Hi everyone!!! My name is Shalene, im 37 and from NJ. I have been gaining weight at such a fast rate I didnt even realize I was packing it on the way I was. After changing my diet and working out it seems like I wasnt getting anywhere. So finally last month I gave some serious thought to WLS. I hit the internet and I found a surgeon and set up an appt. I met with my surgeon last month and walked away with mixed feelings about him. But i am forging ahead, i figured i can stop and start over with a new surgeon if i felt the same way after out second meeting. My surgeons website recommended a group and I checked them out and wasnt too impressed. I found this site and you guys are awesome. I feel like I will really find some support and answers here, so I am looking forward to making new friends

Yay!! Congrats on taking the first step to having WLS! You should take a look at some blogs too you will find some great friends there!

Yay!! Congrats on taking the first step to having WLS! You should take a look at some blogs too you will find some great friends there!

Thank you and yes i did read a bunch of stiff on here and it has all been so helpful and wonderful and i love the site. now if i can only find out how to add a ticker thingy to the bottom of my page, lol.

Thank you and yes i did read a bunch of stiff on here and it has all been so helpful and wonderful and i love the site. now if i can only find out how to add a ticker thingy to the bottom of my page, lol.

I think you might using the wrong code?? Try the bbCode that tickerfactory gives you above the HTML one.

Hi everyone!!! My name is Shalene, im 37 and from NJ. I have been gaining weight at such a fast rate I didnt even realize I was packing it on the way I was. After changing my diet and working out it seems like I wasnt getting anywhere. So finally last month I gave some serious thought to WLS. I hit the internet and I found a surgeon and set up an appt. I met with my surgeon last month and walked away with mixed feelings about him. But i am forging ahead, i figured i can stop and start over with a new surgeon if i felt the same way after out second meeting. My surgeons website recommended a group and I checked them out and wasnt too impressed. I found this site and you guys are awesome. I feel like I will really find some support and answers here, so I am looking forward to making new friends

Hi Shalene, I'm in NJ too. If you're still shopping around for a surgeon, mine are wonderful. They have a few doctors to choose from, even a woman (which I love, I'm more comfortable with female doctors all around) but I think they're all great. Great bedside manner and very personable, which is hard to find in any kind of doctor. They specialize in WLS, have their own on site nutrionists, on site support groups and the office staff couldn't be better at doing all the run around for you. They have Union and Hobboken offices and host seminars twice a month. Good luck to you!

here's a link to their site http://www.njbariatriccenter.com/

Hi Shalene, I'm in NJ too. If you're still shopping around for a surgeon, mine are wonderful. They have a few doctors to choose from, even a woman (which I love, I'm more comfortable with female doctors all around) but I think they're all great. Great bedside manner and very personable, which is hard to find in any kind of doctor. They specialize in WLS, have their own on site nutrionists, on site support groups and the office staff couldn't be better at doing all the run around for you. They have Union and Hobboken offices and host seminars twice a month. Good luck to you!

here's a link to their site http://www.njbariatriccenter.com/

Thanks for the info i did seethem but i decided to go with someone closer to where i live. hopefully all turns out well. i meet with my doctor tomorrow, but now i am wondering if maybe i want to look deeper into the Realize band. ugggh so many choices!!!!

Thanks for the info i did seethem but i decided to go with someone closer to where i live. hopefully all turns out well. i meet with my doctor tomorrow, but now i am wondering if maybe i want to look deeper into the Realize band. ugggh so many choices!!!!

I have the realize band. I don't think there's much of a difference if anything, that I know of anyway. My doctor gave me a choice and I let him choose what he thought was best, he chose the realize band.

Some doctors will say one band over the other because that is all they have. All my doctors office had at the time I was banded was the Lap band...they didnt get the realize until months later

I have the realize band. I don't think there's much of a difference if anything, that I know of anyway. My doctor gave me a choice and I let him choose what he thought was best, he chose the realize band.

OMG! I am so happy you replied to my post. i just got on to the realize band posting to see if i could get some info and here you are a person that actually has the realize. so there isnt much difference you say? i was reading about the differences and it seemed like the only real difference is the port being supported by staples with the lapband and stapleless with the realize. and the port with the realize blends with the skin even as you take the weight off, however havent read about anyone with the lapband having a problem with the port being detectable after weight loss.

Lady Lap and Victoria thank you both so much, you guys are great and i am glad i have you to ask questions and get answers from. i hope im not too much of a PITA, lol! so tommorrow i meet with my surgeon and at our original meeting last month he tried to sell me on the sleeve and thats all he talked about. i checked into it and that is just not for me and i will put that out there immediately. if things dont go well from there then i will definately check out the dr you recommended Victoria. my surgeon mentioned we could do the surgery in january but he didnt give me a date. i noticed a lot of people have their dates already. did you both find out your dates early on or later? i met with a surgeon a few years back and at our very first meeting he scheduled my surgery. so i am excited about getting a surgery date and nervous about the UGI visit.

I'm happy to help if I can..

Honestly I didn't do any research trying to find the difference between the two. That may have been an oops on my part, but I'm happy with what I have. Others may have choosen one or the other for good reasons, but I don't know. Keep talking and looking around the site, I'm sure there are other people with a Realize band here. I do think it's great that you are researching as much as possible, I would definitely encourage it.

I really don't even think about the difference, I come to this site because I like it, I never thought twice about not being here because I have a Realize band, I just think of myself as banded and when I talk about it I actually say "I have a lapband". So to me, I really don't see that big of a difference from what I've read on here compared to the Realize website as far as how it works and such. As far as positioning and it being able to be seen under my skin was never a concern for me. I've been fat so long I don't care what kind of mess my body looks like after I lose my weight and if you can see the little alien port sticking out a little, so be it lol. I'll just be happy to be a normal size for once. It never mattered to me whether I had a LapBand or a Realize, as long as I was banded.

I was reading a post the other night and some people were saying how their lapband port is very noticable now that they have reached their goal weight, but it doesn't seem to bother most of them. Others said they could feel theirs but not see it, or only able to see it while laying down, everyone has a different story. I'm no where near goal, but I've been able to feel mine since my abdomen healed enough for me to go feeling around for it.

As to why my doctor chose Realize over LapBand, I don't know. Maybe it's easier for him to manuver while operating? maybe his patients have better results? or maybe that was the only band that was available that day? Who knows. I think the difference is brand and models, they both do the same thing in my book.

OMG! I am so happy you replied to my post. i just got on to the realize band posting to see if i could get some info and here you are a person that actually has the realize. so there isnt much difference you say? i was reading about the differences and it seemed like the only real difference is the port being supported by staples with the lapband and stapleless with the realize. and the port with the realize blends with the skin even as you take the weight off, however havent read about anyone with the lapband having a problem with the port being detectable after weight loss.

You're welcome, you are not a PITA lol, please ask as many questions as you want, we're here to help. I found my whole process to be very fast. I went to the seminar in Aug 2010, had my 1st appointment with my Doc in Sept 2010, and I believe I knew my surgery date sometime in Nov 2010 but knew the estimated month probably in Oct 2010. I was originally scheuled for Jan 2011, but had to change to Dec 2010 because my insurance was changing at work come the new year.. That wasn't fun!

Anyway the thing I loved about my surgeon was that he did not pressure me or try to push certain surgeries on me, he asked what surgery I wanted. I don't know if he does this with all his patients or if doctors try to convince some people to do the bypass or sleeve due to diet history, health issues, weight, loss expectations etc., but there was absolutely no pressure from my surgeon to do anything other than what I wanted. I have to admit when I first met with him I was a little ify, his personality was a little "stuffy" for me, but he did warm up a bit after I was seeing him for a while.

So I'd say, give your surgeon a chance. I work for doctors, they don't have the best personalities to begin with, most but not all lol, some of them have great personalities you just have to find the right one for you. My thing is, these bariatric docs probably see so many overweight people for consults that seem all gung-ho at first and never come back, or fail at losing any pre-op weight because they just aren't that serious. So when a new patient comes in they probably just take it with a grain of salt, they're really not sure how serious a new patient is. So I'd give your doc a chance to prove that he's human lol.

I also wanted to say, the other surgeons on my docs staff seem to be a little more laid back, the head honcho is a little less, but he's the boss and very professional. I love them all, but the woman doc in the office is my favorite, shes a sweetheart, I see her all the time now, she does my fills and follow up visits.

After babbling all this time my point is, give your surgeon a chance, but if you really aren't feeling it, move on and find someone that you like. This is long term care and you will have to be with him for a long time and have a relationship with him and his staff. You want to enjoy this experience and feel comfortable. I'll shut up now!

Lady Lap and Victoria thank you both so much, you guys are great and i am glad i have you to ask questions and get answers from. i hope im not too much of a PITA, lol! so tommorrow i meet with my surgeon and at our original meeting last month he tried to sell me on the sleeve and thats all he talked about. i checked into it and that is just not for me and i will put that out there immediately. if things dont go well from there then i will definately check out the dr you recommended Victoria. my surgeon mentioned we could do the surgery in january but he didnt give me a date. i noticed a lot of people have their dates already. did you both find out your dates early on or later? i met with a surgeon a few years back and at our very first meeting he scheduled my surgery. so i am excited about getting a surgery date and nervous about the UGI visit.

Lady Lap and Victoria thank you both so much, you guys are great and i am glad i have you to ask questions and get answers from. i hope im not too much of a PITA, lol! so tommorrow i meet with my surgeon and at our original meeting last month he tried to sell me on the sleeve and thats all he talked about. i checked into it and that is just not for me and i will put that out there immediately. if things dont go well from there then i will definately check out the dr you recommended Victoria. my surgeon mentioned we could do the surgery in january but he didnt give me a date. i noticed a lot of people have their dates already. did you both find out your dates early on or later? i met with a surgeon a few years back and at our very first meeting he scheduled my surgery. so i am excited about getting a surgery date and nervous about the UGI visit.

I started the process in Dec. of 2008 and found my my surgery date 3 months later.

I have recently heard of the sleeve and it does sound neat but I would not want a surgery that is so new.

Good afternoon ladies!!! Well i went to see my surgeon on Friday and although i hate that he makes his patients wait 20-30 minutes to see him, he was more friendly this time around and seemed to be ope to any questions that i had. his receptionsist is awesoe, she is super nice and asks lots of questions to make sure you are on track and just makes you feel like soeone in the office actually cares. she inquired about the surgery date, wich i told her i did not have yet and hoped to get that day. so far all i knew was January, she immediately said we can do january 17th and that was cool but i said if you have anything earlier i will take that. And what do you know January 4th is wide open. I can definately blow off any liquor on NYE in exchange for getting my surgery! so i left there feeling pretty awesome. she did mention that my insurance company would want me to be seen for 6 months prior to surgery (which is something i dreaded especially since i have seen just about everybody with Aetna on here only having to do 3, but i drilled it in my head that this was a possibility so dont be too upset if it came to this) however she said if i saw the dietition twice instead of once then they tend to approve it with the 3 months, so i will definately see her twice. I was down by the end of the day though because i forgot to get a referal from my PCP to see the dietition today, so i have to reschedule. i also have to make appts to see my pulmonary and cardio dr for clearance letters, so i thought i was little ahead of the game, but not really i still have lots to do. but with a surgery date set i am definately motivated to not drag my feet.