sara

hi jem i was just banded on friday the 13th ( i love my date lol ) i had dr grossbard , he is in zephyrhills i can give you his number if you want ... my surgery went great , and i love the idea that he talked with us for 2 hours after surgery to answer any more questions that we had, he also showed us the surgery on video ( but wouldnt tell us which one of us it was lol ) there were 4 of us that day that had been banded , i have to say i am very pleased that i chose him as my surgeon, he is blunt and to the point about everything and he even has the band on himself and has lost 105 lbs , so that is also a plus in my descision, i also live in tampa ... feel free to email me if you want to know anything else ok and good luck !!! sara

hey yall , i was just curious if anyone was from colorado on here...............im wanting to move there hopefully within the year and wanted some opinions on fill doctors ........... thanks :confused: sara

hi yall , i need some opinions on this ......... when i went to the seminar for the band ...... the doctor was giving us heads up on some of the insurance companies they have dealt with and their expierences on who pays and who doesnt .......... well i can afford to pay for the surgery myself , so i just didnt even try to see if insurance would , i guess in my mind i didnt want to wait ... especially since i was scheduled 16 days after my first drs visit ....im scheduled to have the band on 2/13/04 , i called bc/bs hmo yesterday , just to see if it was covered , they said yes it was , all i need was a note from my primary doc suggesting that this would be a good thing for me to have for my health ...... that wont be a problem , i have an appt today and he is all for wls .... my question is , i dont want to wait , im going to be banded next friday , in anyones exp , have you been reimbursed after the surgery ?? and this is the big question , obviously my docs letter has to go in front of the board of bc/bs to be approved , they say that they require past diet exp failures and stuff ,. i dont have that kind of stuff . we are talking like my whole life and im 33 , thats not the kind of stuff you save ........... nutrisystem reciepts?> Optifast stuff , what do i need , the boxes from ww meals ???? i want to try to push this as fast as i can , i have a week to see what happens , i guess im just looking for opinions , especially about the reimbursement after surgery ............. any info would be greatly appreciated .......thank you :confused: sara

im really not sure yet ........i want to go to a school in lakewood, so probably going to look for a place around there to begin , and im going to come out there for a visit in march ( but only for a couple of days ) then hopefully ill be out there before the end of the year ...........ive read about dr johnell on obesityhelp.com he does sound like a very good dr ., when are you going to be banded ?? my surgery is set up for next friday ( i cant wait ) sara

glad to see all went well .........ive got 8 days and counting til mine !!!!! sara

GOOOOOD LUCK TOMORROW TERRI !!!!!!!!!!!!!! its your big day :confused: happy re-birth day lol sara

hi bullit , i too have researched both the gbp and now the lapband and like you have concluded that the lap band would be the better choice for me in the long run ........... i didnt like all the stapling and re-attaching that the gbp did to the inside body , i was actually scheduled to have it the end of oct but backed out .............. until i met someone that had the lap band and was loving it , i researched more on it and decided it was the way to a new life....... i am going to be banded friday the 13th of feb ( and yes i love the date lol ) i am sooo excited but nervous , i am 33 not married and no kids , but i want to have kids someday and although ive read stories about some who have had children after the gbp and they were healthy , i just liked the idea of the lap band more , where all the Fluid can be taken out and you can pretty much eat normally during your pregnancy ..... my personal choice as ive said is the lap band ........ but whatever you chose im sure will be the best for you ......... good luck which ever way you go :confused: sara

i forgot to ask my doc if i was going to spend the night in the hospital ............ ive asked him tons of questions but that one !! i am going to call first thing monday , but i figured i would ask yall first to get some input ........... my surgery is at 9 am ......... is it normal to stay at least one night? or do you think im going to go home the same day ? sara :confused:

congrats !!!!!!!!!!!!!! my surgery is 2 weeks from today , i know exactly how your feeling , does the dr have you on any pre op diet ? dr grossbard has me on the atkins ( which ive attempted before and lost nothing ) but this is more for shrinking the liver to make surgery easier ....you have pretty much the same story as me ....... i researched gbp for like a year , was even scheduled back in oct , but i chickened out because i was afraid of all the cutting of the anatomy , didnt think much of the lapband until i met someone who had it ........ and the more i researched it the more i loved it and thought it would be the best possible surgery for me ........ im not afraid to admit i need help , ive been overweight my whole life pretty much , im 33 , single , no kids and that is not the way i want to live , i want to feel good about myself and i have alot of things i want to do in my life that is halted by my weight ......... we will both do great with this band !!! we should keep in touch with making this journey ....... best wishes on a good surgery !! sara :confused:

thank you guys sooooo much for the responses!! that was one of the few things i was nervous about ...... but not anymore :confused: my countdown is 2 WEEKS FROM TODAY !!!!

hi yall :confused: , just wanted to introduce myself , im sara in tampa florida , my surgery date is friday feb 13th .... my doc is dr grossbard .........just a quick question , ive been researching bariatric surgery for over a year , was scheduled for gastric bypass in oct of last yr ........ chickened out , i got a nervous about all the cut and pasting to be done to my anatomy .... im overall healthy , just fat ! and have been battling my weight my whole life , one of the girls at my moms drs office said she was banded and although i heard about it ... i just went right to the extreme with the gbp , well learning more and more about the band , im hooked ! its exactly what im looking for , i am still quite nervous about the surgery and the " afterlife " but this is something i need to do to get my life back and feel good about myself , i would love to get any and all info from " real bandsters" not just websites and info pages ...............im on the atkins right now , ( not my favorite diet because im not that big of a meat eater ) but its going ok ........anyways , my question is , i just had my appt on jan 27th and i was amazed at how quick im going in for surgery ....... has anyone else ( besides dr grossbards patients ) moved this quickly ? ive been to one seminar , have had one appt with the dr to which we scheduled the surgery , i am to go to the hospital 3 days prior for lab work and some tests and then BAM , surgery ............ i just want to know if this seems pretty normal ? ohh , an im self paying because my insurance wont .............. any help is much appreciated !!! thanks sara