Tomorrow is the first meeting with the Dr. I am very excited! Any questions that you all think I for sure need to ask? I have gotten some written down, but I would love your alls opinion. YEAH...I feel like this is finally going to happen!!!!:high5:

Stacey~ Ask as many questions as you can about the follow up care you will recieve and what it will cost you....seems like hidden costs can eat you alive at times if Ins. won't pay for fills or Dr. visits.

Ask how many bands Dr. has done and what complications he or she has incountered.

Gosh theres just so many things to ask... I think making a list was wise and that will help you remember things when you are there and probably a bit nervous. Good luck!!!

I just had my consultation...some of the things I asked were:

1: What compliacations have your patients had?

2: (I'm very concerned with port infection) Who does the fills and what proceedures are taken to lessen the occurance of infection? Hopefully only the surgeon does or if not find out the level of specialty the person giving fils has.

3: Is a pre-surgery diet required

4: How long has he worked with his surgical team / anestisialogist (sp?)

5: Is the facility a "center of excellence" if not...why not

6: (as stated above) schedule of follow-up

7: What is proceedure should you have an emergency (something severly stuck etc.) and you need to go to EM? Should he be notified...will he have you transported to him?

just a beginning

How long do I have to stay on this stinkin' liquid diet?

Do you do blind fills or flouro? What about xray and barium swallows?

What size and type of band will I receive?

How much do you fill on the first time? (depending on size of your band)

If I think of more I'll write later.

Most of the questions I walked in with were answered before I got to the actual doc. I was told to arrive early, and part of what they did was give me TONS of literature covering everything from FAQ to a very detailed "what to expect" narrative covering the entire procedure.

I did ask:

What size/type of band was he placing.

Could I still scuba with the band?

What his personal rates with erosion & slippage were.

If *he* felt I was a good candidate.

How long he had been practicing (not # of procedures, but years of experience with this particular procedure)

What type of anesthesia & pre-post-op meds I would receive

Thanks for all the suggestions...I am printing this off and adding them to my list. Some of them I hadn't thought of. I am hoping as far as the cost, that my insurance will pick up the fills. They pay 90% of my procedure and I have a $1500 out of pocket max for the year...so that will do it after surgery, so I am hoping they will pay for fills. Does getting fills hurt? They said it feels like a bee sting....sorry I am a little scared, can ya tell?

Well, everyone is different, but my wife said she didn't feel even the bee sting. They gave her an injection to numb the port site and then they did the fill. She said she it was a breeze as far as the pain went.

Read this thread too (I got my questions from it):

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=12541

Add to it:

Does he do endoscopy on a regular basis (18 months or once a year)?

If you feel like you've slipped or eroded, what would his procedure be?

Do you have to pay for band removal or is it guaranteed (and if guaranteed, for how long)?

Those are all worse case scenarios, but I wish I'd asked 'em. Mind you, I did ask a ton, lol, poor doc!

Hey everyone...I went for my meeting today. GOt all the Pre-op stuff done..and things went well. I have my pre-op diet that doesn't seem to terribly bad....and found out some good info. My Doc has done this since 2001 and has done over 700 bands. He has had 0 erode and 9 slippage cases, four of which he replaced and 5 had to be removed. I thougth those were pretty good odds!! Let me know what you all think!

Sounds like good odds to me! Congrats on getting through to the next step!