Hello all, I am just curious to know if anyone has had their lapband done by Dr. Bessler in New York. If you had, how long did you have to wait for your surgery? Thanks.

I am moving this to our "doctors and hospitals" forum, where you will hopefully get a better response.

I was banded by Dr. Bessler bank in February. Started pre-op stuff in September/October of 2007 and then was finally approved early January. I had my surgery February 13. Dr. Bessler is supposedly as good as they come. More importantly, his support staff are awesome. Let me know if you have any other questions...

Hi Mike! Thanks for getting back to me. I actually got approved in less than a week. My surgery is on the 14th of July! I can't wait, but at the same time nervous! I have an appointment on the 30th of June and they say to try to loose 30lbs. I havent lost anything! I am going to start my optifast on Monday..so pray for me:-). What other advise to you have? How much weight have you lost since the surgery?

Hi1 I was banded by Dr. Bessler in february. He is a great Dr. and he has an amazing staff. Lorainne is the best. Good luck to you.

Any more information on Dr Bessler? Are you happy with support post surgery? How is he with fills?

I am very happy with my band and have lost quite a bit of weight. Dr. Besssler has a fantastic reputation as a surgeon. After you visit him for your post-op check-ups and then your first fill, your care is pretty much turned over to his excellent staff (Lorraine) who do your fills going forward. Don't get me wrong, Dr.Bessler is available (his office is down the hall from Lorraine), but I find that the arrangement works well - Lorraine can devote more time and is specifically focusing on post-op care and fills. I actually think Lorraine is more efficient with the fills, although that may be because Bessler did them when I was much heavier and the port may have been more difficult to access (don't get me wrong - not that my fill experience with bessler was bad - just a bit easier with Lorraine). Bessler also has nutrionists onsite and I found her very helpfull as well.

Thanks for the information.

How does it work with the nutritionists? Are they part of the program? Do you need to pay? Do they take the same insurance as Dr Bessler?

You do have to pay for the nutritionist and they will bill you separately.