Hey, silly woman.....as many times as you've heard Dr. Webb's name at a support group meeting and you didn't know he did bariatrics?  He's right behind Memorial Hospital and USED to do ALL of his surgeries at Memorial.  But I think he's ventured out.

And the WLS pre op that you have to go thru is run by Jarrod and his wife, who both just had wls with the Webb group.  I didn't go thru them because they wanted a HEALTHY (no pun intended) up front, non-refundable charge that I just didn't have and no insurance pays for.  But I understand they give much better follow up care with the dietician and psychologist.

I think that all of the bariatric surgeons are general surgeons and then they specialize in bariatrics.  I know that the two surgeons I used are general surgeons, and I knew Dr. Webb was... or is. 

I know I'm posting really late to this but you had sent me a request to respond to Amy on the Novus group and then I got to reading and responding to other posts.  I'm one of those who was here for hours a day prior to my surgery but once the surgery was over and I got a handle on what I was doing, I seldom came back.

Okay, my dear friend.....I'm outta here.  and, once again, let me tell you how proud I am of you after all the fretting I did before you got on that plane....no, before you got back home and I knew you were okay!!

LaWanda

Amy, I replied to Emily who asked if I knew anything about this group and then posted to you that she'd forward your post to me, which she did.

I'm not currently attending this group but did email the girl who's running this group and she works for the Norvus Company but I don't think she's had any type of surgery.  Personally, I'd prefer to have somebody running the show who knows exactly what I'm going thru.  But you might want to call and make sure my facts are right.  And whatever answer you get, it will still be a good idea to go to a meeting or two and see if its right for you. 

You might check with your insurance thru SSDI and see if they can recommend a dietitian for you to see so that they pay.  There are lots of them out there and I do happen to know one who's banded but she's not cheap. 

There are numerous support group meetings in the Jacksonville area.  Emily, that answered your post here, holds a meeting in Orange Park.  There is also one at .....gosh....what's the name of that grocery store at Hartfield and San Jose?  Something like World Foods?  Anyway, Dr. Marema's group at Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine run that meeting so you can go to their website and find out about that or call them.  Dr. Marema is a bariatric patient as is his bariatric coordinator. 

There's another meeting that's held at the Mandarin Library on Kori Road and I'm fairly sure that all the local hospitals have support group meetings.  I know they all have information meetings and all of the surgeons have support group meetings but usually for their own patients.

If I were you, I'd look on the web at the different hospitals and see what you see and/or call the hospitals and get some information. 

I hope that helps.  I wish you well.  The anticipation of having surgery and getting every thing lined up is stressful but worth it.  I had way too many problems to continue with the band but if you want to talk to somebody who's been extremely successful, Emily is the one!!!!!  I'm so proud of her.  She's one amazing woman.

LaWanda