Thanks Alex.

I'm so dissappointed. I was banded on January 19, 2011 and to date I've lost 34 ponnds. For the past four months I have not lost a pound. It's very slow for me. I feel that within a year I could have lost that amount on my own without the aid of the band.

Hi all. I am new to all this but am looking really heavy into getting the lap band. I am in the process of trying to find a good local DR. I am in Md. Any recommendations? Can any body fill me in on anything I need to know before and after? How long does it take to get the green light from your DR. that you can get the procedure? How much is the average out of pocket expense? Do they except state insurance? My list of questions goes on and on...lol

1. To find a bariatric surgeon in your area, go to the top of the forum page and click on Surgeons, then on Surgeon Near You. Follow the prompts to search in your area.

2. Filling you in on anything you need to know before or after surgery would fill a book. In fact, I wrote that book (see my signature line for more info).

3. How long does it take to get the green light from your doctor? Which doctor? The bariatric surgeon? That will all depend on whether your insurance and/or your surgeon requires a medically supervised pre-op diet (3, 6, or 9 months), what your existing medical conditions are, how busy your surgeon's practice is, what tests & evaluations you need, etc. etc. It took me 16 weeks to get from the 1st WLS educational seminar I attended to the operating room. I've heard of other people who had to wait a year or more, and I know someone who had band surgery a week after her first consult with her surgeon.

4. How much it will cost and whether your insurance will cover it depends on the terms of your particular insurance policy. I suggest that you call your insurance company's customer service number and request details of your policy's bariatric surgery coverage in writing before you go much further with this. In addition to coverage of the surgery, you need to investigate coverage of other important things, like fills (just because the policy covers surgery doesn't mean it'll cover fills, or it may cover only a certain number of fills), pre-op tests & evaluations (like a psychological evaluation, a sleep study, heart stress test, pulmonary evaluation, etc. etc. etc.) and nutritionist services.

I could tell you billion more things about the adjustable gastric band, but at this point, the most important things you need to know are:

1. Success with the band takes a lot of work. There is nothing in the band itself that will make you lose weight.

2. When deciding whether to have band surgery or another bariatric procedure, you must take into account the possible cost (in money, time, and energy) of the necessary aftercare. The band very rarely works without fills, and it almost always requires several fills and quite a lot of tweaking to achieve optimal band performance.

Jean