Hello. I'm JudyH and I also live in Columbus, OH. I was banded June 5 at Ohio State University by Dr. Dean Mikami and had my first fill in August. So far I've lost 17 lbs and I'm very happy with that. I'd rather lose it slower with the band than unusually fast and dangerous with the gastric.
I retired from the State of Ohio 4 years ago after 30 "wonderful and funfilled" years!!! As I was getting ready to retire, I went into Respiratory Failure due to obesity. Ended up getting trached to save my life and I still have the trach. I also ended up in a nursing home/subacute rehab center to get weaned off a ventilator that I was put on to let my lungs heal when I was rushed to the hospital.
The main reason for me getting banded besides loosing weight was to get rid of the trach. According to my Pulmonary Doctor, once I lose enough weight, he'll remove the trach. So that's an added incentive.
For my insurance to pay for 80% of the surgery, I had to take 6 months of "Living Well" classes at Ohio State. So I happily took them. Then I had to take an intense nutrition class which I found very interesting.
So now I'm retired and would like to travel but can't because I have to much medical equipment to lug along. I'm so happy I found this website because all the support group meetings at Ohio State are geared towards the Gastric Bypass patient and not the Lap-bander.
JudyH