new ohio guy for lapband

Hi there,
I have used my profile here on OH as a kind of a mini-educational web presence for those that are just learning about the DS. The DS is not the easiest surgery to understand, but like folks have already mentioned to you, it's one of the best for % or excess weight loss, and keeping it off over the longest period of time.

Let us over on the DS forum know of any questions you might have, k?

Hope you check out my profile, too!

:)
anne s.

I have Medical Mutual and was approved in about 5 business days. I had mine done with Dr. Teel in Dayton.

Wow did someone phone up the whole DS forum?

Since I'm here I might as well put in my $0.02.

I started off at around 434 lbs and a BMI of 60. In seven months I've lost 150 lbs, something I doubt I ever could have achieved or maintained with a Lap Band, based on what I've heard from other LB survivors.

I had my surgery done in Spain and was a self-pay, so I can't offer much help on the insurance front.

Good luck and I hope you will at least learn as much as possible about the DS before making your final decision.

Steve

LOL -- it was actually my Renegade pals.  We hate to see a SMO person looking at the LapBand.  It ticks me off that a surgeon is even willing to give them one in the first place, considering the realistic expectations.

I'm with you on that one, Val!  It seems almost unethical to me for a surgeon, knowing what the realistic amount of weigth loss with a band is, to not even mention to a SMO patient what they can REALLY expect... and that they should consider something with a malabsorptive component!

Lora

Drs Teel and Maguire do it at Miami Valley Hospital and Dr. Rita Anderson does it at Kettering Hospital -- all in the Dayton area.  Back when I had mine, they all worked together, but have since separated to give us two hospitals to choose from, both are fantastic.   One major difference is that Dr. Teel does the DS Laproscopically.  Maguire and Anderson only do it open, but it's not a big deal to have it open at all.  My incision was glued all the way down so I had no stitches to deal with, and it was healed in two weeks.

You'll need to attend an info session first, and then get started on the pre-approval requirements for your insurance. 
Once you get all of that together, then they submit for pre-approval. 
When the office gets pre-approval, then they'll schedule you for a surgery date (usually a month away, give or take) and then your pre-op testing which is usually about a week prior to surgery.

Hi Bill.  Late to this thread but hope I can offer you some help in making your decision.  As a revision patient (RNY to DS) I feel I've got plenty of experience with WLS.  My decision to have a revision to the DS was partly based on my reading at the revision boards.  You will see many RNY'rs and lapbanders needing revision.  Not so much with the DS'rs. (actually ever but I don't want to say that with 100% certainty, because I haven't read every post over there ever written)

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/revision/a,messageboard/bo ard_id,5360/

OMG it's like someone drove in a bus full of lobbyists :-)

I'm still going through the whole surgery debate myself but I have a question regarding revisions... I see alot of people getting RNY and Band revisions to the DS  and that fact is used alot to defend the power of the DS.
But in all honesty, once you have a DS can you really have a revision to something else?
Again, I haven't had the surgery yet, so this is just me trying to add more data to my Feb 09 surgery decision.   Im going to a DS seminar in a few weeks to get the full picture (Dr Anderson) 
At first I was bummed about waiting 6 months.. but I am so happy insurance makes you do it.  It's a really big decision!

 No--Once you have DS you are DS for life...many say thats okay because you won't ever need a revision with the DS...which as far as weight loss goes is true---but the part that worries me is this---what if you have a medical issue that the DS works in contrast to?  For example...I have a family member with stomach cancer and a sister with Crohns disease....(I had a DS surgeon tell me that if I opted for DS, and then developed Crohn's disease, I would probly die...pretty simple why I didn't head this direction...)..I took these two things into factor when opting against the DS...also...how would the need for future medications work with the massive amounts of vitamins and suppliments a DS patient HAS to take daily for the remainder of their life?  Its not that I don't think the DS is a successful surgery--the stats don't lie--as far as weight loss goes...you will lose the weight, but you have to weight the risks of what may develop physically down the road...And I almost did have the RNY...came within 72 hours of surgery before I decided to take a look at my other options...

To answer your questions on meds, the only thing we have to adjust is time release meds.  Everything else seems to work fine.

As for chrons, that's serious stuff.  My grandmother suffered from it for 20 years so I know exactly what you speak of.