hi yall :confused: , just wanted to introduce myself , im sara in tampa florida , my surgery date is friday feb 13th .... my doc is dr grossbard .........just a quick question , ive been researching bariatric surgery for over a year , was scheduled for gastric bypass in oct of last yr ........ chickened out , i got a nervous about all the cut and pasting to be done to my anatomy .... im overall healthy , just fat ! and have been battling my weight my whole life , one of the girls at my moms drs office said she was banded and although i heard about it ... i just went right to the extreme with the gbp , well learning more and more about the band , im hooked ! its exactly what im looking for , i am still quite nervous about the surgery and the " afterlife " but this is something i need to do to get my life back and feel good about myself , i would love to get any and all info from " real bandsters" not just websites and info pages ...............im on the atkins right now , ( not my favorite diet because im not that big of a meat eater ) but its going ok ........anyways , my question is , i just had my appt on jan 27th and i was amazed at how quick im going in for surgery ....... has anyone else ( besides dr grossbards patients ) moved this quickly ? ive been to one seminar , have had one appt with the dr to which we scheduled the surgery , i am to go to the hospital 3 days prior for lab work and some tests and then BAM , surgery ............ i just want to know if this seems pretty normal ? ohh , an im self paying because my insurance wont .............. any help is much appreciated !!! thanks

sara

I had my Dr's appt on August 1st and my surgery was scheduled for August 20th. My insurance covered my surgery. Good luck to you and let us know how everything goes.

Hi Sara -

I was self-pay as well. I made the decision at the end of December, 2002, and had my surgery 1/23/03. Whheeee!

Congrats on being on the fast track, and best of luck!

Hi Sara,

I was self pay also. Of course I went to Mexico and paid a lot less than I would here in the US. From the time I made the decision to getting banded it took 2 weeks and that was to my doing because it could have happened even quicker!

Good Luck & keep us posted,

Mary

Another self-pay. My appt was the last week in July and they could have gotten me in for surgery 6 days later, but my daughters birthday party was already planned for the first weekend in August, so I waited until the end of August.

thank you guys sooooo much for the responses!! that was one of the few things i was nervous about ...... but not anymore :confused: my countdown is 2 WEEKS FROM TODAY !!!!