I'm in Kissimmee. I just had my band placed on 04/11/06. Anyone in the Central Florida area? I'd like to keep in touch and maybe meet a few people. I am doing well. 6 days out and I lost 12lbs. I am excited and wanted to touch base with other successful people.

I'm scheduled with Dr. Rumbaut for July 17th. I live in Winter Haven about 2 miles from Cypress Gardens. I'm glad I found this place. I'm thrilled with my decision and nervous about my trip. Any advice you can give me, good or bad, is appreciated. I'm glad to hear it is going well so far.

celestemcnair,

Welcome!! You will love the banded life...most days! I have named mine "lucy"....somedays she is a controlling thing!! Just live the rules: eat a bite the size of a pencil eraser, chew, chew, chew....and ask yourself "am I still hungry?"....not "am I full?" ....changes your way of thinking!

God Bless,

Melody

Banded 3/20/06 -100lbs

It would be great for someone to start one! I would love to attend now, even though I'm not having to procedure until July! I live near Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. Oh, and I have a word advice. I'm new here and mistakenly wondered into the Canada forum. Not very nice over there!

It would be great for someone to start one! I would love to attend now, even though I'm not having to procedure until July! I live near Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. Oh, and I have a word advice. I'm new here and mistakenly wondered into the Canada forum. Not very nice over there!

Hey Celestemcnair,

You don't live that far from me, say bout 20 minutes.

I am banded and I had Dr. Rumbaut do my surgery. I will forever be in awe of that man. I stumbled onto him but I was lucky. Ask anyone and they have nothing but good things to say about him. BTW, did you know he had Lapband surgery too? He was 255lbs...now 150 I think.

Monterrey is really beautiful and the hospital, San Jose is very very clean. Better than any US hospital I have ever seen. The staff is more than accommadating and the size of your room is like a mini apartment. Insane!

I'm over a year out, about 1 year and 1 month. I've dropped a significant amount of weight since the surgery, through diet, exercise and some restriction, about 106lbs. I have 4lbs to go.

I don't know if you know but in September of this year, Dr. Rumbaut is having a lap-banded patient party. It will be in Texas.

Again Congrats on your upcoming banding. I wish you much success in your weightloss goals. You've already chosen one of the greatest doctors, I'm sure you'll continue to make the right decisions after banding.

One thing though...

This is a great site for new bandsters, however, please pick and choose your information carefully. Sometimes there is just "too much info" and it can be overwhelming. There is good and bad when referring to the band. There are alot of successful folks on here, as well as folks that have had their band removed.

Read thoroughly through the stories and try to understand that everyone is different. Every pace of weightloss is different. Some lose slower, some lose faster, some can't handle the restriction, some can, some are too tight, some are not tight enough, some ....the band didn't help them b/c they realized that they need headwork. Some find it the fault of the band that they can't lose and can't seem to fathom that the pint of ice cream they had the night before had anything to do with the slow weight loss...

So just a good word of advice, read carefully, research, pick and choose what you want to use as "useful info".

Good luck!

I will be at Walt Disney World in Spet, from the 14th thru the 24th. Anyone want to get together for lunch? I will not have a car but can meet at DownTown Disney pretty much any day. There will be a few of us visiting at that time. I know of 2 other bandsters that will be there during our trip. ~Mandy

Thanks so much for the advice! I'm excited and it seems still so far away!

Thought I should share.

I recently visited the St. Petersburg fillcenters affiliate and couldn't be more impressed the NP there is top notch in my opinion also has flouro.

JC

Someone else told me that also. I'll probably check that one out. Do I need to register at the fill-center before my surgery or do you think I should wait until I get back?

Sorry it took so long to respond, I have some pics of the kayak trip I was on, on my myspace account. www.myspace.com/str8jacket29 I will be heading back there for the weekend Thursday night, any way to answer your question you can check out fillcenters usa or contact Millenium Mediical St Petersburg 727-541-2675 Kathie Gonzales is the Nurse Practitioner there. I don't think it would hurt to contact in advance.

JC

I don't know if you know but in September of this year, Dr. Rumbaut is having a lap-banded patient party. It will be in Texas.

Good luck!

Hello,

I was banded by Dr. Rumbaut back in Nov 2002. I would love to attend this patient party. How do I get some info? I have lost his contact info.

Thanks much,

Amy

Any had surgery with US Bariatrics, Dr Kim? I can't have my first fill until July 13th YIKES....It because I'm going on vacation, which I really shouldn't be doing as I have all these medical bills. But, I guess I'm not spending money on eating out so ALLS GOOD LOL. Any live in Seminole County???

Hi! I am in Tampa and wanted to drop in and meet some others in the area. I am in the process of meeting the requirements for my insurance to approve my surgery. Hopefully I will have the surgery done @ Tampa General Hospital by Dr. Murr. Has anyone else here had their surgery done by him?

I would love to meet some of the locals if there is ever a meet & greet scheduled.

Hi Bad Girl congrats on your decision to get banded. I'm just to North in Pasco County.

Hey Celestemcnair, you're less than a month away! How are things going for you?

JC

Hi Bad Girl congrats on your decision to get banded. I'm just to North in Pasco County.

Hey Celestemcnair, you're less than a month away! How are things going for you?

JC

Hi JC - I'm impatiently waiting! I hope after coughing up all this dough that I lose the weight, or at least most of it. Any suggestions? I'll be perfectly honest, I plan on excersizing, but, I am a procrastinator. I hope when I lose some lbs. that I have more energy and incintive to excercise more. I want to lose 70 lbs but will be very happy with 55.

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Any had surgery with US Bariatrics, Dr Kim? I can't have my first fill until July 13th YIKES....It because I'm going on vacation, which I really shouldn't be doing as I have all these medical bills. But, I guess I'm not spending money on eating out so ALLS GOOD LOL. Any live in Seminole County???

</p> <p> </p> <p>Hi! I live in St. CLoud and I work downtown Orlando. I plan on having Dr. Kim at US Bariatrics do my surgey. I just have to get Cigna to accept him as a provider which is hard. Cigna wants me to go to Dr. Jawad in Ocala but I don't want to. When I called them, the lady that answered the phone asked me about my weight. I told her and she said because my BMI is over 50, Dr. Jawad would want to do gastric and probably wouldn't do the band. I don't like being told that by the person that answers the phone there. I think it sounds like Dr. Jawad is out to make more money because he charges more for gastric. I am praying Cigna will see that US Bariatric is about 50 miles closer to where I live. Right now I am in month 5 of my 6-month diet program so I am just waiting to send all of my paperwork once that's over. Keeping my fingers crossed that they will approve me!

www.myspace.com/michiganer1981