Hello All,

I've been "stalking" the boards for some time now ... and I went to the informational seminar in December. I met with the therapist and I have done the medically supervised diet plan ... now here I am.

I go to meet with Dr. Singh this afternoon over by St Agnes Hospital in Maryland. I have mixed emotions as the more I read, I am relieved by your successes, and so afraid of my own potential failure, or surgical complications.

I just wanted to reach out and say hello, and let you guys know that I may need some hand-holding!!!

Please wish me luck on my journey, and I hope to be as much of an asset to you as you all have been to me.

My name is Lisa and I was banded a year ago at St. Agnes by Dr. Averbach. I believe Singh and Averbach used to be together. I never met Dr. Singh, but I can tell you Dr. Averbach is wonderful!! I have been very happy with teh results (down 75 pounds in one year). Now, I will say that the surgery at St. Agnes was a different story. The nurses were super nice, but I guess it was the aides that were loud and rude. I was in horrible pain and miserable and the hospital was so loud in the hall and the roommate I had, had a visitor that was loud and annoying. When the doctor came in and asked if I wanted to go home, I said yes. I normally never would have left a hospital so soon after surgery, but St. Agnes was horrible in that regard! I hope you do not have the same experience!

Hi, I wish you the best of luck on your personal journey. While there is no replacement for the support of friends and family I've been a member here for a few weeks and I've found you can ask for info and experience testimonials on any topic and people are very honest and helpful. I had surgery in California and found that the outpatient surgery departments are kind of loud and frustrating people are in and out a lot but youl be in and out fast too. As long as you feel you have a great doc then keep the faith. Good luck to you and kno you can accomplish your goal!

Hi. I didn't like the care at St.Agnes either, but Dr. Averbach and his team are wonderful. Your doctor and his team are the most critical in your long-term success. Good luck!

Yes Dr Singh is now with Dr. Humbdallah. I'm not sure what happened with the relationship with Dr. Averbach. Dr. Singh didnt really speak on it, and no one asked him at the seminar.

So I had a list of 17 questions to ask him during my consult. He answered each one, and he said that I have everything I need to start the pre-authorization from BCBS. So I should know something in a few weeks (fingers crossed). I just want to get on this journey before summer time because I really want to see some results by the end of the summer.

Dr. Singh told me to look up the movie "food Inc." and pay close attention. He told me that it would change how I looked at food, and it would encourage me to eat healthier things. He agreed with me that I work out 3-5 days a week, but because of that I feel like I can eat whatever I want (which is why Im not losing weight).

I hope that St. Agnes isnt too much of a circus while I'm there. It seemed pretty nice and much more updated than when I was last there back in 2006. So that's another thing Im keeping my fingers crossed about.

Lisa, do you have before and after photos? And where do you live? Do you attend support groups at St. Agnes?

I will have to look up Food, Inc. this weekend! I live in Arbutus. I do not attend support groups at St. Agnes. I was thinking about it, but then I found this website. Where do you live? I sure hope you have a better experience at St. Agnes than I did. When I went in, in the morning, all the prep team was superb - very friendly, calming, relaxing. I felt great. The nurses on the surgical floor were great too. It was the nurses' aides and the roommate situation with her guest who was cussing up a storm about something. I don't know if you've ever had surgery before, but you feel like crap afterwards and you just want quiet. Then I had to be wheeled down to x-ray (they need to check the placement of the band). The girl that wheeled me down yelled (I mean yelled) "Hey" to about everyone she passed. Then another girl came and joined her and they talked so loud the entire time - they didn't slow down for bumps over thresholds - it was miserable. I was shocked when I was asked if I wanted to go home. That was around 6:00 p.m. that night. I couldn't wait to get out of there!!!

WOW. I have had surgery but when I was in the hospital it wasn't outpatient and I had some complications so I had to be sent to the ICU after surgery, so I was in a room totally isolated by myself.

I think Dr. Singh has a partnership with Northwest Hospital now, so I may opt to have my sruegry there if that is an option.

I live near Mt. Washington and I do want to attend some support groups. I am very nervous about this whole thing and I want to see some patients after the procedure, "in the flesh" and see how they feel about it. I know this is life changing so I just want as much info and as many ppl that can relate as possible.