"The lap band saved my life. I had to live on a
machine and had to lose 100 lbs. before I was
able to get a kidney transplant"

- Patrick

Lap band was the surgery I chose because I was
on dialysis, and I needed the most non-invasive
procedure I could have. It was better for me than
being cut open because I was on dialysis 3 days a
week. I was able to have the surgery and get in
and get out of the hospital. It was done
laparoscopically and it was basically painless. I
lost 100 lbs. and it really changed my life in a
number of ways.

I was a
dialysis
patient and

weighed 350 lbs.
I couldn't get a
kidney transplant
without losing at
least 100 lbs. For
about 2 years I
tried losing weight

and I couldn't. I just kept going back and forth on a yoyo scale, and finally I
decided that I really had to do something. It took a while for me to get through
all of the paper work issues. Originally I was covered by my insurance, and then
they changed the policies when it became known that if you had bariatric
surgery you would get rid of your diabetes. So a lot of people with diabetes
sought that surgery. Then the insurance company basically squashed my policy
and I had already been pre-approved by Dr. Floch. As it turned out we had to go
through the insurance board appeals, and Dr. Floch put the screws to the board,
and told them that there decision was ridiculous; that they had to step up or we
would go to the TV channels with this. Finally we got their approval.

I had to live on a machine and was told that I had a little more than 10 years to
live. The lap band saved my life. I didn't get a fill for approximately 14 months
because of the transplant and I only gained 8 lbs. I just started getting the fill
again and I want to lose 30 lbs. My pills have been reduced down from 45 to 22
a day. Now I got the kidney under control and I'll finish up with the weight. How
can you argue with the fact that for 14 months I only gained 8 lbs? It's nothing.
You don't know what its like to get your life back!

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