Support Groups

There will be a support group meeting on the last Thursday of every month in the office at 6:30pm. These support group meetings are instrumental in your continued success with the Lap-Band. New patients are required to sign an agreement that they will attend at least three (3) support group meetings within their first year after surgery. We send out reminder e-mails each month. We encourage you to bring your spouse or support system to the meetings. You can respond via e-mail or phone call to alert us of your attendance.
Before Surgery:

You may ask any further questions regarding your surgery by calling or emailing us. You may call our office between the hours of 9am and 4pm (Central Time), Monday through Thursday and between 9am and 12pm on Friday. Or you may email us at info@luttrellsurgical.com.

Alternatively, the answers to most general questions may also be found at LapBand.com and ObesityHelp.com. These sites have built “communities” of surgery candidates and graduates who are more than happy to share their experiences and provide emotional support.
After Surgery:

  • In the weeks immediately following your surgery, we will closely monitor your condition and progress and you will be given a phone number to call during non-business hours in case you experience serious medical difficulties after leaving the surgery center.
  • We will also schedule a follow-up visit 2 to 3 weeks after your surgery. We also strongly recommend follow-up visits with your surgeon or family doctor after 6 weeks, at 3 months, at 6 months and annually thereafter to monitor your physical condition and protein/vitamin levels.
  • You may, of course, contact us by phone or e-mail at any time with questions about any surgery-related problems you may encounter, dietary requirements or emotional side-effects you may experience. Remember; your eating habits were developed over the entire course of your pre-surgery life. Changing these habits won’t happen overnight but will probably be easier than you think.

We also recommend that you participate in one or more of the support chat rooms or message boards offered by ObesityHelp.com. In these areas you can get answers to most of your post-surgical questions and enjoy the support of fellow surgical graduates in the comfort of your own home and at a time convenient to you.

Finally, we love to hear from our graduates. So, if you choose to see your family doctor for your follow-up visits, please send us an e-mail once in a while to let us know how your weight loss is progressing and how much you are enjoying your post-surgery life.