I am taking the first step for the rest of my life. I want Lap Band Surgery so bad. I have tired everything and nothing works. I have a wonderful husband and 3 lively childred (7,4,2) and want to live a long life with them. I am just starting the whole research process (what I have to do to get surgery). I asked my doctor if he would sign off for me if insurance required it and he said yes, but did not let me know of a good hospital or doctors in Maryland (Baltimore Area) that perform the lap band surgery. If anyone would like to contact me please do.

Have a great day and thanks for reading!!

St. Agnes, Bayview, GBMC, Sinai, Harford Memorial all have programs. I had my surgery done by Dr. Singh at St. Agnes. St. Agnes has a Bariatric Center of Excellence rating. My sister had gastric bypass there several years ago, and really liked Dr. Singh so I went there. I researched the procedures (obesityhelp.com is a good place to read all about them) and chose the band for myself. I am very pleased with the results. You can call St. Agnes and register for their seminar (no obligation to continue the process, but if you do decide to go forward the seminar is a required first step). It is free and will give you lots of info about the surgery. I also started going to support groups last summer (2007) because I had to do a 6 month documented diet attempt for insurance. I spent the time learning all I could.

If you are interested in St. Agnes, the support group for lapbanders is the 3rd Monday of each month (Jan 19th is the next one). You can meet pre-ops, post-ops and other people thinking about surgery. You can ask questions and listen to other people's issues. It is from 6-7 in the Alagia Auditorium. You don't have to register and the meeting is free. Hope to see you there.

Hello:

My PC could not recommend a bariatric doctor to me, because I had to use the centers that my insurance company would pay for.

My insurance company gave me two bariatric centers to choose from. Each center has several doctors that either performed the lapband or the bypass.

From there, I asked my RN case manager what she heard via the grapevine regarding these to centers. And from there I selected the center and then the doctor.

The center I selected is 85 miles one way from my home, but is well worth the drive. I am doing very well.

Depending on your insurance you want to pick a surgeon and facility in your insurance network so your best place to start is THERE...otherwise you may go through part of the process only to find the surgeon doesn't accept your insurance. Good luck!

I too went to St. Agnes, but had my surgery done by Dr. Averbach. He isn't one of those gregarious types of doctors, but I like that he knows what he is doing and is able to see me when I need to go in!

Good Morning,

I am the practice manager at the Comprehensive Obesity Management Program (COMP) at Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson, MD 21204. Please feel free to call us at 443.849.3779 for information about our program. and lap band surgery.

When choosing a bariatric center look for a Center of Excellence and find out in advance which programs are covered by your health insurance provider.

I hope to hear from you.

Jeanne Gayle

Practice Manager

COMP at GBMC

443.849.3779 main office line

www.gbmc.org/bariatrics

Edited January 13, 200917 yr by Jeanne Gayle
cutting wordiness

I am taking the first step for the rest of my life. I want Lap Band Surgery so bad. I have tired everything and nothing works. I have a wonderful husband and 3 lively childred (7,4,2) and want to live a long life with them. I am just starting the whole research process (what I have to do to get surgery). I asked my doctor if he would sign off for me if insurance required it and he said yes, but did not let me know of a good hospital or doctors in Maryland (Baltimore Area) that perform the lap band surgery. If anyone would like to contact me please do.

Have a great day and thanks for reading!!

I know just what you mean - I have a 13, 11 and 9 yr old. I'm going with Dr. Averbach at St. Agnes, I've been to several info sessions and talked with lots of people, the docs at St. Agnes appeal to me the most. Btw, I'm just up the road from you in Belcamp so if you do end up at St. Agnes and want to carpool to support meetings let me know! I'm getting ready to start my 5th month (supervised diet) so hoping to get banded in March/April.