KelCan

To hnladue - I may be going to the September support group with Dr. D. I was surprised they want us to attend BEFORE we have surgery. To Barbie 1978, Gilta and Carol also - I just met with Dr. DiBenedetto last week for the first time. It was a total chance. I had my information session on 8/13 with Dr. Gandhi the new doctor. I liked him. I liked him so much that I decided to go with him, however, because he is so new (July) he is not credentialed yet with my insurance company. I called the office back and decided it would probably be best if I went with Dr. DiBenedetto so I did. I had a 10/01 appointment. They called me back the same day and said they had a cancellation for 8/20!!!!! WOW was I excited! It went well. I like Dr. D. very much. The support staff in the office I felt was over-the-top wonderful. The only thing that threw me a bit was he said I may want to consider the gastric bypass over the banding due to my family history and my binge eating. He said we would explore that more on my second visit. Now I am confused and perplexed. I have all of my other appointments scheduled; sleep study, nutrition, psych all in September! Now I have to get losing weight. I found out my cousin is also going through all of this at the same time as I am in Corning or Elmira. Just had a family reunion and 2 more cousins had the bypass and one has lost over 100 pounds, one 160 in the last one year. For a gal who was not considering bypass, this sounds very positive!!!! To Carol - HOW ARE YOU DOING POSTOP???? I thought for sure I would have heard how you were doing by now. It's been, what, about 3 weeks? Thank you all for your support in helping me make a decision, especially regarding Dr. DiBennedetto. I feel at home there; very comfortable all the way around. No matter what decision I make, I feel I am making it in the very best place. Actually, I feel more like I am going forward for sure, but the whole bypass idea has thrown me off. Did any of you have that recommended to you instead of the LapBand and what did you decide?

Sounds pretty easy. It won't be long now! KelCan

Gilta - I am excited for you!!! Let me know how your preop testing went! KelCan

Gilta - Think of it as you are not the odd ball, but you give a different perspective. In this area I live in many patients get transferred to Highland for various reasons and I usually hear good things. Plus, you are only in there a day. It is the office pre- and post-followup that will be what makes this a good experience, in my inexperienced opinion. You will lose the weight but I think no matter what, you have to believe you will first. I read recently that we have to think our way to it. Believe it and it will come to you. Whatever you think is what you will get, negative or positive. We have to remember this is just a tool, like WW, like any diet, like a pill - it will work if we work with it and we still have to make all of the other changes to be successful. What we do right now is going to have to change in order to win this battle for life and we will have to fight every day no matter how much weight we lose. We will always be a recovering obese person, even when we reach our goals. However, we need to look in the mirror and see what it is that we wish to accomplish and keep that mental imagine in our mind to be successful. No matter what, it will not be easy! Nothing worth having ever is. YOU CAN DO IT! You will have GREAT results!!!! PLUS, no pressure here, but you know I am going to coat-tail you through this now!!! I have to see how you are doing before I make any decisions!!!! :smile2: Have a good week! KelCan

Barbie - I have The Empire Plan for insurance. The only thing my PCP said was she feels they would accept me because of: A - My BMI which meets criteria and B - My very, very strong family history of morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc. etc.. I also have a 6-year history of continued participation in Weight Watchers where in the first 3 years I lost 78 pounds and never missed a meeting. Of course, they may not look at that in particular just because of the time guidelines. I do not have any of the secondary comorbid conditions, but any insurance company should look at my profile and realize I am a ticking timebomb if I do not make some changes. Hey, I'll be saving them a lot of money later on! If I am required to be in a program and I have a choice I'll go back to Weight Watchers. I love that program. This time I'd do Core as it is closer to what my choices should be after surgery (should I have it). If I am going to do this, I might as well start the lifestyle fairly soon and get used to it. Everytime I eat a piece of white bread I think about how if I make this choice I have to be okay with not having it, or probably not having it post Lap-Band (based on what I read). Then I get thinking...so, I can live without that. If I can just get these "mental" thoughts straightened out in my head.... I hope Dr. DiBenedetto speaks on 8/14!!!! KelCan

Barbie & Gilta - I wanted to let you know I met with my PCP Wednesday and she said was 100% for Lap Band. She actually has not had any patients that had this procedure done. I have an appointment for the informational seminar at RGH on August 14 - I called this morning. I am going to go in once a month to have the nurse at my PCP's office weight me and take my blood pressure so we can start keeping track of personal progress. I had lost about 7 pounds from April. This at least starts the process in the right direction. Have spent so much time reviewing information from dozens of web sites, watching the procedure, etc. I am feeling like Lap Band is really for me at this point. Who knows, I may find something out different at the informational seminar. I will keep an open mind to all of this. OH - I also did tell my physician I wanted to go to Dr. DiBenedetto if we do proceed. Thanks again for all of your help that got to me to this next step. Hope both of you are doing well! KelCan

Barbie1978 - Thank you for your comments about Dr. DiBenedetto. So far I have seen very positive feedback regarding him. I go Wednesday to meet with my primary care physician to see what she thinks on the whole thing (though she suggested it to me in February and I said "NO WAY"! - Had not hit rock bottom yet.) Since last post I did time on YouTube watching people's video; diaries pre- and post Lap Band. This was something that was recommended to me on the "Chat" portion of this web site. It was well, well worth my time. I have also researched the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery to find physicians that are members in our area. I have also researced Centers of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery. Buffalo would be the closest to find facilities that earned this recognition. No Rochester physicians that I found are affiliated with this status. I am glad you shared that about the other doctors. Most of my family that has had the gastric bypass done had Dr. O'Malley, I believe. He was the only one I had "heard" of. All good info to stuff into my pocket. Congratulations on having your psych eval done. I am sure one step closer to the real deal feels fantastic! I still am struggling to find information regarding the psychology behind my eating. I won't give up. Thanks again! KelCan

Thanks Gilta! I will do that. Just watched the video on the procedure itself and it was very interesting and answered some anatomical questions I had. Also referred me to a couple of other web sites, which will be helpful. Also going to investigate and see who is listed are Centers of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery with the American Association for Bariatric Surgeon. "Talk" to you later. Thanks again for being so open and sharing so much information.

Thank you, Gilta! Thanks for sharing that. Like anything else it takes 1 bad experience to wipe out 100 good experiences. I'll be objective in my research. Obviously, you did your research and congratulations - 1 month to go! How exciting it must be for you to think about what your health and life will be like this time next year? Do you have any personal opinions, since you have friends that have had both, why with gastric bypass there seems to be a high rate of gaining the weight back? I was wondering if it was because the stomach can be stretched again whereas with Lap Band you have the fills to keep you "tight." I have many family members who have had gastric bypass and it seems to me, based on what I see, is they are again eating portions like they were before. Of course, there are psychological reasons behind it all I am sure, as with me and my eating. In your research, have you found statistics that show how Lap Band patients are doing with weight loss and keeping it off? I am trying to find that. I am still all hung up on the psychological part of weight loss, Lap Band or not. I want to get down to what is eating me to get to why I am eating. In the area where I live we have very limited resources. And my research continues. Thanks for sharing. Will check back later.

I am considering Lap Band. I am located in an area where I would prefer to go to Rochester if I have it done but would go elsewhere within reason if I thought it was worth the traveling. Depends on the doctors too, of course. I want the best. I have not committed to the decision yet. I go in next Wednesday to speak with my medical doctor about it. When I was in last February for my physical she asked me if I had considered gastric surgery. I assumed then she met bypass. I said "no way, not for me" but now thinking differently since hearing about the Lap Band. I have had many family members who had gastric bypass done and most have put back on a considerable amount of weight. I just turned 40, battled with weight my entire adult life, did lose about 80 pounds with Weight Watchers over 2 years but put 50 of it back on in 3 years. I never thought I would be back at the place I started. I swore those habits would never come back. I have probably 110 to 120 pounds to lose. I have read GREAT things about Dr. DiBenedetto at RHG on these postings. Anyone have any other surgeons that you would highly recommend? If I am going to do it, I am going to do it with the best and do it right! Since you are all so open, could you share with me who you highly recommend or who I should stay clear of? I see Highland got a serious deficiency on this site. Good to know and I am smart enough to be objective at the same time. I am going to browse the various forums for more information on how patients are doing. Thanks for taking the time to post and especially to someone just looking into this, it has been a major source of information for me, aside from the formal literature - the "real" people story. ONE MORE QUESTION - What about psychological counseling before and after? I loved the WW program but the one thing they did not address is the psychology behind why we eat like we do. Even my doctor agrees and offers little help as she just does not know where to send me. The one person in our area who does "behavioral counseling" is a skinny little gal who, I am told, has never been overweight in her entire life. I want the whole package; the weight loss, the psychological support (from a place that has the appropriate knowledge) and a healthy lifestyle. I realize all of the surgery or weight loss programs in the world will not fix what is ingrained in my brain. I am ready to fix what is wrong with me but I need to find out what that is first! LOL!!!! Thanks for your help!