I may get the lap band

Has anyone heard of Dr. Tersigni of Coos Bay? I have been considering the adjustable lap band instead of gastric bypass. also when any of you have your wls in another state or country. Who does the follow up? Diana

Diana - I just realized I forgot to return your call last week (was it then?). I'm so sorry. I hope you will come to the meeting at the Smullin Center tonight. We are probably going to be a small group since it's close to Christmas but I know we could answer a lot of questions for you there. As for the band, I think it's a great solution - especially for folks who have less to lose like you do. Dr. Tersigni has a wonderful reputation. I have never spoken to the man but there has been not one negative thing I have heard about him and I understand he has a fabulous bedside manner. As for going out of the area, I went to Mexico and I just see a internal medicine doc here in Medford for my follow up. If I need emergency surgery, there are bariatric docs here to help with that. If you get a lap band, you pretty much need to go wherever you went to get fills, unless you are able to talk someone more local into doing it for you. That is the big challenge for people who go to mexico for the band is that they have problems finding someone local to do their fills for them. Good luck and I hope to see you at the meeting. If you still have my number, feel free to call. I should be up until maybe 10 or 11am this morning before I hit the hay. I'll try to be at the meeting early. Dina

I am going to Dr Rumbaut in Monterray MX. He assures me he has a variety of contacts throughout the US for fills. If you decide on a Mexican lap band surgery, that is probably a question you will want to cover thouroughly and have as part of your questioning of the medical staff. I am in Florida now, but will probably be out in Oregon by the time I'm ready for my first fill, so I suggest you keep reading all you can and stay active with this Oregon Board! I just bought a book written by a female Phd. who had lap band surgery in 1998 through Amazon. It's "Lapraroscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding: Achieving Permanent Weight Looss with Minimally Invasive Surgery". I paid $12.55 for it. Well written...but not god awful Medical... short reading and well explanations with some good illustrations. Best of Luck. Gail PS...anyone want to help me start packing??? I am flying to MX 1-18-05 for surgery on the 20th. I've started writing on the book so I'll have time for detailed questions that I might not have thought of without the book!