Anyone from Gainesville, Fl.

[Gregall 0]

Hi Stephanie. I was banded by Dr. Ben-David at Shands on Sept. 29, 2008. I'm feeling great so far. No complications. So far, down 80 lbs. 120 more to go. I hope you are feeling well. Take care.

[gatormel08 0]

Davidra--

We were banded by Ben-David the same day. :thumbup: How are you doing? My weight loss has really slowed down. I only have a small fill in right now but am definately going to get one my next appointment. How was your experience with Ben-David? Did you go home the same day or stay over night? I'd love to hear more about how you felt about him and Shands.

Another Gainesvillian here. I was banded with a Realize band by Ben-David on December 15th. Surgery was a piece of cake. Going a little slower than I would like, but I haven't had a fill yet so we'll see. Greg, how many fills have you had? 70 pounds sounds great!

[davidra 0]

Hi Mel. I haven't been on here at all, but continued with pretty good weight loss until last week, so I just had my first fill yesterday (surgery was Dec. 15). Could definitely tell the difference. Still on Clear Liquids until tomorrow. I just passed 30 pounds this morning. The fill will help a lot, I think. I'm not a good person to be objective, but I can just say that my experience was just fine. I went home at 2 PM the day of surgery and my follow-ups have been very good. Tammy is a great PA and has been very responsive to questions between visits.

Edited March 13, 2009 by davidra

[updegraff 0]

Hi I am from Middleburg and doing my three month of consults, etc with hope of being banded late May, 2009. I will be having it done by Dr. Baptista/Cywes in Jacksonville. Have you found a surgeon yet? Good luck!

[davinahope 0]

Hey I am from Gainesville, too. My surgeon will be Dr. Ben-David, provided insurance approves me. I've read great things in here about him. Someone said he is strict but supportive. Could anyone give examples of how his follow up appointments are post-op? Thanks. I've only seen him during my consult and he seemed very supportive, but yes also strict; told me to lose 10 pounds and theorized I would be out of the hospital the same day as my surgery. It excited me but also kind of made me cringe about the weight loss. :smile: Hopefully I am doing well with the latter, aside from the last week and a half-ish. Anyone who wants to get together as a group or stuff, I am up for making friends with the lapband. I could definitely use the support since my family is passive aggressive supportive (you probably know the type - telling you what you can and cannot eat, yet shoveling donuts into their mouths in front of you at 10pm, all the while still telling you not to touch one of the other donuts. A bit annoying, really.)

[soniathekitty 0]

I'm in Gainesville, FL too. Just getting started in the process, so who knows how long it will actually take. Glad to see local people on here.. :-)

[jgatorz11 0]

Good for you. You have made a good choice in getting this. I wish you luck. For me it took about two months to get everything together and insurance approval.