Weighting Line

Thomas Casola Personal Banding Story - Part 2

by Hope Wilbanks on May 13th, 2008

I recently ran across a few articles about a new type of gastric bypass surgery, called the Realize Band system. I was interested in learning about how the Realize Band is different from the Lap Band surgery. Mr. Casola shared his personal story with me about his surgery, and now he’s sharing it with you.

Click here to read Part 1.

The question was: “who should do it”? After interviewing approximately 15 strangers (they were basically friends of friends), and more on-line checking, I decided to go with Advance Laparoscopic Surgeons, located in Florham Park, New Jersey. In all my research (on line, and word of mouth) Dr. Abkin’s (and his partner Dr. Bertha’s) names were always regarded very highly in the field. On October 24, 2007, I went to their seminar at the Parsippany Tara Hotel. What I really liked about Dr. Abkin was his straight-forward honestly. He listened to what I had to say, and respected the surgery I wanted. He never talked me, or any other participant, into one procedure or the other.

Come mid-November I had “all my ducks in a row”, and was ready to have the operation. I decided to wait until after the “New Year” – because I thought I would be in too much pain to enjoy the holidays. If I knew then, what I know now - I would have had the operation in November.

I had the Realize band operation on January 29, 2008. I arrived at the hospital at 7:00 AM and left 2:00 PM. The operation itself took approximately 45 minutes. The only discomfort I experienced was a feeling that I could only equate to when someone does a lot of sit-ups, and a inner chest pain (which I later realized was caused by the intubation). No other pain.

The next day I still had the “sit-up discomfort”, and chest irritation, but felt relatively normal. By the 2nd day after the operation I was back to normal. If I wanted to I could have gone back to work, but I decided to stay home because I had vacation time coming to me. Since the operation, I realized I haven’t had any hunger pangs that I used to experience before the Realize band.

It gets to the point that I have to “force” myself to eat, because I don’t feel hungry. I also realized (no pun intended) any “hunger” I did feel, would quickly disappeared when I drank something. It was a wonderful feeling, and is an experience I never thought was possible. Plus, I would have never expected 4-6 ounces of “protein”, and some vegetables would fill me, and keep me satisfied for hours. In addition, my General Practitioner Doctor has taken me off of one of my meds. She stated while there is no guarantee, if all goes well I will be weaned off of most (if not all) of my meds.

My weight loss has been called remarkable. On my two week review I lost 17 pounds. On my one month review I lost an additional 30 pounds, for a total of 47 pounds. On my three month review I lost an additional 28 pounds, for a grand total of 75 pounds.

When the Nurse took all my vitals, he didn’t seem too impressed by the lost until he realized I had a band operation, and not a bypass. He asked me, “Are you eating enough?” I laughed and reassured him that I was.

Then I saw the Nurse Practitioner she was very pleased at my results. She said my weight loss was more common with Bypass patients. She asked “What have you been doing do loose all this weight”. I proudly said “Not much. Just eating and some exercise”. Then I went on to explain I was still following the Let’s Do Lunch philosophy of eating correctly, and that I am doing exercising. She asked if I would mind speaking at some of the seminars. Told her I would be honored.

Since the operation, I consider myself an “unofficial” walking testimonial commercial for the Realize Gastric Banding procedure. I tell everyone about me, and I highly recommend this operation to anyone who asks about Bariatric Weight Loss surgery. In fact, one friend got the operation because she saw how happy I was, and the success I am having. Another friend is still “on the fence” about it, but for him, it’s more financial than anything else.

[Hope's Note] Bottom line…do your research. Ask lots of questions. Find out what would be the best option for you, if and when you need any type of similar surgery. What works for one person may not necessarily work for you. However, the little bit of research I’ve done has convinced me that the Realize Band system may be a better option than the Lap Band.

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