Looking into surgery

Hello everyone, I'm new to the boards, and looking into surgery.  I live in Hopewell Junction, New York and I am looking for some feedback on the different types of procedures and surgeons.  If there's anyone out there in my area (Dutchess County),  I'd love to hear from you.  Anything about your experience, your doctor and how your doing now.  Please let me know if there are any groups available or anywhere else I can go to find out additional information.   I would appreciate your help....Thanks!!

Hi, I live in Pawling just around the corner from you, yes there are several groups around, one in Fshkill at residence inn sun eve, Poughkeepsie at vassar college, Danbury Ct and Westchester medical center.  I'm now 6 days post op had bypass at Westchester med, Dr. Yatco, I haven't got a bad word for the group.  I started process with my daughter in may, she had lap band doing great, I had to wait for insurance approval which only took a short time for me, I attended groups which are part of program, I went to both Westchester and Fishkill, and I did attend a meeting in Danbury, to compare Dr.  I went back to Westchester as I was very comfortable.  I'm very glad I had such good surgeons, they discovered a hernia the size of 1/2 dollar in my diaphram which had to be repair before anything else could be done 5-6 hrs in surgery but today doing GREAT Good Luck in making a decision, MIND WAS THE BEST THING THE WORLD FOR ME JUDY

welcome to OH and the NY board I'd suggest you look into all 3 of the major procedures (RNY, Lap-Band, and DS)... average success rates, post-op down time, what type of eater you are, what sort of post-op diet are you most likely to be compliant with, etc. I suggest you choose the procedure first, THEN find a surgeon who performs that procedure... not every bariatric surgeon does the Lap Band or DS... so if you ask an RNY-only surgeon about those 2 procedures, they're not likely to steer you toward the band or DS, even if you might be better suited for one of them. (a honda dealer is unlikely to tell you that you'd be better off with a didge truck... closest example I can come up with) I'm upstate from you in Schenectady, but had my surgery down in the city, as that's where I found a surgeon after deciding on the procedure.  totally worth the trip. I urge you to visit each of the procedure boards... RNY, DS and Lap-Band... ask some of the post-ops there whatever questions you need. Good luck

Hi and welcome to the boards. I have to agree with Sean. Research all of the surgeries and see which one fits your lifestyle best. Take me...I knew that I could easily eat around the LapBand. I know the results are the same after 3 years, but I wanted quicker weight loss than the band could offer. I did not feel comfortable with the amount of malabsorbtion with the DS. The RNY seemed the right fit for what I thought I could live with.

Of course, it wasn't as simple as that. I researched for about 2 years before I had surgery. It took alot of self examination to come to a decision that best suited me.

Good luck with whatever path you choose and keep us posted.

Yes,  I agree with both of you in deciding which surgery is right for you , you need to know all the facts, read ,read, read. I was only giving you the places to attend some groups to hear information from others,  what suits me might not you, so you need to do some inner examination as what you think is going to work for you the best.  Both groups in fishkill and westchester have many different people who used different surgeons from NYC to Albany.    Good Luck in your decision making. judy

Hope this doesn't post twice ... laptop had a hiccup.  I actually live in East Fishkill and will look for the meeing in Fishkill.  Will also go to the other boards to see how the post ops are doing with the various procedures.  Thanks for the help as I begin my quest ..

Just popping in to wish you luck on your quest. You'll feel a whole lot more confident about which surgeon and procedure the more you research and attend some groups. My Best To You. Diane

I think Sean said it best...research it out!  Congrats on your choice to do the surgery!

Thanks to all that replied!  I attended the meeting in Fishkill yesterday and received some really good information.  There were several post ops there and they shared their stories, and I learned more about the different procedures.  All very helpful, thanks for pointing me in the right direction!! Ron