Been thinking about getting banded

DoggieMom · December 7, 2010

Hi Everyone,

I'm brand new to this site and brand new to the idea of getting banded. I'm pretty sure this is what I need to do as I need to lose about 100 pounds and nothing else has worked. I'm starting to get some serious health issues - I have pretty bad arthritis (everywhere) and my diabetes is starting to get out of control even after my Dr. has upped my meds. I don't want to go on insulin, so I need to lose weight!

So what I want to ask you all is how to go about finding and deciding on a surgeon? A Dr. Brad Watkins from West Chester, OH was recommeded to me, but I think it would make more sense to use someone closer to my Pickerington, OH home. Or does that matter? How many times do you see the surgeon? Dr. Watkins does have a fill center here in the Columbus area.

I sure could use some advice. Thanks so much

Renee2010 · December 7, 2010

Hi and welcome! I was just banded on Dec 1 and live In Reynoldsburg, Oh..not too far from u. I went with mid-ohio surgical and they are amazing! Dr. Miller did my surgery but they have a couple more surgeons in their practice as well. I chose Dr. Miller because for appts he's closer....near mt. Carmel east and the other 2 are near the west side. Hope this info helps....I'm 6 days post op and glad I did this. Let me know if u have any questions!

DoggieMom · December 8, 2010

Hi Renee2010,

I hope this gets to you - I have no idea how this forum thingy works. Thanks for responding - so far you're the only one. Yes, you're very close to me. P'town and Reynoldsburg are neighbors and I used to live in R'burg before I moved to P'town.

First of all, congratulations on getting banded. I hope you're feeling well and doing well. If you don't mind, could we just email each other because I'm totally confused with this forum and how to use it. My email is sstrup@insight.rr.com, so could you respond to me that way? How did you go about deciding on mid-ohio surgical? Were they recommended to you? May I ask, did your insurance pay or are you self pay. I have to self pay, so price, obviously is a factor. Would you mind telling me what it cost? The Dr. I mentioned in West Chester quoted me about $14K, which includes 2 years of fills. I have about a million other questions, but I'll wait until I see if this gets to you first. Best of luck to you!