Hey all. I'm new to this site. I've been here for about a good week. I'm looking into getting the lab band surgery. Specifically the "REALIZEBand". I'm going to a seminar here in Raleigh next month of Dr. Keith Mitchell. He practices in Pinehurst,NC. Anyone familiar with him?

I would love to find anyone from the Raleigh area to talk to.

Let me know.

I am not in Raleigh, but not far...Burlington. I am seeing a Dr. in Cary. Bariatric Specialists of NC, Dr. Enochs.. At this time I am waiting on the insurance approval, then I can set the date.

Not to scare you but the Realize Band just came out and the LAP BAND came out first. I would wait til all the kinks are out on the REALIZE. I also think you need to attend Dr. Enochs' seminar held every week at either Rex Hospital or Wake Med Cary. His seminars are informative and he is the KING of Bariatrics. He has had more training, done more cases, and started Bariatrics in Raleigh. I guarantee he is the absolute best. Best wishes.

:cursing:

Not actually true. It came out under the Realize name recently but from what I've heard it is the Swedish design that's been around for quite awhile in Europe and Johnson and Johnson bought the rights to the design and are now calling it the Realize band.

I had surgery with Dr. (Kenneth) Mitchell in Pinehurst and I have the Realize band. He is very caring and compassionate, great bedside manner and all that good stuff. His P.A., Brett is a great guy too.

I am however thinking about transferring to Dr. Enochs in Cary who is also a great surgeon with a great bedside manner also. My main reason is the drive from Clayton to Pinehurst is going to get tough when I go back to work in October. The second reason is Dr. Mitchell's office seems a bit too conservative in doing fills. Don't get me wrong, I love their practice and highly recommend them but I had surgery on May 12th and since then have only had two fills and lost about 15 pounds post surgery. So combine those two situations and hopefully, I can get into Dr. Enochs' program for follow up care.

I also wanted to add that I believe Dr. Mitchell has the most years of bariatric experience in this area, but Dr. Enochs has more experience with the lapband (which may be why Dr. Mitchell's program is so conservative with the fills).

Good luck in your decision!

Edited August 30, 200817 yr by JustinsMama
adding more info

JeanBean & JustinsMama - When I made my post I was waiting insurance approval and have set the date for 9/19/08 with Dr Enochs. I did go to the July support group that was at Rex. The LapBand rep who supplies Dr Enochs was there talking and had the different bands there for us to touch, look over. IT was a great meeting. Thanks for your support.

Justinsmama - There have been several of my co-workers that have used Dr Enochs over the last few years and really, really like him, his staff and so far things have been good with me. I'll be able to proved more after my surgery and followup fills.

Great, keep us posted! I'll hopefully have been able to scrape up Dr. Enochs' transfer/program fee ($400 ) by the next week or two.

JEANBEAN (and others) It is obvious that you work for Dr. Enochs. You have posted repeatedly about him, advertising for him, which is against this forum's guidelines.

I was considering using Dr. Enochs for my lap band, but your posts actually made me reconsider. I think that a well-qualified surgeon would let his work and reputation speak for itself. I worry about why Dr. Enochs has to resort to such deceitful tactics to drum up business.

I do NOT work for Dr Enochs. Several of my co-workers have used him and have been happy with their surgery and progress. From Lapband to by-pass. So far the only thing that I have found with his office that bothers me is the Wait time. I can have an appointment at 3 and not get seen until 5pm.....which makes for a long day for me, since I live 45minutes away. I hate that you are going to look else where without going to his seminar or support group to find out more and meeting some of the people he has worked on/with.

Disney, I'm sorry you thought I was responding to you. I definitely believe you had the surgery! I was actually writing to Jeanbean who responded earlier in this thread. I'm just annoyed that Jeanbean has the same posts over and over that are simply advertisements for Dr. Enochs. Again, I'm sorry for the confusion. :smile:

Back To Me, this isn't meant to be a thread for misrepresentation. I adore Dr. Enochs because he changed my life!!! No, I don't work for him, and yes I have lost tremendous weight from my Lap Band!! You are free to choose whomever you want but once you undergo this change in your life, you feel nothing but gratitude to the surgeon and the practice that did it to you!! That's all. Best wishes to you and feel free to choose anyone you want. It's a personal choice but just be happy with everything at the end. :thumbup: No hard feelings. But please be nice.

JEANBEAN,

Being nice and not wanting to be deceived (or letting others be deceived) are not mutually exclusive. Everyone reading these posts can click on your name and read your posts (every single on about Dr. Enochs) to decide for themselves. I simply want this to be a place where we can share information about ourselves, our weight-loss struggles and our lap-band knowledge. The experience changes when we can't trust the information other posters give us. Dr. Enochs is probably an excellent surgeon, but I think you are doing him a disservice with your posts.

I understand Back to Me. By the way, why did you pick that as your screen name? Just curious.

I wish everyone the absolute best. I hope everyone is as thrilled as I have been these past several months. I am starting to take a step class at the gym and it is kicking me in the butt!!

ummm, because I want to lose weight and get back to the healthy person I was a long time ago. Why on earth would you care about that, JEANBEAN?

Perhaps you should leave well enough alone. People are sending me messages about you and no one believes that your posts are genuine.

Edited September 18, 200817 yr by BackToMe
Edited to add: It seems as though the 'ads' will stop. Sounds good. :)

Well everyone let's get this post back to what it was about....Anyone in the Raleigh, NC area? Like i said back some time ago I am from Burlington, not to far and i have been BANDED! My Dr. of choic was Enochs in Cary. JessicaKolman I hope that you have found a Dr that you like and are moving forward with your surgery. Keep us updated!

Disney -- I havn't decided which doc to see. I'm attending both Dr. Enoch's and Dr. Moran's seminar in October. That's when I will be getting new insurance ( I recently switched jobs). I'm leaning towards Dr. Enochs.

How did you like Dr. Enochs?? Did you have good care??? When did you have your surgery?? How are you feeling? How was his bedside manner??

Let me know..

You can personally email me @ JessicaKolman@aol.com

Wow! I just joined like 5 minutes ago and this was the first thing that caught my attention. When I decided to have WLS my PCP gave me 2 names - Dr. Enoch and Dr. Moran. I went with Dr. Moran. The only reason I chose him was an aquaintance had used him and liked him a lot. I was banded on 9-10 and have no complaints. Everyone in his office is very nice and I adore his PA. She is the nicest thing. At the risk of being accused of working for Dr. Moran I know there is a meeting on the last Thursday night of each month in his building (room 110). It's a support group. I will be attending for the first time this Thurs.

To the best of my knowledge both Dr. Moran and Dr. Enochs have very good reputations. A tiny plug for Dr. Moran though. His PA mentioned that the majority of his practice has become lap band.

Who ever you choose just make sure you're comfortable with him and good luck!