Huntsville Area

[thecooley 2]

Thanks for the recommendations on alternate doctors! Depending on how my appointment with Dr. Mailapur goes this week, I may follow up with you folks.

Queenvaruk, I'm sorry if my criticism of the seminar caused offense. It was totally not my intention. I wanted to document my impressions of the seminar for other people who may be starting out, so they would know what to (or not to) expect. It was based on my doctor's and your recommendation that I decided to give Dr. Mailapur a try. I value your experience, and it has been encouraging to me.

I have thought about it quite a bit over the last few days, and I think several factors contributed to my negative feelings about the seminar. 1) The doctor showed up over 20 minutes late. Not a good first impression. 2) The $200 fee was stressed over and over again, but was never explained as an industry standard. I think a better explanation yould have made it easier to swallow, and seem less pretentious. 3) The doctor blew my question off in front of a lot of other people, who were probably interested in the answer. It gave me the impression that he is not interested in the patient's opinion or input. 4) The information given in the seminar was mostly a sales pitch for bariatric surgery, and was nothing more than what I had already gathered from this site and others like it.

I'm a firm believer in second chances, so I'm chalking the experience up to a bad day. I'm going into the consultation with a positive attitude (and my credit card!!).

[wtbgone 0]

Thanks for the recommendations on alternate doctors! Depending on how my appointment with Dr. Mailapur goes this week, I may follow up with you folks.

Queenvaruk, I'm sorry if my criticism of the seminar caused offense. It was totally not my intention. I wanted to document my impressions of the seminar for other people who may be starting out, so they would know what to (or not to) expect. It was based on my doctor's and your recommendation that I decided to give Dr. Mailapur a try. I value your experience, and it has been encouraging to me.

I have thought about it quite a bit over the last few days, and I think several factors contributed to my negative feelings about the seminar. 1) The doctor showed up over 20 minutes late. Not a good first impression. 2) The $200 fee was stressed over and over again, but was never explained as an industry standard. I think a better explanation yould have made it easier to swallow, and seem less pretentious. 3) The doctor blew my question off in front of a lot of other people, who were probably interested in the answer. It gave me the impression that he is not interested in the patient's opinion or input. 4) The information given in the seminar was mostly a sales pitch for bariatric surgery, and was nothing more than what I had already gathered from this site and others like it.

I'm a firm believer in second chances, so I'm chalking the experience up to a bad day. I'm going into the consultation with a positive attitude (and my credit card!!).

Hi thecooley - I also am using Dr. Britt and Dr. Groves. My band date is Tuesday, January 6th. My experience so far has been nothing but positive with Dr. Britt and Dr. Groves, as well as his nutritionist nurse - Amy. :cursing:

I would really recommend that you check them out. The reason I chose them is because Dr. Groves himself is banded and has lost 120 lbs! I just saw him last week - and he looks great! You can tell he is much skinnier now than the pictures of him on their website. But, what impressed me most of all was the way he described how it has changed his life - giving him the energy to play with his children and keep up with his family. Also, I was impressed with his honesty when he said that it wasn't easy, but his faith has helped him make it through too!

As far as cost - they require an upfront $100 fee only when you have your first consultation visit. I don't blame you for being upset about the way the seminar was run. Prior to even calling for my first appt with the doctors, I read everything I could about it on the web, watched videos of the surgery itself (which Dr. Britt & Dr. Groves have on their website, and read many, many of the posts here on LapBandTalk.com) So, I really didn't think a seminar could tell me anymore than what I already knew! :w00t: I would recommend that you do the same - just read everything you can about the surgery then schedule that first consultation visit with Dr. Britt and Dr. Groves. I think you will be pleased.

Good luck to you and blessings! :ohmy:

[Daisalana 33]

I'm glad Dr. Mailapur supports the lap-band now! I'm glad there's an alternative in Huntsville to Fuccundus(sp), whose office I thought was run horribly..

[thecooley 2]

Well, I said I would post a followup, so here it is.

Dr. Mailapur's office is in the Blackwell Medical Tower, just west of HH main. When we got inside the building, there was a man directing people to the stairs because sporadic power outages were affecting elevator operation. The doctor's office is on the fifth floor.

THE. FIFTH. FLOOR. (cue ominous music)

I pondered for a brief moment just waiting it out, but I hate being late, so I hauled my big ol' butt up five of the longest flights of stairs I have ever seen in my life. I was huffing, puffing, and sweating, but I made it. Talk about determination! :biggrin:

When I got to the office, the computers were down because of the power outages, so there was no paperwork for me to fill out (in addition to the 9 pages I filled out for the seminar, go figure). One cool thing, if your company does a flexible spending account for your medical expenses, it works here! I was able to put the $200 fee on my FSA Visa card. I will have to keep that in mind for the nutritionist, psychologist, or whoever else I have to hit up over the next 6 months.

After waiting about 45 minutes, I was called back by the nurse to gather some baseline data. They had this spiffy machine that takes your weight, body composition, and height, then spits out a bunch of percentages and your ideal numbers. Apparently I need to lose about 150 pounds. Not unexpected, but hard to hear when coming out of someone else's mouth.

After that I finally got to see the doctor. Since I had already filled out so much paperwork, he pretty much knew everything about me. I thought it was good that he had actually looked over my records before he came into the room. So basically he just asked what I wanted to know. He doesn't volunteer much information, so you really have to direct your questions and be specific. For my first question, I asked if he thought I would be successful with the lap-band, and he said no. So I asked why he felt that way. He said most of the people he's had experience with who had that much weight to lose tended to fail on lap-band because they had no discipline and ate a lot of soft foods like ice cream just to get around the restriction. Fair enough.

I asked several other questions about insurance, diet, and pregnancy, and I think over the course of the conversation, he decided that I do have the determination and discipline to do this. The last thing I asked was if I am doing the right thing, and he said yes, he thinks I can do it. Woohoo!!

So now the process begins. He gave me a HUGE checklist of stuff that I have to get for the insurance (he flat out said that BCBS is a pain in the butt and they are the hardest to deal with). Additionally, I have to lose 20-25 pounds before the surgery to be sure my liver isn't too big. No problem there. I think I'm going to go back on Weight Watchers, since that is what I am most familiar with. The doctor said that the last patient he saw before me cried because she had to lose "so much weight" before the surgery. Boy is she in for a rude awakening.

I guess I should give an overall impression of my experience so far. I think the tone of the seminar and the office visit is one that assumes the worst case scenario. They assume that you know nothing about either surgery, have no control over yourself, have unrealistic expectations of this "miracle cure", and that you have trouble remembering basic concepts. I think once I proved myself to him, that made the lines of communication much easier. He still didn't necessarily leave me with warm fuzzies, but I think a lot of his ambiguity comes from just wanting to do whatever you want (or feel like you can manage). Plus, I would rather him be a good surgeon than a good conversationalist.

I did have a look at Drs. Britt and Groves' website, just in case, but I think I am going to stick it out with Dr. Mailapur. I am going to watch the surgery video when I get home from work. Thanks to everyone for your support and recommendations!

[thecooley 2]

I should start a blog; my posts are becoming novel-length! Sorry about that. :biggrin:

[sabprich 0]

Hi all! This is my first time to post all though I joined the website several months ago. I am so glad there is a group for Huntsville banders. I was banded in February of this year and just recently had my second band fill. (It was not a good experience). I had to have some saline taken out and am doing better now, but it is definately an adjustment!

Dr. Facundus is my physician. I didn't even know there were other doctors in Huntsville that did the banding. Has anyone else used Dr. Facundus? and what has been your impression of him?

[Savedbygrace 11]

Hey everyone! I haven't been to this thread in a while.. well actually havent been on here much at all lately. It's good to hear that things are lining up for you cooley and welcome sabprich! I hope that all of you are doing well.

We had another support group meeting tonight at Huntsville Hospital. I missed all of you that weren't able t come. They are always encouraging and help to keep me on track.

I've been thinking of making a yahoo group for us. This site is GREAT but there are so many threads that it's sometimes hard to keep up with the locals... the group title says its from all of us who attend the gastric banding support group and huntsville hospital but if you're in north AL or southern Tn.. feel free to join. Also feel free to come to the support groups. My surgeon is in Birmingham so you dont have to use Huntsville Hospitals doctors to come to the meetings.

The site link is

newyoubandsters : New You Bandsters

Unfortunalty, I think you have to have or create a yahoo email or ID to join but that's simple. Let me know if you have any questions. The times and days of the live support group meetings are listed on that site too!!

[thecooley 2]

Hey y'all, it's been a while! I think I killed the group with all my giant posts! I promise to keep it short this time. :frown:

Well, I made it through the six month diet, and lost 23 pounds. During the additional month I had to wait for my surgery to be scheduled, I've lost another 6 pounds, bringing my total to 29. And that's before the surgery! Woohoo!

I am scheduled to be banded on September 14. I started my pre-op diet yesterday. It consists of a Protein shake for Breakfast and lunch, then 4-6oz of Protein and a cup of non-starchy veggies for dinner. So far it's not too bad; it's just a matter of finding the right flavor for the shakes that won't make me gag and wretch. I've settled on the Isopure dutch chocolate and creamy vanilla. I added some PB2 peanut powder to the vanilla flavor this morning, and it turned out pretty good. The chocolate is good on its own.

I will be at the bariatric surgery nutrition seminar this Thursday at the Wellness Center to get all my post-op eating info, so if anyone else is going to be there, let me know so I can say hi. Hope all you folks are doing well!

[gone 4 ever 6]

Hey cooly, I think you was at the support group meeting last night. Good luck:thumbup:

[thecooley 2]

Yep, that was me! I came in late because I somehow got signed up for the gastric bypass seminar (which is basically the same), and Linda wanted to be sure I got all the lap band specific info after the class was over. I was surprised at how many people were there for the support group. It seems like a nice bunch of folks.

[treasures 0]

If you can find it, I am in Grant, down the road from the Rocket City.

[Dixie37 0]

Cool, im in the new hope area.. right next to grant.. Im schedueling surgery wed. with dr. groves in albertville. Im so nervous too but anxious to begin my new life. I go to the chat every night if you wanna come chat.. Dixie37 is my username..

see ya :thumbup:

[Mandy.S 3]

haha! Well we are a lonely group. How about North Alabama in general? Morgan' date='Madison,Limestone,Marshall Counties?[/quote']

I live in Pisgah, in Jackson County. I have just recently started looking into the band. A little nervous about the whole thing. I go to a seminar on Saturday in Albertville. Any advice?

[Starletta 0]

I live in Meridianville (just north of Huntsville) and I've just started looking into lap NAND surgery. I have no clue where to start!

Thecooley, how did your surgery go?

[t2dav 17]

I'm looking Into going to Dr.suggs, he was recommend by my PCP. Is anyone familiar with him? And what does the $150 covefor first appointment and can you file it on your insurance for refund? Thanks