Newbie from Kansas

[TracyinKS 7]

Steve: Yes......... Dr. Malley is my doc as well! He is extremely quiet and layed back.......... He is very good, and so is his staff.

[TheGh0st 9]

Hi Tracy - How you feelin?

Steve - hope to meet you soon. I was banded by another doc in town but have switched to Malley for my fills. Have you seen his life size signed Kiss Poster? I've only heard about it. Seriously though Malley is great and his staff is top notch. You should come to one of his support group meetings that they have over at the NewHope Bariatric Center. Its a great place to talk with people face to face that have already had the band. We always welcome "visitors". With or without the band.

Dolphin - Where are you in KS? if you don't mind me asking. Choosing to be banded is a very personal decision but for me I have NO REGRETS. It was the best choice I ever made. Surprisingly enough I hadn't even really been thinking about WLS surgery but my primary care doc referred me to someone she said was a bariatric specialist. She thought the doc would work with me to come up with the best weight loss strategy for me wether it be diet, exercise, pills, etc. It wasn't until I got to the seminar that I realized he only did WLS surgeries. But I was sold by the end of the presentation and have never looked back. My starting weight was 255 and I've gone from a size 24/26 to a 10/12 in about 2 years. And with no health issues.

[ThinDolphin3 3]

I am 25 minutes south of Junction City.

[TheGh0st 9]

Hmmm... So where are you looking for a doc? Their are some gals that come to our support group in KC that were banded in Topeka by a group called Tallgrass. They lived in KC but chose to go to Topeka because it was a bit cheaper and they were self pay. I can't remember them having any negative things to say about the docs at Tallgrass.

There is also a Yahoo group called KCBandsters where a lot of us Kansas City area people chat. We have members from as far as Wichita and Springfield that post thier. I can give you a link if you are interested.

[travelgirl 3]

You're out here in my neck of the woods! I'm 25 miles east of JC.

Have you decided where you're going to have your surgery done yet?

[ThinDolphin3 3]

Ghost...yeah I'm going to be using Tallgrass gonna get an appt with Dr. Steward and from what I heard he is very sweet. I have my psych eval next Thursday I'm so excited.

Travel- I live in White City girl where are you at?

[travelgirl 3]

Abilene! My DH played in a softball tourney in White City last summer. So, I've been there! LOL, what a small world.

[travelgirl 3]

Oh, and you will LOVE Dr. Steward.

[ThinDolphin3 3]

Well I seen his pic at the seminar and he's got a cute face and my friend had bypass done by the woman doc and she had follow ups with Steward and she said he's the one I want to go with because of how picky I am about my docs...I dont want one that is going to talk down to me and not listen to my concerns etc.

We will definitely have to get together for lunch sometime. I am off on Sat and Sundays.

[travelgirl 3]

Yeah, he isn't condescending at all. I'm off on weekends, too. We'll have to meet somewhere in JC for lunch sometime!

[SteveInKansas 0]

TheGhOst,

Yep, he has the lifesize cutout standing in the corner of his office. When I first seen it my first thought was, now that's strange! But I had already talked to him for about a half hour after the seminar so knew "kinda" what I was in for, he's a super nice guy. He ride's Harley's also (3 of them) so we hit it off pretty good. He told me about his "custom bike" and I told him that was a sign he was making to much money!

The girl's banded in Topeka, did they have a problem having him do their fills? Was this something they had set up "before" their surgery?

I'm self pay also and for what I'm paying I can buy the airline tickets and take my neice to Mexico and have both of us done. I just never checked into having fill's done. Wasnt sure another Dr. would mess with it . . . . . .

My date is Feb. 5th so I'm shopping for "all the right stuff". Found GNC has whey Protein in 8 flavor's. Bought the banana Cream and Cookies & Cream last night. Sampled both with Water and skim milk, either way is very good, just not sure 8oz is gonna fill me up during the pre-op diet. Guess that's where the willpower comes in again!

Good Luck to all the "Kansas Krew"

[Wheetsin 714]

Diane just out of my own morbid curiosity are you still attending the SMMC support group, or have you abandoned that alltogether in favor of the Yahoo or Malley groups? (Or maybe it was Sea who went with the Malley groups... I'm starting to not remember things clearly :pray2: )

Oh and welcome all the recent KS ppl that I've not met or talked to. Which is most of you. Nice to see the local pool of knowledge & experience growing. Having that within driving distance is such a great thing. :wink2:

[travelgirl 3]

Oh and welcome all the recent KS ppl that I've not met or talked to. Which is most of you. Nice to see the local pool of knowledge & experience growing. Having that within driving distance is such a great thing. :pray2:

Yes, welcome! I was starting to feel lonely out here in north central KS. :wink2:

[TheGh0st 9]

Wheetsin - Yup I've abandoned SMMC altogether now. But did I heare that Billie is back there or is my calorie/carb deprived brain just playing tricks on me? I'll have to go check the old SMMC thread out and see if there is something there about it.

Steve - Yeah, the first time I met Malley for a fill I swear if I had seen him out in the parking lot first I would have easily mistaken him for a panhandler. No, but really I think he is great. I even like the fact he is so down to earth and not one of those "pretty-boy" docs. And as far as the fills go. You are right a lot of docs will not fill patients they didn't band, but last I heard Malley was still accepting new fill patients he didn't band. Some of the reasons the docs don't like to fill other patients is it crowds up their already busy schedule which can frustrate patients they banded but also the other docs seem to be worried that if one of the patients has complications down the road that it still might hurt their own stats or reputation even though they weren't the ones that placed the band. Malley on the other hand seems more concerned with helping anyone he can than his "reputation". But keep in mind if you are banded in by Malley he includes 1 year of adjustments free, and if you get banded in Mexico you will have to pay a $250 initial consultation fee with him then $100 per fill. Stats say that patients average 6 fills per year but don't count on it. I've known some who had 1 fill in 4 years and then I personally had 14 my first year alone, which if I'd had to pay for them it would have been an extra $ 1,550. I was self pay as well and I just don't know part of me still thinks I should have researched going to Mexico more so as to have saved some money but really I'm just so glad I have the band I don't care how much I saved.

[TheGh0st 9]

One more thought Steve - As far as your neice goes. I don't know how old she is or if she would be interested. But even though I'm nearly 40 and have a full time job when I found out last year that Starbucks was giving even their part time employees access to a health insurance plan that included coverage for the lapband I wished I had known it before I'd paid for the band. I would have gladly taken a part time job at least long enough to get the surgery covered if I'd only known.