Considering

I have a BMI of about 36 and considerting a band. At age 51, I have yo yoed several times in my life by about 70-80 pounds and countless times by smaller (20-30 pound) fluctuations. I am tired of constantly worrying about my weight, medical issues are starting to present themselves and, as I get older, it is increasingly difficult to lose without more radical assistance. My chief worry is about what my life would be after going through the procedure. I was wondering whether any of you who also had lower BMI's have regretted (or know of anyone with lower BMIs's who regretted) going through the procedure?

Have you had your procedure yet? How did it go?

I had the same question as you about 6 months ago and also didn't get many responses -- maybe there were two or three, but I can't remember for sure. I think that someone told me that Dr. Pomp's name did not come up as frequently as some other physician's for lapband, because he also does other types of gastric surgery. This was expressed as a positive thing, since it presumably made him less biased for this particular procedure, in contrast to other physicians who were a bit more factory-like in doing this same procedure virtually exclusively. I don't have my own opinion on whether or not this is valid -- just reporting what someone else told me. I was referred to Dr. Pomp by my general physician. I did some independent web-based research, and he seemed to be very qualified. I don't recall his specific title at NY Hospital, but he is very senior -- he has also published several papers on weight loss surgery, which I think is a good thing because it shows his level of interest and knowledge. I did in fact visit him, found him to be extremely nice, helpful and knowledgeable. I think due primarily to what my insurance (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) requires, I need to see a nutritionist/dietician in his program monthly for six consecutive months before the procedure can take place. I went two or three times and then got overconfident because I was losing so much weight on my own, so I skipped the next several months. After gaining the weight back, I just re-started seeing the nutrionist/dietician again, which means that I have to wait another 6 months before the procedure. All of this is a long way of saying that I have only actually seen Dr. Pomp for the initial visit but have not yet had the procedure or a lot of additional interaction. I will say that his staff is great. I like the dietician/nutritionist (Liz Goldenberg). A good thing about the 6 monthly visits, is that there is a lot of discussion about the procedure itself, and she is very helpful about prodding me about getting the necessary medical clearances as well as getting me to practice the new techniques that I will be required to follow when the procedure takes place, like small bites, chewing well, limiting liquid intake immediately before, during and immediately after meals -- also discussing strategies for avoiding temptation, controlling portion sizes, etc -- i.e. behavioral stuff. An additional plus is that they just moved to new space across from NY Hopsital. Although this maybe shouldn't be an important consideration, the brand new space is a real pleasure as compared to the relatively decrepit old space inside the hospital. I hope this is helpful. If your insurance requirements aren't the same as mine, you might end up moving through the process faster than me, in which case I hope to hear from you how your experience with Dr. Pomp goes.

I am in the early stages of considering the procedure and have been referred to Dr. Pomp at New York Hospital. Has anyone had any experience with him or heard of his reputation?