I'm so confused as to where to begin looking for a possible surgeon. I live in North Iowa way up near the Minnesota border. I've looked on obesity help and wasn't impressed with the number of bands that many of the doctors within a couple of hours of me have performed.

That said I really don't want to drive hours and hours either. But I'd really really like someone with more experience with this particular surgery.

Where can I look up to find how many of this surgery a doctor has performed? I was confused because on Obesity Help some of the docs profiles said they did the band but then it didn't say a number of them that they had performed.

By the way my hometown is Rockford IL. It's about five hours from here and anything in that vicinity wouldn't be too bad for me because I know I have friends and family that my family and I could stay with while there if we needed to. Is anyone familiar with any docs in that area?

I'm just not sure where to look next. I really want to find a possible doc and attend a seminar. Just not sure where to find more doctor information. Thanks for all your help so far by the way, you guys are great!

there is another web page called lapbandsystem.com. My doctors are a "lapbandsystem" members. This means that they have been mentored by an experienced lapband doctor; been observed during surgery by one, and have performed x amount of these surgeries (i don't remember how many). They have a list of them , then i cross referenced them with doctors in my insurance (who of course has a list and then started calling. many of the doctors have performed many more then what is on the lapbandsystem.com page but haven't updated that database. Also tells you where they have graduated from, etc. I really liked it. I love my docs and felt very good about them when going into surgery.

First, are you self-pay or are you using insurance? If you are using insurance, then the very first call should be to your insurance company to see who THEY will pay for. Then of those doctors, CALL THEIR OFFICE. Only a very very few surgeons have true updated data about how many bands they've placed anywhere online. the number should be constantly changing. In one month, a doc may have placed another 20 bands. I looked up my docs on OH and read as many patient reviews as possble about them, then I called the office and asked how many bands each had placed. Then I went to information sessions that each held to help me make my final decision. I took the list of questions with me that you can find here in the FAQ and reference forum. I also asked what the hidden costs are. Are there "support group" fees? Are there any post-op care fees? How about required diet fees? That's the one that got me. I didn't ask about required diet and they of course never mentioned it in my info session, nor did they mention it in my pre-op consultation. I complanied about that and hopefully they'll start mentioning it. It wasn't that expensive, but it was the principle of the thing. Good Luck!

there is another web page called lapbandsystem.com. My doctors are a "lapbandsystem" members. This means that they have been mentored by an experienced lapband doctor; been observed during surgery by one, and have performed x amount of these surgeries (i don't remember how many). They have a list of them , then i cross referenced them with doctors in my insurance (who of course has a list and then started calling. many of the doctors have performed many more then what is on the lapbandsystem.com page but haven't updated that database. Also tells you where they have graduated from, etc. I really liked it. I love my docs and felt very good about them when going into surgery.

Actually lapbandsystem.com is Dr. Joya's website from Mexico, so it might be another site that you mean.