Anyone get there Band done at Tufts N.E.M.C and if so which surgeon and how did you like the program??

I did!! My surgeon was/is Dr. Shah. She's so nice. Overall I really like the program. Without it, I dont think I would've been ready for such a life changing event. I'm seven weeks post-op today. And I had my first fill last week. Everything went fine. I'm super happy that I went to Tufts NEMC for my surgery. Everyone has been really great.

I believe they were the first hospital in Boston to do banding after it was approved by the FDA or maybe they were involved in the trials?. Great rep and I heard a very long involved program

best of luck

Congratulations on your success. I just started the program and will meet with my surgeon Dr. Kim 9/17/09. I met Dr. Shah during imersion day when she came in to answer questions and she seemed really nice. Did you feel like they were pushing Gastric Bypass? There was two of us there interested in Lapband and the rest of the room was for Bypass. By the end of the day the other person had changed her mind for lapband to bypass. I could just have felt alone lol and am over reacting. How was your hospital stay?Good luck with your journey.

Congratulations on your success. I just started the program and will meet with my surgeon Dr. Kim 9/17/09. I met Dr. Shah during imersion day when she came in to answer questions and she seemed really nice. Did you feel like they were pushing Gastric Bypass? There was two of us there interested in Lapband and the rest of the room was for Bypass. By the end of the day the other person had changed her mind for lapband to bypass. I could just have felt alone lol and am over reacting. How was your hospital stay?Good luck with your journey.

To be honest, I have to say yes/kinda to whether they were pushing Gastric Bypass. I don't think they would be happy to hear that, but it seems like they are a big fan of it. Let me talk a little bit about my situation first though.

When I went in for my consultation, they were kinda like "hey whatever you want." And meanwhile I didn't feel like I was that well versed in either surgery. But I decided to do my homework and I decided on the gastric band. While the bypass sounded tempting (losing like 30lbs a month??? Nice) I just was not comfortable with the whole losing my stomach thing.

It wasn't until I actually met with Dr. Shah (at the end of the program) that we discussed the surgery and which one was best for me. She told me straight out that she would do either one. It was up to me. My starting weight was 242 and my BMI was much lower than a lot of other folks in the program. Dr. Shah did say that if I were diabetic she would probably try talking me into the bypass because it pretty much cures Diabetes. But since I was not, she left the choice completely up to me. And I stuck to the band. And I'm very glad that I did.

I would say, do your homework. I actually bought the book Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies and read through it. It talks about both surgeries (and a couple of others that are not offered at NEMC). Use the internet to read up on people's good stories, and bad. Again, I just didn't feel comfortable with the bypass surgery and it's not like I had hundreds of pounds to lose. That probably would've "weighed" in on my decision as well.

So I hear you about the bias toward the bypass. But maybe that's because they get more money from them?! Who knows? haha.

Please send me a private message if you have any questions about the program or the folks involved. I'd be more than happy to answer anything!! And good luck!!

Oh, and you asked about my hospital stay! Duh!! Okay, well since I have Obstructive Sleep Apnea they wanted me to stay overnight...and I'm so glad I did. I have no idea how folks get this surgery and then are out a few hours later. apparently on my left side they cut through some muscle and I was in A LOT of pain. Like every few hours when they asked me to rate it between 1 and 10, I would say 8 every time. And I meant it. Pain!! A lot of folks on this site are like "oh I got up and walked around and they discharged me two hours later" WHAT?? I needed that overnight stay. But again, that's me. I was really nervous right before the surgery but again, everyone was great. When I woke up I was SO EXCITED that it was over. I was the happiest person in the recovery area. The nurses loved me. I was all smiles. Anyway, I knew they had the OR blocked off for me for a few hours, that's what the admitting nurse told me. So that's why I was so nervous. But afterwards, my mother told me that less than 40 minutes after I was taken into the OR, my surgeon was out there telling her that everything went great! So the procedure didn't take that long for me, I guess. And I only lost 9lbs before the surgery. I wasn't very good at the pre-op diet. But like I said, I had a low BMI to start with.

Hello, first post here.

I was banded in Nov. 2006 at NEMC. Dr. Kim was my surgeon. My experience as pretty good compared to some of the nightmares I've read about. I was informed post surgery that my band was placed at a slightly different location than the surgeon would have optimally liked, because of a large vessel wrapped in the normal placement area. I don't know if this was a blessing or curse. I have had very little success with fills. I think mine is a 4cc band and I only have about 1cc in. Most of the time I feel restriction and do well so long as I don't drink food with meals. I am down 40lbs total and have kept this weight off successfully with a downward trend of 1-2 pounds per month.

I would definitely recommend Tufts.