Dr. Gerald Kirshenbaum - Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum

[minidriver 0]

Marie, So glad to hear your Dad is doing well. Sending warm wishes your way. Keep taking good care of him and your whole family, that will make it a little easier if you stay well rested.

Mini,

Put me down for -3 lbs. Yeah this fill is working again.

We go to Cancun on Saturday I can't wait...I need a vacation so bad.

Okay, I added you in. Have a FANTASTIC trip. Oh, that sounds so fun.

[lotzasunshine 2]

Oh, Marie. Thanks for checking in and letting us know. I was thinking about you last night and wondering what was happening.

It sounds like things are going as well as could be hoped for at this point. That is an amazing string of fortunate happenings. Hopefully they will continue!!! That's so funny that he woke up to watch the game. ahhh, the healing power of football!

Congrats on the new nephew. We love you too. Please let us know if we can help.

Marie, So glad to hear your Dad is doing well. Sending warm wishes your way. Keep taking good care of him and your whole family, that will make it a little easier if you stay well rested.

Mini,

Put me down for -3 lbs. Yeah this fill is working again.

We go to Cancun on Saturday I can't wait...I need a vacation so bad.

Whoohoo! I can use multiquote!! Thank you both for your concern! I very much appreciate it!!

[Donna113 2]

For anyone considering surgery outside of commuting distance, I recommend first checking to see what kind of after care you can receive locally. Who will do your fills/unfills? How much will it cost? What if you need emergency unfill? Does your local hospital/emergency center know what to do? Is it covered by insurance if you have to go to the emergency center? You may save a bit on the front end by traveling to a different city, state or even country but the after care may cost a lot more. There are many bandsters who post on here that they are not doing well after the surgery because they aren't properly restricted and can't afford to get a fill because they can't afford the travel bill or the local doctors won't give them fills because they didn't do the surgery or if they will do it, they charge them 10 times more than they charge their own patients, etc.

The above scenario may not apply to you but these are things you should be aware of and research because the surgery is only a start, it's the aftercare that helps you reach your goal.

[lotzasunshine 2]

It bugs me when patients from other Doctors post on our thread. Either we HAVE been banded by Dr. K or we are GOING to be banded by him. I hope everyone checks the details before they are banded regardless of if it is close to home or not. But the decision is usually made if we are posting on here. AND we are self pay, so the insurance thing would not apply.

[jmegirl 2]

I agree, that sorta came out of left field... :smile2:

[Donna113 2]

The title of the thread is "Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum" not "Have or will be banded by Dr. Kirshenbaum"

I'm not saying don't do it, what I am saying is look before you leap. The after care is just as important and if you can't get good after care locally and traveling to Dr. K on a regular basis is not in the cards for you, then you should do a little more research to figure out how you are going to obtain good, affordable after care.

[lotzasunshine 2]

The title of the thread is "Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum" not "Have or will be banded by Dr. Kirshenbaum"

I'm not saying don't do it, what I am saying is look before you leap. The after care is just as important and if you can't get good after care locally and traveling to Dr. K on a regular basis is not in the cards for you, then you should do a little more research to figure out how you are going to obtain good, affordable after care.

I agreed with the fact that people need to research before jumping in. I was just confused as to why you posted it in a thread that has been going for so long, where "Considering" is most likely already over for the OP.

[lotzasunshine 2]

So I got excited this morning when I got on the scale because it shows another 1.5 down. I didn't even have a chance to move it when I gained and now I am back to it. I seem to lose the most on the weekends when I don't watch what I eat very carefully. Go figure.

[jmegirl 2]

The title of the thread is "Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum" not "Have or will be banded by Dr. Kirshenbaum"

I'm not saying don't do it, what I am saying is look before you leap. The after care is just as important and if you can't get good after care locally and traveling to Dr. K on a regular basis is not in the cards for you, then you should do a little more research to figure out how you are going to obtain good, affordable after care.

I guess you didn't really read much past the first page of this thread. This thread is hundreds of pages long, and if you take a look, we are just a chatty bunch of Dr. K's patients who talk about anything and everything in life. :smile2:

Sure, people who are considering Dr. K come here and ask questions - I myself did that two months ago. But once they've made the decision to have surgery with him, they come back to this thread just to chat and get to know all his other patients who are happy with his work.

I don't think the people who regularly visit this thread are going to read much into your post.

[jmegirl 2]

So I got excited this morning when I got on the scale because it shows another 1.5 down. I didn't even have a chance to move it when I gained and now I am back to it. I seem to lose the most on the weekends when I don't watch what I eat very carefully. Go figure.

YAY way to go!

I always find myself falling off the wagon on the weekends, but sticking to the diet during the week. At least, traditional diets end that way. I'm not sure how my banding will be. Almost there, 23 days left!!!

[Donna113 2]

You are probably right, Jmegirl. It's just that I feel so sorry for those bandsters who get banded far from home because they were looking at saving a couple of thousand dollars up front only to find out that they are rejected by local doctors for after care. I don't think it's fair that doctors do that, but they do it as countless bandsters on this site will attest. Those doctors who agree to provide after care oftentimes will charge more than they charge their own surgical patients. When looked at in total, bandsters may find that in the long term the cost is too great because 1. they can't afford the travel costs; 2. take time off from work; or 3. local doctors discriminate against them for pursuing cheaper options out of city/state/country.

[Tally 0]

It bugs me when patients from other Doctors post on our thread. Either we HAVE been banded by Dr. K or we are GOING to be banded by him. I hope everyone checks the details before they are banded regardless of if it is close to home or not. But the decision is usually made if we are posting on here. AND we are self pay, so the insurance thing would not apply.

Thank you Marie, well said. I don't think anyone just decides on a whim to do this with no research.

Deb

[Donna113 2]

I wasn't implying people do this on a whim... some things like post surgery fills/unfills and whether you can get them done locally are things people may overlook in their desperate search for an affordable surgery. When you are self-pay, things can move pretty quickly. I don't understand the outpouring of outrage. Don't you want to encourage future bandsters to do their research and ensure great follow up care, regardless of your personal feelings about your choice of doctors?

[Tally 0]

You are probably right, Jmegirl. It's just that I feel so sorry for those bandsters who get banded far from home because they were looking at saving a couple of thousand dollars up front only to find out that they are rejected by local doctors for after care. I don't think it's fair that doctors do that, but they do it as countless bandsters on this site will attest. Those doctors who agree to provide after care oftentimes will charge more than they charge their own surgical patients. When looked at in total, bandsters may find that in the long term the cost is too great because 1. they can't afford the travel costs; 2. take time off from work; or 3. local doctors discriminate against them for pursuing cheaper options out of city/state/country.

I live in Florida and was banded by Dr. K last month. There is a Dr. (and a good one too) right here in my town but it would have cost me $7,000 more to go with him. That's a lot of fills considering Dr. K's fills are free for three months and then a mere $15.00. My travel costs are under $350. for airfare, hotel, rental car and Super Shuttle to the airport. That is a bit to pay (for me) but I don't think I will ever get to that extra $7,000 that I would have had to pay locally, oh, and then the fill fee of $150.

[Donna113 2]

Tally, in your case, it sounds like you made the right decision in going with Dr. K.