Dr. Kirshenbaum's Happy Bandsters~

[minidriver 0]

I have been exchanging emails with Natalie today at Dr. K's office. I just sent her the "I'm ready to get started!" email!!!

I can't believe this may actually happen. I won't believe it until I have the surgery. LOL

A few questions for those of you who travelled to CO to have the surgery. How long did you stay after the surgery? Did you fly back to CO to have your first fill? Have you had problems getting fills in your cities?

Thanks a lot! I can't wait to be one of Dr. K's Happy Bandsters!!

Michelle:biggrin2::wub:

Hi Michelle. I stayed 2 days after my surgery, but many only stay one. I would try to stay 2 if I were you. I will be flying back for my first fill but may try to have it done locally. We have a fill doc here with a pretty decent reputation. I am only 2 weeks out from surgery, but am very happy thus far.

[lotzasunshine 2]

I have been exchanging emails with Natalie today at Dr. K's office. I just sent her the "I'm ready to get started!" email!!!

I can't believe this may actually happen. I won't believe it until I have the surgery. LOL

A few questions for those of you who travelled to CO to have the surgery. How long did you stay after the surgery? Did you fly back to CO to have your first fill? Have you had problems getting fills in your cities?

Thanks a lot! I can't wait to be one of Dr. K's Happy Bandsters!!

Michelle:biggrin2::thumbup:

Do yourself a HUGE favor and plan to stay an extra day. I just came home the day after mine (yesterday) and I almost died on the plane!!! I am hurting pretty bad today, because of all the bumps and jostles the plane got. Good Luck!!:wub:

[jmckinstry 0]

Well, after a bunch of research and negotitation with my wife, I called Natalie and set up my consultation with Dr. K and also a surgery date. Boy did that make it real! I was not expecting a surgery date before the consultation.

My consultation is on 8/5 and my surgery is scheduled for 10/22. I had to wait that long because my wife is a teacher and they get their Fall break during that week.

Like I said, I have done (and am still doing)research but I know that I need to ask Dr. K some questions (mainly for peace of mind and to get more comfortable with him) - my problem is that I am having a hard time thinking of some. I have always been bad at that during a job interview when they ask " . . . so do you have any questions for us.". This is much more important so I really need to prepare for this.

Here is what I have come up with so far:

-- How does he determine the size of the band?

-- Does he put in a mini-fill during the sugery?

-- What happens if I have a complication after I get home (I live in Atlanta)?

Can I ask what questions you all asked him and if there are some that you wished you had asked?

Thank you for your help!

Jeff

[skinnyme52 0]

Hi there, how are you feeling? My thoughts are with you. I will be leaving on the 30th of July and am starting to get nervous. Please let me know how it went for you and how you are feeling.

Sandy

[mdargen 0]

I am all set. I spoke with Natalie today. I have a phone consultation set up for August 5th. I will be in Denver on the 8th so I may be able to have my consult in person! That would be the best!!

My surgery is scheduled for Sept. 24th. Holy cow that is going to come up so fast.

I wasn't going to tell a lot of people I am having this done but I told my mom. She lives in Denver so I asked her to be my chauffeur. It surprised me at how supportive she is of this decision.

Now I just have to find a local fill place.

Wow.

~Michelle

[Tally 0]

I am really interested in this doctor. I just moved from Denver (go figure LOL) but am willing to travel back for his price. How long did the whole process take? Did it take months to get a surgery scheduled?

Thanks,

Michelle

I called his office about a week ago and got a date of Sept. 3. They had the 27th or 28th of August available but said everyone was cancelling due to no vacancies at hotels with the democratic national convention in town.

[minidriver 0]

Do yourself a HUGE favor and plan to stay an extra day. I just came home the day after mine (yesterday) and I almost died on the plane!!! I am hurting pretty bad today, because of all the bumps and jostles the plane got. Good Luck!!:thumbup:

OH NO!!! Are you okay? Is that the worst flight ever? I was soooo sick.

[hawki14 0]

Hi,

During my phone consultation, I asked Dr. K about the mini fill during the surgery and he said he doesn't do that.

I have my surgery on Sept 25th - I don't think it will EVER get here!

Congrats and good luck!!

[GreenChrysalis 1]

Hi there jmckinstry. There used to be lists of questions to ask on the site, but I can't find them now since the reorganization.

I don't recall where I got them, but here are some potential questions to ask:

• How many years have you been a bariatric surgeon?
  
• Are you a board-certified bariatric surgeon?
  
• Are you a member of ASBS (American Society of Bariatric Surgery)?
  
• How many and what type of weight loss surgeries do you perform each year? (Shows overall skill level)
  
• What are the risks of this procedure?
  
• How many of my type of surgery have you performed? (An experienced surgeon should have done at least 250 of your procedure)
  
• Will you perform the procedure, or an assistant?
  
• Will you be in the operation room during the entire procedure?
  
• Where will the surgery be performed?
  
• Is the hospital or clinic a Center of Excellence?
  
• How many people on the entire medical team?
  
• Is everyone of the medical team licensed?
  
• What pre-op testing will be done?
  
• What post-op testing will be done?
  
• What changes will I be expected to make with regards to diet and exercise?
  
• Do you have someone I can call if I have a question during non-office hours?
  
• What is expected weight loss?
  
• Ask for specific statistics regarding complications and outcomes with your particular type of surgery. They should be willing to provide the information and not try to hide any negative results.
  
• Regarding lap band surgery, what is rate of infections? (should be less than 1%)
  
• Regarding lap band surgery, what are your slip statistics? (should be less than 3%)
  
• Regarding lap band surgery, what are your erosion statistics? (should be less than 1.3%)
  
• Do you have patients who are willing to share their experiences with me?
  

I did not ask all of these because some of the info I got already about him, but it's a place to start. Dr. K answered all of them candidly. I can try to answer the ones that you mentioned:

1. As far as I know, Dr. K is placing two different band sizes right now: the APS and APL bands. The APS holds 10 cc and the APL holds 14 cc. He determines which one to use at the time of surgery and it just depends on the size of your stomach & the amount of fat around it. One is not "better" than the other and it doesn't have anything to do with your weight necessarily. I have the APS but I have heard of people with lower starting weights than mine that got the APL.

2. Dr. K does not put in any saline during the surgery. Your first fill is usually one month out.

3. You can reach him anytime. I have heard of Dr. K returning calls in the middle of the night. There are a lot of doctors who do the band in metro Atlanta, and if you had an emergency and need to go to the ER they should know what to do. And of course they would call Dr. K's office. I live in the metro Atlanta area also and I secured a local doctor for my aftercare. I strongly advise you to do this before surgery if you don't intend to return to Dr. K; PM me about it if you like. I also got a Huber needle from Dr.K that I take with me when I travel. That way I can get an emergency unfill anywhere that has fluoro, by just about anybody.

Hope that helps!

[deboregon 0]

Dee: I am panicking; I can't log on to our regular thread!! So I haven't been able to catch up in over 5 days!!! I don't know how others are doing and I don't know how to get a hold of anybody before I come in August. I am still trying to figure out what is wrong. The computer keeps saying something like "A script on the page will take an extra long time; do you want to abort?"????? Help!!!!

[minidriver 0]

Deb, that's really strange. Are you on a slow connection or something? Maybe??

Let's see - gbear did fine, and is home safe and sound.

Lotza had a rough trip home but is doing better now. Has a little bit of puss from her port scar, so her PCP gave her an antibiotic cream.

Bella had a tough time, and ended up in the ER the night after surgery with chest pain, but they determined that it was gas. She is home now as well and is doing better, I think.

The "oldsters" are all doing well, I think. Adorkable posted some fun pics of her 6th month bandiversary, and she looks great. Shelbi and Brandy have not been posting much lately, but I think they're fine.

You're getting close now!! One more month!!!

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

Dee: I am panicking; I can't log on to our regular thread!! So I haven't been able to catch up in over 5 days!!! I don't know how others are doing and I don't know how to get a hold of anybody before I come in August. I am still trying to figure out what is wrong. The computer keeps saying something like "A script on the page will take an extra long time; do you want to abort?"????? Help!!!!

Deb!

Oh my!

I just saw this post! I'm sorry!

I have no idea why you're having a hard time getting to the Considering Dr. K thread! That just makes no sense! Mini gave you a good snapshot of what's happening over there. When you are able to get over there you'll see a pic of some of us at Red Robin. No rush for that, we are just the same ole folks! A little smaller, however!

Less than a month for your surgery. Are you all set? do you have all your ducks in a row? What are your plans?

[mdargen 0]

I had my consult with Dr. K. today. Boy, does that make it feel real! I forgot to ask him how long I have to wait until I can drive. If I have my surgery on Weds. can I drive myself back to the airport on Saturday?

Thanks!

[skinnyme52 0]

Hi mdargen, I had my surgery last Thursday and I flew to Colorado from Florida. You are required to have someone with you on your surgery day. You probably won't want to drive for a couple of days because you will be on liquid Vicodin (which really helps). I am one week post-op and the pain is just starting to subside where I don't need the pain meds during the day. I save it for at night because it makes you sleepy. I hope you are not going alone. You really will want someone driving you around for the first couple of days. In Dr. K's packet of info it states that if you don't have someone who can stay with you overnight, he won't do the surgery. I would check on the driving thing though. Maybe you will be different and feel wonderful immediately after. Good luck and let me know how things go.

[GreenChrysalis 1]

Hi mdargen, I just wanted to echo what skinnyme52 said. You must have someone stay with you overnight after the surgery. There's even a place for name and number of the person on your admittance papers at the surgery center. You will probably not be able to drive for a few days because of the pain meds, and if you don't take them so you can drive, you may regret it. As she says you might be one of those people who feel fantastic afterwards, but I felt pretty bad for at least four days after surgery.