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Hi everyone! I live in Apopka which is part of Orlando and I love it here. I had my band done by Dr Lee J Grossbard in Dade City near Tampa and I cannot rave enough about him or his staff! He is one of the pioneer surgeons of the Lap Band and has one himself. As for Dr Beltre here in Altamonte Springs...all I can tell you is I had one of the worst experiences EVER in a Dr's office..I still cannot believe how rude his staff was to a prospective new patient! To be fair, I never saw the Dr..I was too upset after dealing with his staff! Just for you info. Good luck to all the Florida Bandsters..nice to hear from everyone! Take care.

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Hi everyone! I live in Apopka which is part of Orlando and I love it here. I had my band done by Dr Lee J Grossbard in Dade City near Tampa and I cannot rave enough about him or his staff! He is one of the pioneer surgeons of the Lap Band and has one himself. As for Dr Beltre here in Altamonte Springs...all I can tell you is I had one of the worst experiences EVER in a Dr's office..I still cannot believe how rude his staff was to a prospective new patient! To be fair, I never saw the Dr..I was too upset after dealing with his staff! Just for you info. Good luck to all the Florida Bandsters..nice to hear from everyone! Take care.

I'm glad you posted this. The doctor near Tampa will probably be perfect for me since I'll be in Polk County which is in the middle of Tampa and Orlando. I'll give his office a call closer to my move date. It's nice to know that there are some polite doctors out there! I haven't had much luck with my doctor here in Portugal either!

We are going to be really close to each other as well, I'll have to look you up when I get there.

As for everyone else, we should do like a florida banster lunch some where some time and we can all come up together and met for lunch some place!

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Hello everyone. I'm going with Dr. Rodolfo Dy in New Port Richey. They have a support group at the hospital that meets once a month.

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Heather,

Dr Grossbard is wonderful...he has a partner that is nice as well...have seen them both. :girl_hug: You do have to get "Pre-approved" for them to accept you and they want ALL your records....so make sure you've copied and brought them with you from Portugal.

God Bless,

MElody

Banded 3/20/06 -94lbs :)

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yeah, i planned on getting all my records, i should also have them translated! That might help hehe.... Do you know if they take blue cross blue shield? Thats the insurance that I will have.

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hi florida girls. I live in St. Pete. I would like to find a support group here. or close by. I was banded on June 21, 2006. down 50 pounds. Dr. Jawad in Ocala did my surgery. he is GREAT! I do need a fill. after Christmas.

I hope to hear from you soon.

asbell38@hotmail.com

Lisa

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Great! We are seeing more Florida people every day! I haven't moved back to Florida yet, so I'm not sure what support groups are available, but congrats on 50lbs down! Thats wonderful!

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HEather,

They do take BC/BS....the question is: Does BC/BS cover anything for obesity!? They didn't for me....

Lisa,

Keep up the GREAT work!!!! :)

God Bless,

Melody

Banded 3/20/06 -94lbs :bolt:

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humm...you know im not sure, i read the policy that is for teachers and its not excluded, so i assumed that it ment it was included. But we will have to see...they may consider it a pre existing condition? I dunno, but at least they do take it in case it is covered. How much is a fill with no insurance?

Thanks for the site Terrilen, I'll have to check that out.

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Heather....I believe I pay $200 for a fill whether it's flouro or not....may be $300 with flouro?!?!??! I don't know it's been awhile since I've needed a flouro or a fill.

God BLess,

Melody

Banded 3/20/06 -94lbs :)

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Hi can anyone refer a doc that will see me? Anywhere near South Fl?

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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