Is 100 enough?

Naomi, That post makes me feel better. I like everything about my surgeon except his numbers for Lap Band surgery. But his manner does comfort me and his reviews are excellent.

You know, I kinda look at it the opposite way. When I had mine done I was number 26. It was at Duke in Durham, NC so I knew they had a reputation to keep. Plus, I felt that my doctor was more open to being careful and answering questions, and treated me as an individual person. I don't necessarily want a doctor who considers surgery just routine. Being number 26, he knew who I was and he knew my situation. You know how it is, you start doing something routinely and you can't remember half of what you did. If you are new to an area you take your time and make sure you get through it slowly, carefully and watch where you're going and pay attention to things that occur. The only issue I would have changed in my situation was that the doctor was overly cautious with fills. He wanted them under fluoroscope all the time and didn't want to add them very quickly. He wanted a couple of months between each fill. That's my two cents worth Wendy

Have you checked with Dr. Jaime Ponce? He's one of the most experienced banding surgeons in the world and around 1-2 hrs from you... 100 is enough placed, but then you have to learn about his aftercare...if a banding surgeon placed 100 bands in 2 months, he hasn't had much chance to do aftercare...if he's done 100 bands in 1-2 years, he's been caring for those patients and can give you more details. So it's not just the number placed beyond the learning curve range of 80-100 but the aftercare which is the most important element. Nancy

Thank you all so much for your post. The problem is - I do feel like his practice is more for the Gastric Bypass patience. However, there are no doctors around me who take my insurance. There are others that I would prefer to use but I don't have that option because if I used one of them I would have to "self pay." Nancy - I am familiar with Dr. Ponce. I actually went to him 3 years ago for a consult. I was denied by insurance at that time. Then I found out he wasn't in my network for insurance. I was comfortable with him and thought he seems very knowledgeable about Lap Band. I guess on top of being so nervous anyway, I am spending countless hours worrying about what doctor I can chose. I suppose I have to trust that this doctor knows what's he'd doing or not have the surgery. I think that is my only two choices at this time. Mona - good luck to you. Sounds kind of like we're in the same boat! Let me know how it works out for you. Thanks for the advice about he after care. I have to check into that.... I love having you guys to chat with - it really helps! Ann