Ok Banded pro's this is my first time posting , I would like to know if n e 1 has been banded in columbus, ohio at the Mt. Carmel hospital and if so how was your experience? I have just sent in my first set of paper work to be approve by their Dr. Also they are charging $300.00 for administrator fee (paper pushing to the Ins.), not to mention I will have to spend another $200.00 for their nutritionist and this $500.00 is not covered by my insurance:faint: . Are fee's normal? I was just wondering because I feel as much as the surgery cost, these things should be included! N E help would be nice

NDWife - yes Dr. Price did ask me if I didn't want to consider GB since the weight loss would be faster and I said No, I really think the lapband is best for me and I'm willing to take a little longer in order to have the less drastic procedure. He said, now you'll have to work with the band as a tool and I said, Yep, I understand, and he said, well great - I'll do your band. Sounds like you know what you're after.

BNLisa - Yes, the last few days are crazy! I agree with GrowingPanes - get out and do something to work off the energy and distract your mind. It will be here and a week past and you'll be back at work like me by the time you blink your eyes twice! LOL

Thinner Me -- yep I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good things for you too!

Angie, I know you have heard all that we have said about the people working at MidOhio...it wouldn't hurt to give them a call...or two, or three...

Hi,

I went to Dr. Price with a confused mind. Thought I wanted a band (didn't want rerouting), but wasn't sure. He said what are your issues. I said, "I'm a single mother with two kids" and I was going to go on for awhile and present the two sides. He said "STOP, you want a band. You need to be around for your kids and the band is safer." So that is what I did. If you look at the numbers. Isn't it about 100 to 1 to have serious injury or death from the GB and about 1000 to 1 for lapband. That's odds I couldn't ignore.

As for the last week. My work threw me a "Goodbye to Food" potluck. I listed the foods that I wasn't going to eat anymore - doughy bread, broccolli, dry meat, shrimp, popcorn etc. - And the people in my office did all of those. Don't I work with a great group! Anyway I ate like a fool. I'm not sure how much you are now, but I was 340. I was warned not to gain. I only gained a little. But you are right to listen to your surgon.

BTW, the best part is that I can eat all of those now. All I have to do is chew well and make sure things are moist.

Susan

Not losing now because of Easter candy

It is only a tool and I'm not using it well right now

Edited March 27, 200818 yr by seebs

Sue, Kathy & Niki~ girls, you rock! Its good to know someone is thinking about you. I am going to give them till April 1st (2 weeks) then I'm gonna call everyday till I get an answer. I don't want to be a pest, but waiting another year to get my life back is just not an option .

I think it took just about two weeks for me to get a response to my application. The packet you get in the mail will include a checklist of the various clearances that you will need. Make sure you call IMMEDIATELY to make an appointment with the surgeon, as it was about 4 weeks until they could get me in with Dr. Choban - and I know she is real backed up right now. You might have better luck getting in with one of the others, although I think Dr. C. is the greatest!

Hi Everyone and Congrats to all the Newbie’s!!

I was wondering Seebs, how has Dr. Price been doing your fills for your band such as; weeks in between and amounts since you had the very first fill?

I'm curious because I am a patient of Dr. Choban. When I first started this process last March 2007-(Banded 12/26/07), my PCP referred me to Dr. Price; however they told me that Dr. Price was very busy with Cancer patients and it would be hard for me to get in. So I asked some of my other physicians and right away every one of them said, "Dr. Choban's name". I am very happy with her as well. I've only had 2 fills so far and the 1st was 4cc. then the 2nd was 1cc. As we all know, Dr. Choban is very busy but I had heard that if you can go to the Eastside, which is where I live, you can probably get in with Dr. Price a lot quicker. Since my 2nd fill on 3/20, they gave me a return appt. for 9 weeks. I really don't want to wait that long, which is why I'm curious to see how much fill Dr. Price puts in at each interval. I'm not sure if he and Dr. Choban follows the same structure when it comes to the Lap Band.

Thanks for the info,

Marie

Dr. Price told me that Dr. Choban was who would actually be doing my fills! Interesting to see how this goes.

Marie,

I should have said that Dr. Choban has been doing my fills, not Dr. Price. Dr. Price did the surgery with Dr. Choban assisting. I was told that Dr. Choban does the fills. Actually last time Melissa did the fill and Dr. Choban wasn't even in the room. I'm was worried about that but Melissa was quick to say that Dr. Choban was "around". Yes, but not with the 3 inch needle in her hand. My first fill was started by Melissa but after she dug around for awhile and couldn't get it, Dr. Choban tried. Then the moved me to the room where the x-ray lays down. They had me up, down and finally Dr. Choban got it. They decided to do my next fill under the floroscope (sp?) also. This was the one that Melissa did.

To answer the question. First fill the day after Thanksgiving (Banded Oct 8). I think 3. The next at the end of January with 1.5 more. So I have 4.5 total. I think it is good now.

Susan

Susan

Has Mellisa done fill for any one else on here?? She told me that she would be doing mine and I gotta tell you that I am NOT looking forward to someone digging around in my belly with a needle.:tongue_smilie:

Mellisa attempted to do my fill on the 20th. but couldn't get it so Dr. Choban finished it,I should have told Dr. Choban let her try one more time, I didn't mind her praticing on me, because in the long run we all will benefit from her knowing how to do the procedure, (we will no longer have to wait for an appt. with Dr. Choban, and she can have more time with the new patients).

I do believe that Mellisa is doing the first fill under Floroscope now she was training when I had my experience:blush5::tongue_smilie:. So she should be a pro at that type of fill.

What are Mellisas credentials? Is she a nurse?

she is at the minimum a nurse. i thought she was a nurse practitioner, which i thought was a step above a regular nurse. but i may be wrong.

hitting the mark in a fill must be harder than it looks because a year ago they told me she would be doing the fills. and i never even see her when i go for an appt. i dont get it.

Hi ladies, I'm going to change the tone from the usual complaining & venting (mostly about Mid-Ohio) and try to take your minds off of the arduous process of getting approved or the boredom of the liquid diet. Instead I will offer something I found while searching the web. For those of you on mushies (or about to be, like some of us), I ran across some pureed food recipes. There may be another thread where these could be posted, but I figured I'd offer them to my Mt. Carmel bandster buddies. These were compiled by an oncology dietitian (not specifically for bariatric patients) so the portion sizes are probably bigger than we should have, but at least we can get an idea of some possibilities. There are four different links: (1) Entrees, vegetables and salads: Recipes for Pureed Foods - Entrees, Vegetables, and Salads; (2) Soups: Recipes for Pureed Meals - Soups; (3) Breakfast, fruit and yogurt blends: Recipes for Pureed Meals - Breakfast, Fruit and Yogurt Blends; (4) Beverages, shakes and desserts: Recipes for Pureed Foods - Beverages, Shakes and Desserts.

Again, I can't vouch for their nutritional value or portion sizes, but at least it's something to consider to make weeks 3 & 4 a little more interesting than the first two! Happy pureeing! :huh2: (Is that a word?)

P.S. For some reason :confused2:, when I click on these links from this post in LBT, my computer gives me a runtime error. Don't know why. Then I click on "No", I don't want to debug, and it takes me to the link okay.

Thanks Greg, the link worked fine for me. Did you get a handout about pureed food before you left the hospital? I suspect that I will be through that phase before I get into a class.