Newbie - ?? about LapBand at Tufts-Nemc

Hi! New to the board and wanted to know if anyone has had lapband surgery at the OCC - Tufts Nemc? I have a bunch of questions and have my first appt. in a few weeks. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks. 1. Do/Did you like the program at Tufts? 2. How long does the process usually take from start to Surgery? 3. What kinds of questions should I ask? 4. What can I expect at the psych appt. and initial doc appt? I guess that is enough for now, thanks again! Stacy

Welcome to the board. I did not go to Tufts so I can't give you the scoop there but I did have the band at BIDMC. Congrats on your decision, if you have any band related questions feel free to drop me an email. Good luck, Lynn Banded 9/12/05 300/208/140

Hi Stacy, I had my surgery there and it was great. The psyc eval might be with Dr. Greenberg and he was just wonderful. You have to be very informed about the surgery and know what your going into. You take a test and have to pass it. Not a hard test. You go through about 8 weeks of classes with Dr. Smith and have to meet with a Nutritionist about 2-3 times. During these classes, you pretty much learn what your needs will be and are through out this process. You might have to lose some weight to shrink the liver before surgery. (believe me, I only lost 7 pounds before and they accepted it). After all the testing, the doctors get together and choose who is ready to have their surgeries and let us know when they decide! It is a very exciting day when you get that ok! After my surgery, I just had a lot of dry heaving and the doctor quickly had the nurse inject me with some kind of medicine and I havent had a single dry heave since. I hope all goes well for you and good luck. Email me with any other questions you might have. PS> My doctor is Dr. Tarnoff.