I'll be having Dr. Kelly perform my Lap Band Surgery. Has anyone had him? If so can you tell me how he is and the results you have had?

:nervous

Thanks,

Yvonne

Hi kedasmom:

I had Dr. Kelly at UMass. He was great, very thorough. He also is the top in his field. I had my lap band on April 30th. Let me know when you want to attend a group support meeting I will go. Email me at smylyp@sbcglobal.net and let me know. Talk with you soon.

Hi, I'm glad to find this thread, I have been searching for info about the Umass program. I live in Worcester and it would be so easy to have it done local.

I am glad to hear you all like the doctors and staff. I have not started the process yet but will be going to the required meetings in September. After that how long would you say the process was? I am hoping to possibly have it done in Jan 08.

Thank you

Mich, Please don't count on Jan.08, I started April 06 I finally had my surgery Feb.12 2007. Unless it is different for self payers and you are one of them, I think it takes alittle longer than that. I'm so glad I got it done. They tell you it's a two year plan, I'm don't know if that takes in the wait time to surgery and then the losing. I don't know. Good luck. Bonnie

Good Morning Mich,

I am glad you are looking in to the program at UMass. I had done about a year of research and found that Dr. Kelly at the Weight Center at UMass to be the best. He is the one of the top in his field and he started the program at UMass.

I started the process in September 2006. I had to go to two seminars at the UMass auditoriums. Then I contacted UMass to set up for the process. You go to classes for nutrition, information regarding the process and what it intails. Then you have exercise classes, if the surgeon gives the okay for you to do so, if not, you will start that after surgery once your clearde with the surgeon. Then you meet with the nutritionist and psychologist. If the psychologist doesn't give the okay it can set you back a month or so before they call you with a surgery date. One thing you must know though is that if you should really make sure this is what you want and are ready for the committment and dedication this change in your life will take, because it is an everyday challenge.

I had my surgery on April 30, 2007. It seemed like forever. But I am glad that it took as long as it did, because I was a very emotional and hard process after surgery.

Once I had my surgery, I was sent home a few hours later. I felt good, and I recovered from the anesthesia very well and could walk around right away, which helped. Although be prepared for the gas and pressure from the anesthesia, especially within the first two days after surgery. Walk as much as possible and purchase GasX strips and Tums as well. If they give you pain medication like Percocet or Oxycodone, it causes severe constipation, please make sure you have Milk of Magnesia on hand, because if you don't it's not pretty, trust me. After the first week it is better, you can move around more and you feel a little more comfortable. It took me about a month to feel like my old self again. But after that it was like I had this new lease on life. I didn't have to take my Tagamet or my two high blood pressure meds anymore. That was the biggest relief I could have hoped for.

I am now just about 3 months post-op and I have lost 57.9 pounds. This has not been easy. You still have to exercise every day if possible and weigh EVERYTHING!!! I know it seems like it's time consuming, but you don't want to have gone through all this hard work for nothing.

I wish you all the luck in your journey. If you have any questions or you want to keep in touch, please email me at smylyp@sbcglobal.net and I will help you through this any way I can.

Good Luck From,

Smyly

Thank you for the info. Smyly, congrats on the weight loss! I am sorry to hear the program wait is so long. I was also looking into the Boston hospitals, they seem to have much shorter waits. I know this is a big step and a major decision. I'm not trying to rush it, but 3-5 months sounds much better than 7-10 months!!

The first Umass seminar I will need to attend is this Thursday. I am going to start there and see how it goes. I really would like to do this in Worcester, it would be so much easier to get to appointments and I think there would be a lot less stress involved if I did not have to drive into Boston.

Child care for an hour appointment in Worcester, or 3 hours with commute time to and from Boston. Easy to see why it might be worth it to wait for the later date.

Do you go to the hospital for the fills? How often do they do it in the Umass program?

Thank you!!

Hi Mich:

Glad to hear back from you. You can email my direct email at smylyp@sbcglobal.net if you want and we can keep in touch.

I have my fills at the UMass Medical Center at the Weight Loss Center. I actually am going today for my third fill, a little nervous. I was hoping for more of a weight loss this visit. But I guess 9 pounds in 6 weeks is okay. I just was hoping for more. But at least it's going down not up. Keep me posted on your Boston visit, hope all goes well.

Talk to you soon.