Who is your doctor and when did they allow you to have your first fill? Also, what was your overall experience with your doctor? Did everything go smoothly? Was he/she a good communicator? Thanks in advance u guys!

I can't really help you the the Dallas/Ft Worth doctors. I just thought I'd say hi, I'm in Tyler, TX - not too far. The surgeons we (DH and soon to be me) see are awesome!! DH had surgery just over a year ago, he didn't have his first fill until almost 4 mos PO. His issue was/is definately mass volumes of food. Their whole office is wonderful. Good Luck!

Edited June 23, 200818 yr by myturn0421

My doctor is Dr. Felts in Richardson, TX. I went to a Lap Band Solutions seminar and he happened to be the doctor conducting th seminar. Both he and his staff are very friendly and able to answer any questions that I had. The surgery went great (I had mine on a Friday) and when I had a question the next day the doctor actually called me back himself.

I used Dr. Fox (972-566-4560) and I love him.

For one, he doesn't require the liquid diet before the surgery. He puts you on Phase 1 of the Southbeach diet for 10 days which teaches you how to eat properly and hey, at least you can eat.

He insists you get your fills 3-4 weeks after surgery and every 3-4 weeks after that until you reach proper restriction. I'm scheduled for my 6th fill this friday, and I haven't even been banded for 4 months yet. He basically leaves it up to you and what you and the fill center feels is a good amount. He primed me with 3cc during my surgery and then my fills have been: 2cc, 1cc, 1cc, .2cc and .6cc. I won't even need my fill for this coming friday because I'm at my sweetspot right now. He doesn't believe in letting his patients get too tight though because it's really not good for you and you actually lose better when you aren't too tight, he just doesn't think you need to wait 2 months for a fill.. and I agree!

I also have to add that right before my surgery he came to my bed and just chatted with me... made me feel comfortable and at ease... he even went out and talked with my husband who was in the waiting room all nervous.. he didn't have to do that, but he did.

Dr. Fox is a wonderful man.. very kind.. the day of my surgery he called me at home at night two times (I was asleep the first time) to talk to me and called me a week later to check on me and when I went to go see him he again made a point to tell me to get my fills right away at 3-4 weeks.

I know his prices are: if you are cash, 15k includes everything plus a year of fills for free and a year of visits for free. If your insurance pays you still get 3 months of dr. visits for free. Also, everytime I have called Dr. Fox with questions, he has always immediately called me back within an hour. He is one of the kindest doctors I've ever known.

I normally don't make sales pitches with my doctor as I'm sure everybody feels thier doctor is the best, but since you asked, I didn't mind telling. There are several other doctors in the DFW area that are good too, like Dr. Marsden, Dr. Smith, Dr. Jayseelan and a few others.. I'm not sure what their pre-diet practices are or how aggressive they are with fills, but I've heard good things about them..

Good luck with your search! :grouphug:

Edited June 23, 200818 yr by coolcrystal

Dr. Curtis Mosier out of Denton is my doc, and I cannot praise him enough. Cash price is around 15K (or was last year), there's a strong support system in place.

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I used Dr. Adam Smith in Fort Worth. I had my surgery at True Results in Hurst. I'm very happy with my surgery. I had no complications. The nurses on the morning of surgery were awesome. My friend had Dr. Ferrara who is in the same practice and has said how sweet he is. Dr. Ferrara is also a vascular surgeon and has another practice just for that. So I think he is only in this office a couple of days a week. I make a point to schedule my fills on Wed mornings because that is when Dr. Slicko (yes, that's right ) does fills. He's very nice and very gentle. He talks to you and answers any questions you might have. Sorry, got side tracked by the hottie, Dr. Slicko. :grouphug: I had my first fill at 3 weeks post-op and then every 4 weeks after that. They are pretty aggressive fillers to help you get to your sweet spot, but I have never been over filled.

Anyway, Dr. Smith is very nice and funny. I like him just fine. I've only ever seen him twice though, at my initial visit and for a second right before surgery. Most of his staff are banded which is nice. I did not have any complications so I couldn't say how good they are in emergent situations. I will tell you that the day of surgery I started running a low grade fever. During the night it spiked a little (102.9) and so I called the next morning to report this. The nurse didn't call me back at all that day. She called me the next day after 5. I happened to be home alone and napping so I missed the call. By that time it was on it's way down and was controllable with meds so I didn't bother calling the after hours number. When I went back in the nurse said "your name looks familiar did you call needing something?". I told her the situation and she said and I quote "oh yeah, I remember now. I figured that since you didn't call me back you were either over it or dead, so I didn't worry about it any more." It rubbed me the wrong way a little. The other nurse in the practice who does the pre-op and post-op counseling is great. I really like her and she takes her time to answer any questions you might have.

I had a good experience in the long run, so I would recommend his office. He's one of the best surgeons in the country for LapBand and he's been doing it for years. He himself is banded which was a huge selling point for me. I went to a free seminar and he was the one who did the presentation. He's great at what he does. And because of this he is extremely busy. He's been in several local magazines for many years. I also hear him on the radio as a few local radio personalities have had the surgery.

As I read back over my post I realize that it sounds kind of like I'm giving a negative view of this practice. I really don't mean to, I'm just trying to give you the whole picture so you can make the choice that is right for you. Again, I didn't have a really emergent situation so I can't tell you how they would handle that. I'm only letting you know my experience which all in all has been good. The psychotherapist I had my eval with was also banded by Dr. Smith. She told me that she would trust Dr. Smith, Dr. Ferrara, or Dr. Marsden any day of the week. All are excellent docs. So, good luck making your choice! I would do it again and again. It's been the best decision I have ever made!!!