Chappy08

Hello. I just had surgery yesterday with Dr. Richards and Cottom. I wanted to provide some feedback with my experience. My experience as a whole was very great! I will be going in for my first post-op appointment soon. Has anybody any feedback with the band fills here?

Long story short: I got my lap band put in yesterday!!! After having the hiatal hernia repair surgery in May I meet with my surgeon and discussed the options. As mentioned before having a severe hernia repair like mine, lap band may not be likely. The plan we made was to wait for my hernia to repair and go in in again in August with a plan A and plan B. Plan A is to have the Lap Band implanted. For this to be possible, my hernia repair would have to be repaired and healthy with not too much tissue damage and scar tissue. Plan B was to get do the bi-pass option. I was prepaired to do either one. When I woke up in the PACU the surgeon came by and told me that my hernia had healed wonderfully and that Lap Band was successful. I feel much better than the last time. I belly is sore and it hurts when I laugh. I am not having the insulflation pains I had with the hernia repair, which is probably because surgery this time was about 1 hour verses 4 hours for the hernia repair surgery. Thanks again for everybody's support! :thumbup:

Hello. Thanks for all the support and advice. The type of hernia I had was a hiatle (sp?) hernia. We knew we had it because I told them about it in my initial pre-op interview--I had an endoscopy years ago and the doctor told me I had it and was causing my gerd. Also before surgery the doctor wanted to do another endoscopy to look at everything. The doctor said that he could see that I had the hernia. There is no doubt that they didn't know about it. It must have been huge. And after much thought, I feel glad that they didn't put it in. It goes to show that they were smart enough to not take the risk of future band slippage. I'm still mad it didn't happen, but thankful they didn't take the risk and then in the future have a slippage problem. I still haven't seen the doctor to talk about my options yet. I don't know if I will be able to still get lap band or have to do bi-pass... Either way I will get the surgery done. My only concern is that I will have to pay more money. At this point my surgeries are free because I have reached my max out-of-pocket of $1500 per year. The sleep study and endoscopy maxed me out. (I also had a stapadectomy this fiscal year which helped me get to the max.) I hope that whatever my options are I can get it done before July 1, which is the beginning of the new fiscal year and where my max out-of-pocket resets. We'll see! I'll update this post after I see the doctor this Wednesday. Again, thanks for all the support and advise. :thumbup: Chappy

My doctor also told me that my hernia wasn't that bad and that it shouldn't be a problem when they put the lap band in... but, they were wrong. I had mine done in SLC Utah.

I went to get my lap band inserted. When I woke up, I was informed that they didn't actually insert the band. They said that the hernia I had was too big... They repaired my hernia and closed me up. I am so dissapointed. Apparently a large hernia puts me at risk at band slipage. The doctor recomended that I get gastric bypass in stead. I made an appointment to talk with the doctor to discuss my options. Any thoughts on this? :confused2:

I'm getting banded Tuedsay 5/6/08 at Salt Lake Regional. Dr. Christine Richards and Daniel Cottom (new guy from Vegas) will be my surgeons. I have had a positive experience with the Weight Loss Center and am very excited. Does anybody here have any feedback from this center/surgeons? Thanks, Matt

Hello. I am scheduled to get my Lap Band put in 5/6/08 with Dr. Richards and Cottam. I have not been able to find too much information on this forum regarding these surgeons and the weight loss center. From what I have experienced so far, the Weight Loss Center seems to be doing a good job. I have had lots of support and plenty of information. I am anxious to get it over with.