   
   
10. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Website Resources
    Certain resources will be available to patients at this website. As the Rocky Mountain Weight Loss Surgery Program matures, we will have more and more resources available online. Please visit our important links and resources page.
    
    
11. The Weight Loss Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Reconstructive Surgery
    Patients who'd like to eliminate the excess skin that results from significant weight loss may consider this option. Excess skin after weight loss surgery can be a concern for some patients. It can be a very good problem to have, because it means you were successful! You may or may not want skin reduction surgery. It is a very individual choice. We generally recommend this about a year and a half after weight loss procedure and beyond. We are happy to make a referral to a qualified plastic surgeon for those interested in skin reduction surgery.

CRMC Weight Loss Center Weight Loss Surgery Support Groups Pre and post operative Gastric Bypass, Gastric Sleeve resection, and Lap-Band patients and their support people are encouraged to attend.   Cheyenne 2nd & 4th Thursday of every month Exercise with us from 5:00-5:30PM Group runs from 5:30PM - 6:30PM The Weight Loss Center 421 E. 17th Street Lead by Shala Swarm, FNP-BC shala.swarm@crmcwy.org Phone 307-633-7619 | Toll free 866-633-7916   Laramie 3rd Thursday of each month from 6 - 7pm Education rooms @ Ivinson Memorial Hospital Lead by Caroljean Bongo, PsyD Phone 307-633-7619 | Toll free 866-633-7619 Casper 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month @ 5:30 – 6:30 pm Mountain View Regional Hospital 1st Floor Meeting Room 6550 East Second Street, Casper WY 82601 Lead by Ann Hunter, RD Phone 307-633-7619 | Toll free 866-633-7916 Please phone 307-633-7619 or Toll free 866-633-7916 with any questions.

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