I'm trying to find out who has lost 100 pounds or more. Also, who was your doctor and how far out since surgery are you? Also, what was the doctors personality like? Last part, how long did it take you from intake to surgery date? For these question, Im mainly looking for responses from people who have had surgery inside the United States.

The reason why Im asking is because now that I have insurance, its time to pick a doctor. I want a doc that has a proven track record for success, and not from reviews on their website, but from real live people on the boards. I do know that I will have to also extensively research on my own, but Im trying to find out who has worked for YOU!

Im hoping that I get LOTS of responses! I am on here EVERY day and hope you all can guide me in the right direction!

Thanks in advance!!

I've not lost 100, yet. I've lost 78-lbs in my 5-months post-op, and 123 since this journey began. I'm hoping to be around 165 by Aug 2012. My doctor was Stephen Boyce in Tennessee. He was great. His team has done a fantasic job and I'm extremely pleased with my results. I had my consult in Sept and then surgery on Dec 20, 2011.

Good luck. If you have any questions just message me.

It is great that you have been approved - but I wish your info had a bit more about you, your city and state would be helpful in letting the specific people you need most to chime in.

Do you have the ability to "pick" from such a wide scope? You may want to first get a list of the doctors in your area and see who is covered. You really want to use a doctor in your are if you can.

A good local doctor will be as acceptable as a great one a hundred miles away, doubly so if you have need to return more than anticipated.

can I ask what is Onderland? i see it on this site alot,but Ihave no idea what it means

Thanks

Pookey has a good point. There's no point in having great reviews on a doctor in south Florida if you're in Michigan and can't travel that far. It's also nice to have a somewhat local doctor if you have questions or complications. Follow up care is much easier with a local doctor, too. There are some terrific surgeons in and out of the US. I bet 75% of us are happy with the doctors we chose as far as their care, so you'll have a really tough choice if you are able to travel anywhere in the States for your surgery.

Honestly, the amount of weight someone loses has more to do with that person (how they eat, how active they are, etc) than their surgeon. The success of a surgeon would be based on his mortality and serious complication rates. For every wildly successful patient of a surgeon, you may find someone struggling to lose and it had absolutely nothing to do with the surgeon.

AzQuilter, Onederland means that your weight now begins with a 1 instead of a 2, so down from 200+ pounds into the 100+ pound range.

First, a little about me... I am a 28 year old woman in North Carolina. I have the ability to go absolutely anywhere within the US as Im a certified travel agent. I also understand that the majority of weight lost mostly comes from the patient, but I have noticed a trend. Alot of times (and hear on these boards) I see that people who share the same surgeons are closer to the same %of weight lost. BKmama-- I do agree that asking about complications and mortality rates would be beneficial, but thats been done on other threads.Also, I know that majority of the work is on the patient, but thats why I want to hear the success stories about patient as well as doctor. I believe that with the help of this surgery, I will be among them. Im willing to do the work. As far as insurance, I have United Healthcare which only requires a 5 year weight history from doctors (which I already have).

well i love my surgeon! he and his partner, Dr Monash are the best! Both are bariatric surgeons of Excellance,the hospitals that they perform the surgeries at are bariatric surgery centers of excellance also. We have a support group that meets the first sat of the month,for all kinds of bariatric surgeries, and we discuss allkinds of things and there is a free zumba class at the end of the meeting,

I cant say enough good things about them.

Hey azquilter-- how much weight have you lost? Thanks for giving me that info, I will look into Dr. Welle. Is he from AZ?

Also, u may get a wider variety of answers to a post-op question in the post-op forum instead of pre-op

:-p

I've lost -100lbs, 8 of pre-op the rest since surgery. I'm 19 months post-op and having trouble getting the last of the weight off. But on the flip side I'm happy where I am and have been easily maintaning for months and months!

I agree that having a surgeon close to home is a big plus (FOR ME anyway!) as my sugeon has tons and tons of post-op support. I've yet to miss a support group or followup class.

My surgeon was Dr. Snyder of Denver Colorado at Rose Medical center. His practice is one carrying the Bariatric Center for Excellence label. I had UnitedHeathcare and one of their stipulations was that the surgeon and their practice had to be certified by this high standard.