Sunmaid

Hiya! I'm new and have been researching gastric banding for a while now. Decided to get it done, and my PCP doesn't have any recommendations at all. Does anyone have any experience with any surgeons for this procedure in Pittsburgh, PA? Thanks!

Hiya everyone! I've been looking into weight loss surgeries for quite some time, but bypass just scares the heck out of me. Banding seems doable and less messing with internal organs is always a good idea in my book. I'm 5'9", large frame, 35 years old, mother of 2 boys, and weigh 272ish pounds. Haven't gotten on a scale in a week, but it was 272 a week or so ago. I've tried Weight Watchers (1.5 years, lost 25 lbs), Atkins (1 year, lost 72 lbs), and a variety of other low fat/carb/cal diets and exercise plans. All of the weight from all of the diets just comes back on plus some. So...I'm thinking something more permanent that can serve as a constant reminder might be a good idea. Hence my presence here. Anyway, I live just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and have Health America as insurance. My company seems to have opted to add in the bariatric inclusion option to the plan, so I'm hoping that means banding is covered (haven't checked yet). Any advice on the insurance process or surgeon recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I just called my new PCP (old one retired) and they're not scheduling physicals until June! I asked if there was anyone they recommended for the surgery so I could at least get started on the consults, and she said no, so I'm at a bit of a loss. Thanks!

Hiya! I got the reviews/testimonials from this website: http://obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bariatric+surgeons+in+pennsylvania+performing+Lap+Band.html I was able to search for surgeons in the state, then then broke it down by city. They only had 2 listed for Pittsburgh, which there has to be more than that given all the hospitals we have around here. Saw my new PCP on Monday, and she's pretty against the surgery. Not just lap-band, but all. Considering how skinny she is, I can't same I'm all that surprised though. She has me trying "life-style" changes first before she's willing to discuss it. Since most of it is stuff I'll have to do once banded anyway (smaller portions, more Water, exercise, etc.) I might as well. Hope this counts towards the 6 month doc supervised diet though, sheesh! Let me know how it goes!

Was your band unfilled? Or maybe it slipped?

Cool! I actually came across her name while looking for surgeons just a few minutes ago. She seems to have a bunch of good reviews. There was one for a doctor at AGH, but he got good reviews, while his staff got bad ones. I noticed on the Magee website that they talk about being in surgery for 1-4 hours, as well as admitted for a couple days and having a catheter overnight, etc., which seems more like gastric bypass than the lap band. If you think of it, can you post what the real deal is? From what I gather, the band is just supposed to be 30-45m surgery and out-patient or overnight. I might give them a call and ask, but don't know if they'll give that kind of info out over the phone. Thanks and good luck!

Yup, trust me, I'd already started looking around for another new PCP. It's really funny, this is the 3rd time I'm changing this month. My old one retired, so I thought I might as well find a female doc this time around. Found a practice near my house that had 2 female docs in it, switched to them and called for an appointment. Both female docs moved to the practice and hour away. So I changed to another practice with 2 female docs, and they're the ones who aren't booking physicals any sooner than June. I just found *another* practice and called ahead this time before switching. They said they actually have an opening on Monday, so I switched to them. Watch, after the change goes into effect and I call them back, we'll see what happens. :rolleyes