It's the last Wednesday of the month, people, and that means it's support group time! Tomorrow's meeting is at 7:00 p.m. at the Florham Park offices of Drs. Abkin & Bertha.

Hope to see you there!!

hi... i think i met you at one of the first meetings at abkins office.... it's the last wed of the month at 7:00p.m.???? i'll introduce myself the next meeting....

Hi! Were you at the last meeting? I'm sorry I'm such a bubble-brain. The next meeting is the night before Thanksgiving; I'm 90% sure I'll be there. It was a choice between a meeting in November OR in December, and the consensus seemed to be November.

Hope to see you there!

no i was at one of the first meetings they had a abkins office.... probably june... i'll try to get the the novermber one, and say hello

Hi there!

I wish I could have attended the last meeting since I am going through the lap band procedure Dec 7th with Dr. Bertha and felt that it would have been great to hear some pointers on the procedure, how to prepare for it, etc.

Is the next meeting the last Wednesday in January?

Also, what is recommended as far as what to eat/drink prior to the operation? Should I try to adjust my meals to smaller portions? I'll be attending the 3 1/2 hour meeting tomorrow at Dr. Bertha's office where this will probably come up, but I could use some guidance from my fellow "band" members!!!

Thanks!!!

Hi Doug,

Nice to meet you! I'm sorry I missed the November meeting but the weather was such that it just didn't make sense to go out. And sadly there won't be a meeting in December. But I'm DEFINITELY going to the one in January.

As far as pre-op diet changes go, I don't think the docs make any specific recommendations for most people. Your mileage may vary, of course. And of course smaller meals are always a good way to go, especially since once your surgery is scheduled you'll probably experience "last meal syndrome" and start overeating. Anything you can do to avoid or counter the effects of that puts you ahead of the game.

Have a good meeting tonight. Be prepared for an overwhelming number of RNY people and a presentation focusing primarily on that operation. But there are prospective bandsters in the audience so don't be afraid to speak up and ask your questions. And of course, come back here and ask whatever new questions come up.

Hi Alex.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

The meeting I had today was a meeting of ~ 8 people who are scheduled to have the lap band carried out. This meeting was held by Linda in the conference room and was intended to go over the procedure, release forms, paperwork that's needed to be submitted, etc.

I attended one of the group's evening seminars a few months ago. I also have made it through the nutritionist, psych meeting, EKG, ... - so now I'm ready for showtime!

I look forward to attending the Lap Band group meeting in January.

Take care.

Doug

Best wishes Doug.... first few days is kind of tough... but it is well worth the trip...... by one week I was feeling pretty good...... I have 2 small kids... so it made it kind of tough.... if you don't have to take care of too much other than yourself, you'll be great.... .keep us posted...

hi... i think i met you at one of the first meetings at abkins office.... it's the last wed of the month at 7:00p.m.???? i'll introduce myself the next meeting....

I just had to mention that you had your surgery on my birthday. And at the doctor I am looking into using as well. 13 has always been a lucky number for me!

Sonia

well best wishes with your surgery..... hope all goes great with you..... which hospital are you having it done at???? i heard they now are doing it at st claires hospital in denville.........it was real tough the first couple of days, but not to bad after day 4..... happy birthday, i'll think of you on my bandiversary...

Hello everyone!

Thank you for all of your notes and your concern.

Well, I had the lap band at Morristown Memorial on 12/7. I am glad that I finally had the procedure.

The days following the procedure were kind of rough - very sore, gas, only Water and sugar free popcicles and the like. I really haven't missed food, though a lot of people tell me they miss not having their "best friend" - food, with them to any large extent. I'm pretty sure I will eventually want to eat again and I'll deal with the same issues as before - only this time, I'll have the band and my new found commitment to support me.

Dr. Bertha was great and the hospital was fantastic. In retrospect, since you have such a limited amount of time when you meet with the doctor, I would definately suggest having a pen and paper handy at all times, so you can write down all of your questions and your family's questions and pose them to the doctor all at once.

Well, I am up to having yogurt and chicken broth! Who would have thought that anyone could look forward to drinking chicken broth!

Be healthy.

Your Fellow Bandster,

Doug

Hey, Doug, welcome back! I'm so glad to hear things went well. Dr. Bertha is great, isn't he? I saw him last week for a followup and I'm just more comfortable and impressed with him each time. We're so lucky to be near such a great banding practice.

Mark down on your calendar the last Wednesday in January for the lap-band support group meeting. I'll be there with bells on!

Congratulations, Doug. You sound like you are healing nicely. Great to have you back.

Sonia

well doug,,, did you ever think you'd be excited to eat yogurt??? hahaha... glad to hear your getting there....

Well, yesterday I attended the information seminar at the Old Mill Inn. Actually, it was my second seminar of the night, I also attended one at Hackensack Hospital. I was very impressed with the surgeons at Hackensack, although one thing was troubling to me. They really did not mention much of pre-op testing. I know someone (actually jsut found out yesterday) that has the surgery scheduled for Christmas week at Hackensack. She has not had to do any pre-op testing at all. The really woried me, but the surgeons were impressive.

Then we went to the Abkin/Berthe meeting. Totally different atmosphere, sales-y approach, if you kow what I mean. THe meeting began with MArco, the nurse, then a person who had had the RNY came to share her experiences (I really with someone with the Lap Band had showed up) THen after a discussion about the insurance companies, the doctors showed up. What readily impressed me was Dr. Abkin's obvious knowledge about the surgery and his ability to share that knowledge "at our level". I knew alot about the procedures coming in because of so much research I had done.

It was also very obvious that all the doctors preferred the RNY to the Lap Band. Even my husband stated after the meeting that the RNY must be the superior surgery. So I did make an appointment for a consultation, on January 6th. I am also meeting with the psychologist and nutritionist. In the meantime, this is when I must seriosuly consider if this is for me. If I cancel this appointment, I am telling myself that at least for the foreseeble future I must do this without any surgical tool. I have to decide what is best for me.

Anyway, that's about it. I just wanted to share my progress so far in a forum that understands where I am coming from. THanks for listening, and sorry for the long post.

Sonia

Hi Sonia,

I'm really sorry there was no one at that meeting to share their LapBand experience!! I'd done that myself back in October at the same meeting and told them I'd be happy to do it again if they needed. Banding really does get short shrift: At the meeting I was at, Marco actually neglected to mention that the band is adjustable at all. I had to say that when I got up to speak.

There is indeed no question that the surgeons "prefer" RNY to banding, but if you look at it from their perspective it's easy to see why. It's the more complex surgery and gets faster results--they're surgeons, not social workers, and that's the sort of thing they like to do. Banding is more labor-intensive and less remunerative for them, so while it may well be the better treatment for the patient the surgeons are less likely to embrace it for their purposes.

From where I sit there is no "superior" surgery, they are just differerent procedures and one will fit each person's needs better. When you go in to see the doctor he will not try to convince you one way or the other unless you have clear contraindications for one or the other--if you have a preference let him know up front and it will save you both the trouble of comparing/contrasting.

Man, you've got me ticked now. I'm going to call the office and let them know, AGAIN, that I am willing to appear at any of those intro meetings. I've been told on several occasions that my talk in October was very helpful and many people mention it when they come to the office. Maybe I'll get a huge BEFORE picture of myself to take with me, since I'm not the skinny-mini they probably want for these meetings. Maybe that's why they didn't call me...hm...