Central NY Support Groups

 I had my lap band on Oct. 8, and was looking to see if there is a local support group for WLS in the Syracuse area.  I had my surgery in Rochester, but I don't want to drive there every week (1 hour) if there is a local group.  Any ideas?  Would anyone like to help me start one if there isn't?

Hi I live in Wayne County right between Syracuse and Rochester. I haven't had my lap band yet and I actually have a couple questions for you. Did you have the Vertical banded gastroplasty or the regular banding? I am still not sure on which one and it seems like the first one is more radical. Also was your surgery at Highland Hospital? That's were I'm going, just wondering how was your experience? Any info would be great. Thanks

 I had the regular banding. I"m not really familiar with the Vertical, and it was never offered to me as an option.  My surgery was at Highland, and it was a very positive experience.  The first day was rough, but I'm home now and feeling OK.  Been walking and trying to keep on the nutrition protocols, even though I don't feel like eating anything.
Good luck with your decision, and feel free to hit me up with any more questions.

Thanks so much for responding back. Did you have to do the liquid diet before surgery? I have my last appointment with the nutritionist next week, then I don't know what happens after that or how long before I get a date. It seems the longer the process, the more I want to bail out. I just don't want to do that. I hope things get rolling soon. I lost 35 pounds so far but now I feel I am losing my motivation and I know I gained at least 10 pounds back. Sorry to vent to you.

 no, I didn't do the liquid diet before hand.  I had to monitor and record everything I ate for my meetings with the nutritionist.  I ran into some walls during my preparation for the procedure, but I was able to keep my weight down, even though it fluctuated from month to month due to vacations, stress, etc.  One thing that I did that helped me tremendously was doing a cleansing.  I went to my natural food store and they set me up with a 21 day regimen that was intended to cleanse my digestive organs and tracts.  It was great.  There's a lot of research out there that one of the reasons people have a hard time losing weight is because of toxins in their system.  
Don't buy one of those on TV.  I met with a nutritional counselor at my health food store and she explained the science behind it.  The nutritionist at the Bariatric Center was not happy about me doing it, so keep it to yourself.  I know it helped me lose 9-10 lbs that I had been struggling with, and I lost another 4-5 after I completed it, while eating a regular lowfat high protein high veg diet.
I also made a commitment to exercising every day back in June, and that has been wonderful.  I stopped drinking caffeine and used my morning workout to get my motor running, and I haven't missed it since.  I think it also helped me to recover quickly from the surgery.  
Good luck!

There are a few off the top of my  head in the Syracuse area to try:


 I  believe anyone can join any of these groups

This is one I have listed locally for Dr Graber and Fitzer's office, 

It meets on the 3rd Wednesday of the month @ 6:30pm
5100 W. Taft Rd Liverpool @  North Med -   Suite 24
Phone number 452 - 2828


There is Dr Jeffery Desimone's @ Community Hospital not sure of the date and time
Phone number is 492 - 5763

University Hospital's group,  they also have groups up north in Camden also, I believe they have groups in other areas also
Phone number is: 464 - 9852

Hope this helps a bit..... Welcome to the loosers bench!!!!

RaCina

The Support Group at CGH is the 2nd wednesday of each month on the 2nd floor at 4:30pm.  I am VERY interested in joining an active support group.  Once a month just is not enough for me!!!  :-)

Hey there!!!  I live in Syracuse as well and I had my LapBand in Rochester with Dr. O'Malley as well!  Nice to meet you!  I'm curious as to why you went with Rochester and did not go with University Hospital's bariatric center?  Anyways, I attend a couple of groups but here is the problem - the one band group I attend I'm not technically supposed to attend because I didn't have surgery at that hospital.  I go to a mixed group - but I'm the only Bander in the group, and I go to a LapBand specific group in Ithaca (but its an hour and a half so might as well go to Rochester, right?)

Anyways, I can't help you as far as recommending a group because I've kind of just been dealing with whats availible to me.  Unfortunately all of the band groups in the area are attached to the hospital and because we had surgery in Rochester - those groups are supposed to be closed to us.  I am 6 1/2 months out and by no means an expert at this process, but if you want to email and talk some, because we're so close in proximity, I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have and provide you some support if you need it!!  Good luck to you!

Hi Braven-
Thanks for the info.  I was wondering if the UH groups would accept non-patients into their groups.  I went through their process about 4 years ago, but got denied due to the psychological eval.  I was in a very difficult marriage at the time, and the Dr. felt that I wouldn't have the at-home support I would need.  I also changed jobs and my insurance didn't cover the procedure.
I went to Dr. O'Malley because Excellus would only cover the procedure at Highland or St. Lukes in Utica.  And I got the sense that UH wasn't a fan of the lap band procedure.  I liked the experience Highland had in this procedure.  And I have family and friends in Rochester, which was helpful last week to get to the hospital and getting around after.
I bet if we put our efforts into it, we could start a lap band support group here in Syr with all the Rochester and Utica patients.  My sister had a procedure done in Ithaca, and that's my hometown, but I don't think I want to go there every month for a 1-2 hour meeting.
I"m going to put some feelers out on this sight and lapband.com and see if we can get 5-10 people to get together.  Would you be willing to do that too?
Thanks for reaching out.
Bruce
ps-I'm going Thursday for my first post op appt.  Any suggestions or insights?

I'd love to have a group for people like us - displaced from the city where we had it done and not welcome into other groups - but the challenge is how to find more people out there like us!  I've done some reaching out on here with no response.  Unfortunately most of the people on OH from the Syracuse area had their surgery at UH...so they have the support group built in right there.  I wonder if the closed groups would consider expanding their groups for a small fee charged to non-hospital patients?  Its a thought anyways.  I've been to the UH group and the "people in charge" don't know I'm there.  Fortunately the people in the group like having me around because so far I've been successful with the band and they ask a lot of questions.  But I'd rather see support for people like us!  I went through Highland because Dr. O'Malley has a great reputation as a surgeon and when I started looking into the process UH had only done a few bands where as O'Malley had done a considerable amount more.  I also feel like in addition to my own research Highland did a good job in educating me and it seems like because UH is so new to the procedure they don't have a lot of the answers and they're still working together to try and figure them out.  I would love to have a group for us misfits though.

Post-op appointment was no big deal it was with the nurse practitioner.  She'll check your weight to see where you are with loss since surgery, she'll look at your incisions and if you've still got the steri-strips on there she'll take them off so she can inspect them.  She'll ask you if you're having any discomfort in any way and just overall assess your health.  Then she'll go over how you've been eating and you're diet for the next stage.  She'll give you some sheets to take home telling you what your eating for the next few weeks should look like.  Depending on how you're eating she'll progress you to mushies (exciting!).  I think that was basically it.  Then you'll set up an appointment for a fill for 8 weeks (or thats how long mine was anyways).  Good luck to you and keep in touch!!