Hi, I would love to hear from anyone in the state of Utah.

I am scheduled to have my surgery on April 5, 2005 in Orem, Utah with Dr Mc Keen. Please respond so we can compare notes.

I have been surfing the net to find out more information on the band surgery. I have really learned alot from reading alot of discussions in this group. I am also interested in the surgery here in Utah and am especially interest in the Doctor in Orem/Provo. I hear that he offers the surgerie for $12,500. My insurance won't cover any so I am really trying to plan for the cost.

The other issue is my age. At 54 am I too old?

Interested in hearing from anyone.

Supergrama

I would strongly suggest you consult with Drs. Hansen and Alldredge in Sandy before you decide....the 500 bucks difference ain't worth it. McKeen (the doctor in Provo) does NOT include followup care...you have to pay for fills, office visits, support of any kind. To give you the "inside" track....I work in a hospital in Provo, and one of the docs I work with, advised me to go to Dr. Alldredge/Dr. Hansen. This doc had the surgery done, and very emphatically recommends these docs over Dr. McKeen. And the docs in Sandy have 2 different bands to offer....the "regular" one, and the Vanguard band.....I have the Vanguard. And I have had at least 6 fills so far. As far as age is concerned....I was banded January 6th, and on April 3rd I turned 54!!!

Good luck, email me back if you have any other questions. If you decide you want to consult with Drs Alldredge/Hansen, their # is 801-571-9511.

Your age is not an issue I am 58 and I had it done.Dr. McKeen is great. I feel the extra $500 was worth it. You have support any time you need it by phone and you are not charged. Office visits are usually for a fill and they are $100 for the first one and $200 there after. E-mail me anytime for more info.

....the "regular" one, and the Vanguard band.....I have the Vanguard. And I have had at least 6 fills so far.

The VG "Vanguard" band is recomended for larger BMI's. Before I was re-banded I was concerned with which band I wanted. I thought because the VG was the lastest and greatest that that's what I wanted. Then I spoke with Don Mills of Inamed who informed me about the larger BMI issues and needing more fills to achieve restriction levels.

Linda, Welcome to LBT and investigate the best doctor for yourself. I've know Dr. McKeen for 2 years, he works well with his patients, listens and does not have a standard fill amount rate or waiting period. He knows every person is different and wants the band to work with you!

Hi,

I am from Idaho and had surgery in Mexico. Does anyone know if there is a Dr. in Utah that will do fills? And the cost?

Dr. McKeen does. His office is located in Orem Utah. Call his nurse and leave a message with your name and phone # she will call you back. Her Name is Chris at 1-801-380-5020,tell her Loraine referred you. The Doctor and his Nurse are great people.

Vegas here, so I'm about 6 hours away. Hope you're doing well.

Thanks for your advise. I have talked to their office and have an appointment. How are you doing with the battle?

Hi Fellow Utah Bandsters!

I met with both Dr.'s McKeen and Alldredge and attended both of their seminars. Although I felt that Dr. McKeen was really personable, in the end, I decided to use Dr. Alldredge. I haven't regretted it yet, however, I am still a newbie. (Banded May 12)

Here's why I made my decision:

The published studies indicate that some of the key criteria to keeping complications down and success up include:

A local Dr. with a local practice who has made the commitment to being continuously available for long term follow up care. Dr. McKeen is not local whereas Dr. Alldredge has a very permanent staff and two local facilities, along with well developed programmatic systems to keep you looked after. He has planned periodic follow up groups, a training room, a dietician, and as far as I can tell, about 3-5 permanent, local staff. This makes it very easy to obtain follow up care.

At least 100 lap-band surgeries to be considered an expert, and also to minimize the number of complications. Dr.'s McKeen and Dr. Alldredge both come in very close to 200, as I recall.

The more bands a hospital does, the higher the likelihood of avoiding complications. The study suggested 100 as a minimum. Dr. McKeen recently changed from Cottonwood to Provo. As I recall, his office indicated he had done around 12 (my best recollection) when I met with him late April/early May 2005. Conversely, Dr. McKeen uses both a hospital for high risk cases and a surgery center for low risk cases. As I recall, he had done about 100 in each of those two locations himself, plus his partner, apparently had done about 135-150 overall, spread between those two locations.

So for the above reasons - durability, availability and support of the practice;

Experience of the medical center, and similar experience of the Dr., I decided on Alldredge.

Price-wise, they are within $500 of each other in initial costs, but Alldredge's first year of follow up is included, whereas, as I recall, McKeen's is not. This means TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) in my estimation, is lower with Alldredge. That notwithstanding, safety and efficacy has got to overrule anything on cost, as we all have but one body.

Take care, good luck!

I had my second fill and I am to tight. I have an appointment to get an unfill soon. However I finally lost 4 pounds, for a total of 14. I am just starting to notice my clothes are a little loser, It feels great.

I just need to get out and walk, it has been so rainy here I haven't been out in a while and I sit at a desk to much.

Hi I'm Linda in Sandy, It's been two months for you now how is everything going? I'm just starting to look into Lap Band or maybe by pass not sure yet any ideas on which one is best?

Hi, I would love to hear from anyone in the state of Utah.

I am scheduled to have my surgery on April 5, 2005 in Orem, Utah with Dr Mc Keen. Please respond so we can compare notes.

I think the only way you can determine what is best for you is to talk to people who have had each surgery. Try to find people who have had it done for at least 1 year and then talk to your Doctor.

I have lost 16 pounds in 8 weeks. You need a Doctor you can get after care with and will need to go back for fills and un fills. I have had two fills and the last one was to tight, I have an appointment to go back and have a tiny bit taken out. It is hard to determine how much is just right. It also depends on how much weight you need to lose.