Feedback on Dr. Shikora and Dr. Lautz for band, not GPS

Hi all,

You haveall been so terrific in helping me narrow my search!  I'm going to go with the gastric banding for now. 

Can anyone who has had surgery for gastric banding by Dr, Shikora or Dr. lautz write and tell me whether they were happy with the procedure and how the weight loss is giong?   Thanks so much. :)

I had Dr. Shikora for the bypass, not band but he is absolutely wonderful.  He goes over everything in detail during your appointment.  He explained the procedures thoroughly and spoke in a way that I would understand all the medical mumbo jumbo - he wanted to make sure I completely understood what I was getting into.  He answered all my questions and listened to all my concerns.  During the day of the surgery he came by my room as I was waiting for surgery and wanted to make sure I was comfortable and asked if I had any further questions or concerns.  He did the same after my surgery : he visited me 3 times and wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly.  I have my first surgical follow up with him on April 6th.  Strangely enough, Dr. Shikora was in my dream last night .... very weird! :-)

I am happy with my weight loss - in total I have lost 82lbs and I wouldn't change my decision for the world.  I wish you the best of luck on everything.  Dr. S & the team at Tufts is very dedicated to post-surgery care and follow up.  They will be there for you every step of the way.  Best of luck with your banding journey :-)

I have to 2nd everything the post above has said!!!   I've had a few bumps with the office staff but other then that and the most important is I've had a picture perfect surgery and weightloss... I wouldn't change this life for anything in the world!!!! 
Any questions let us know and keep us posted!!

**** Kate ?? Are you coming to the meetin tonight???  *****
I'll be there but will be late going to workout first... Hope to see you!

Yes, Melissa - I will be there.  :)  Can't wait to see you!

I had Lautz for both the band and then the bypass. He is very skilled. Other docs refer their hard cases to Lautz.   I feel like I have been around forever--had the band installed in 04, removed in 08 and now it is 2010.   Joan

Hi NeedhamGal,

Thanks so much for your reply.  Can you tell me why you had the band removed?  I'm trying to find out how long they last.

Thanks so much.

Pam

Pam,

I am not trying to answer for NeedhamGal but I have personally met her.  She had her revision the month after me.  She was a great success initially with the band...she lost I believe over 100 lbs.
It's not a question of how long they last in the majority of cases.....as I explained previously some people's stomach cannot tolerate very much fill, some people end up with esophagus issues (I think I mispelled that), some people have a slip, sometimes a person will have a total mechanical failure, and some people just can't manage to live/eat with the band period.....
I am sure she will be along at some point to answer your questions.

I had Dr Lautz for gastric bypass, he is wonderful.  He's the director of bariatric surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital.  I'm almost ten weeks post-op and have lost 50 lbs, no complications.  You should call and see when he will be speaking at one of the information sessions,  he's very informative.  I went to the information session with the intention of getting the lap-band and decided Gastric Bypass was a better option for me after the information session.  Good Luck with your decision! Best thing I ever did, just wish I did it sooner.

hi...Valerie is correct...some people have their bands for a long time....Mine was fine..then one day....something broke. The tubing came undone or I sprung a leak somewhere. Since I would have needed surgery anyway...I said then to convert me.   I did have some issues with the band being too tight at times.

Hi Valerie...Hope you are doing well and not getting flooded away!

Joanie

Hi Joanie,

I am doing well....well I have to have cataract surgery on both of my eyes...one will be done in April and one in May.  Other than that great!  I am not getting flooded at all....how about you?
Thanks for responding to her post....and confirming what I stated.
Pam,
I think you should try to talk to some people that have had the band long term and see how they are doing. I am NOT trying to scare you away from the band but I think you need to do a lot more research on the band stats, etc.  A lot of info is now out there that wasn't out there when I was doing my research.