I am in the process (doing all that insurance requires) of preparing to get the Lap Band (its gonna take 11 more months) but I was wondering which surgeon would be better.

I went to a seminar for Dr. Srikanth and LOVED him but someone told me he can sometimes be "unethical" and she would not elaborate. I have heard from my Mother that Dr. Oh is not so nice and he is CRAZY HEAVY on suppliments and thinks of food as a luxury (he would be just fine if all you ever ate again were protein shakes). not having first hand info/expereince with this, i am turning to you all...tell me what you know about each of them (good and bad).

Thanks guys!! Wish me luck on my 11 month journey (if i could lose weight with diet and exercise, i wouldnt want or need surgery...duh)

I went to Dr. Oh's seminar the other night - and I was not impressed. He spent the least amount of time discussing the lap band procedure. He spent more time discussing gastric bypass - which I am not interested in.

Well, during the discussion he said lapbands are not good for "sweet eaters" because you can't have sugar, milk, or alcohol for the rest of your life. I asked him afterwards if that is true - because to me it doesn't seem like a way to live the rest of your life. He said this is a last resort - and no sugar because then you will have cravings for it. He also said his patients have fills every month for the first year. One question asked by someone at the seminar was regarding the amount of food eatten at each meal - the doctor responded 1-2 ounces! This just doesn't seem reasonable to me.... that's nothing.

I am not sure this is the right decision for me... I was so nervous/excited about the seminar and then came home feeling this may not be the best option for me.

Also, I posted the above under another thread and heard from someone on this site..the same thing about Dr. Oh. I didn't even mention his name in my post - she asked if I was from WA state...when I told her yes, she asked if it was Dr. Oh. She said Dr. Srikanth was better - but she cannot have hers done for about year either - per her insurance.

I was going to look into Dr. Srikanth - but have not called yet.... I wonder what is unethical about him.... curious.

Still not sure if this is what I need to do for me..but, I am checkin it out.

Thanks for your response. I think i know i wont be going to Dr. Oh now. I have heard that sweet eaters dont do as well with the band too. I will ask the nutritionist at st Francis next month and see what she says. I know its true, if you eat sweets you crave sweets and if you stop, that eventually stops too (but dang i love em). I am still feeling my way through what is right for me but think its either this (lap band) or more of the same crap (i have tried losing wt for over 12 yrs). I lean toward this as something that will help me speed up wt loss but still encourage good (normal if you will) eating behavior. I want to be thin but i also want to be healthy (bright eyed and bushy tailed-lol). And the bypass thing just doesnt seem healthy to me (my mom had this thing called Heap mini bypass and she loves it but...its not for me).

Keep in touch, i live in tacoma and ironically work at st joseph. I would suggest going to a dr "s" seminar because, you live really pepped up and he spends equal time with each. When i spoke to him (briefly) afterward he said he (at first glance, not knowing everything) thought the lap was the way for me...I will let you know if i find out what was unethical (hopefully it was incorrect because i like him)...

xoxox

I did a lot of research and knew of several other people that went to Dr. Srikanth. I was banded by him April 2008. He is a wonderful caring doctor and his staff is great to... If you have any questions let me know. thanks

Thanks for the new reply. I have never gotten the gal to tell me what he did that was bad but i have heard lots of people with both good and bad views of Dr. Oh. I am therefore 100% going to go with dr srikanth. Everyone who has had contact with him, loves him. And honestly so do i, he was just so warm and comforting.

I have now completed 2 mo of this insurance ka-ka and for my last md appointment i couldnt see my pcp so i had to see a doctor i dont know. He was middle easter (my guess indian) and so kind, soft and genuine. He told me i was a beautiful woman and that i was making a great decision for myself. that he works with a nurse who was more then twice my size and she had lapband and "now has flat tummy/small hip..little lady now". He said to not give up and keep doing these insurance things because i would live a much better happier and healthier life. "and will be even more beautiful".

I am a sucker for a compliment and i wish this guy was my doctor because she....she is not in favor. She told me i can do this (lose weight) without something as life threatening as surgery. But i still go every month and ignore her negativity, and re-explain my case and she makes the chart note and so on.

Its June now, and I will qualify in April (complete my 12th visit in March)..!!!

thanks for the feed back

much love,

jami:wink_smile:

I had my surgery by Shrikanth Dec 17th '07. I started July 07 at 288, had to lose 30lbs to have surgery. Surgery day I weighed 254. Today I weigh 219. I find Dr Shrikanth very amusing and his staff is wonderful. I really only saw Shrikanth a few times before surgery and he did my first fill after surgery, since then I've had fills done by the nurse and nurse practitioner who I feel is gentler than Shrikanth at fills. My boss has had gastric by-pass. Her original surgery was done by Dr Oh when he was with Dr Fox JR.

She had a terrible experience and had to have her surgery repaired by a different surgeon. She is now fine and heathly but no thanks to Oh. Shrikanth is very upfront about all of his surgeries and any corresponding deaths from lap-band..I believe it's only been two and they were results of other complications that the people had previosly and not as a relsult of surgery. The office staff is always willing to answer questions and once all my info was in I was approved in 4 days. The only complaint I had was that Shrikanth has all of his patients show up for surgery at the same time 5:30 in the morning and he does lap-bands last. I didn't have my surgery until 3 in the afternoon. Very long day but worth every minute. Recovery for me was a bit longer than most on this site...everyone is different. I have no problems with PBing or eating what I want. I have 2 protein shakes a day (30g each) and a meal of mostly protein then fruit or veggie and my servings are usually around 3-4 oz of protein. Most doctors feel that the more shakes you drink the faster you'll lose weight. The only other advice at this time is that you make your appts as early in the day as possible, Shrikanth will take a lot of time with his patients and he always fall behind schedule.

Have fun with this...it's life changing and worth every struggle. If you have any questions just ask and I'll answer.