Hey everyone! I decided that I want to have lap band surgery and am in the process of finding a surgeon. I live in WV and am thinking about Dr.Eric Pinnar in VA, has anyone had him? What pre-op procedures were needed?

Hi lvincent3---welcome to LBT. Further down the main page, there is a forum for local band discussion----it shows the USA when you click on it, it will take you to a state by state area, so you might try that and see if you can find any locals to check with. There is also an area for Dr.'s & hospitals, you might search through there, and see if this particular Dr. has any mention.

Many pre op requirements are set by your insurance--so you could find out through them what theirs are, then have some of it dealt with when you see the Dr. Usuals are an EKG,blood work up, psych evaluation, some require a sleep study or a swallow study, most require a visit or a series of visits with a nutritionist.

Almost all surgeons want you to come to their informational seminars before getting started.

Good Luck in your research!! Hope you hook up with someone from your chosen Dr.

Kat

I was banded by Dr. Pinnar on July 17. The jury is still out on my opinion of him. First off, I think he totally oversimplifies the recovery process. More than once he mentions some guy who was able to go back to work the same day. When I got home from the hospital I was still doped up on oxycontin and in a complete fog. The next week was really tough and hard for me. All I could keep thinking about was "a few days recovery" he kept saying over and over. I went in for my 1st post op appointment with a few things to say to him, only he was on vacation and I met with Phil (the PA). I let him know that I thought the the recovery was oversimplified and he said he agreed with me and that he didn't agree with Dr. Pinnar's method of telling people that. He then told me that I had a hernia operation when I had the lap band done. WHAT??? My barrium swallow came back fine? Why didn't anyone tell me that, or tell my husband the day of the surgery? Perhaps that would help explain the burning feeling of hearburn in my chest and extended recovery. He was very embarrassed and apologized, but truthfully, that didn't make me feel any better. My family (husband and parents) waited in the lobby for over 3.5 hours before anyone came to tell them I was OK. They were getting to the point of being scared something had gone wrong, only to find out that the procedure was 41 minutes and everything went "perfect". It's been a month since the surgery and last week I received a bill for $2,700 in the mail for the hernia operation that no one told me I had and that no one told me I was going to receive a bill for either. I could go into other details about dealing with the office staff, but I will leave it with the following statement, I always got the feeling this was a new office and things had not been been well established. Dr. Pinnar is trying to be a salesman and hired a bunch of people who were his former patients. While former patients are great for testimonials, they are not always the best at running an efficient office. I did like the fact that he specializes in the lap band, and even better that he was 10 minutes away from my house. Overall, every day gets a little bit better and the band has been sucessful.

Edited August 24, 200818 yr by food expert

new to this

I am using Dr. Lucktong at Carilion Roanoke Memorial in Roanoke,VA. You might like him, young and very smart. My GP recommended him and I like him and the staff is just wonderful.