Testimonials

-Alia.L

Dr. Grossbard is the GREATEST!!! He has also had the band put in and has lost over 100 lbs... He is very understanding and will sit and talk to you about any questions you have.

-Cindy.M

He was a very friendly person, made me feel very comfortable. He has a lap band on himself, and I felt like he understood the entire piture of being obese, he was sincere. He staff is very friendly as well. They have always called me right back and took care of everything! I have recommended him to several friends.

- Donna.V

I heard about Dr G. thru a friend who had the lap band did amazing. I had my stomach stapled 25 yrs ago, which was hell. So I really didnt want to go the surgery route again, but I went to the seminar to get more info..like could they even do lapband over staples? I left there knowing Dr G and the lapband were for me. Dr G and Dr DiCicco have been wonderful. I had surgery on 3/24 and they worked very hard not to have to cut me open which I am very grateful for. The after surgery follow up has been great and the staff is so friendly and helpful especially Barbara and Betty. I would strongly reccomend going to his seminar if you are thinking about the surgery and decide for yourself.

-Holly.E

My surgeons were Dr. DiCicco and Dr. Grossbard. I found Dr. Grossbard online and decided to attent their seminar in Tampa (PS that would be a 2 hour drive for me). Dr. Grossbard had the Lap Band and can relate to what a heavy set person has gone through, since he was heavy himself. The staff at Journey Lite are amazing and they are my other angels, they were so helpful in every possible way. They went above and beyond to help me with my paperwork, I'm so grateful and I'm blessed to have them help me in the insurance paperwork and my questions. They were very explesive on the risks, and that the Lap Band is a tool and that it can only assist you with the weight loss but everyone has to put 100% effort, exercise and etc in order for the Lap Band to work successful. I would... rate Journey Lite and Dr. DiCicco and Dr. Grossbard an A+.

- Lisa.R

Dr. Rich DiCicco and Lee Grossbard performed my surgery 4/22/08. I went to 2 other seminars and met a couple other surgeons. I found Grossbard and DiCicco to be VERY... actually the most informative and experienced. DiCicco really seems to have the caring attitude and great bed side manners. Being one that is a medi-baby! (I'm a baby about anything medical!) the team really made me feel confortable and the surgery turned out to be very simple, morning in & out! surgery!!! I'll update as my trek progresses!!...

- Meredith.G

I had gone to Dr. Grossbard's seminar as well as Dr. DiCicco's seminar and love them both. Dr. DiCicco is very nice, down to business and extremely busy. I felt confident that he takes his job very seriously and does not leave room for error. Everyone in his office has been wonderful. Barbara put up with me and all my questions before hand and Erica puts up with all my questions now. The girls that answer the phones are always so pleasant.

- Vikki.H

What a warm welcoming surgeon he is. I am very pleased to have had him as my surgeon, I couldn't be more thankful.

- Yanselli.B

I liked him very much.He knew alot about it because he had the surgery himself also. Has not changed only better. He is very helpful. Everyone at his office is just great and caring and answer what ever questions you have. I dont have a least about him. like all Dr. G. is very understanding and you can talk to him about your feelings. He tells you like it is. And explains all you have to do to take care after surgery. Yes, You have to follow his aftercare it is structured. He tells it like it is what can happend and what the risks are for surgery and after. I would rate him a number 9 I would say surgical is better. But Dr. G. does have a good bedside manner also.

- Phyllis.G

Low self-esteem was part of my life for as long as I can remember. When family and friends give yo

u nicknames because of how big you are, it hurts. Even though you hide your feelings from others and laugh with them, it still hurts. I’m sure they didn’t mean to hurt my feelings, but they did.

No matter what I tried to do, my weight got in the way. I always had dreams of becoming a pro-football player. That dream died when I injured my knee playing football in high school. Looking back now, I know that my recovery was hindered because of my weight. I had pain in my knee for years after that.

I am a husband and a father of 5-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. Although I could play with my daughter and do some of the things little girls like to do with their daddies, I had problems running with my son and doing the things he wanted to do. Every father wants to be the one their children look up to. I just didn’t want my kids to grow up wishing they had a dad who could do more. I wanted to be everything for my kids and my wife

.

When my wife told me she wanted to have the LAP BAND surgery, I told her, “Not without me having it, too!” At 344 pounds, I was not going to stay at that weight and be the fat guy with the hot wife.

Having the surgery has done so much for our lives. I lost a whopping 100 pounds in 5 months. I have lost the Biggen nickname and took on two new ones: Skinny and Mr. Muscles. My wife calls me that. But I’ve lost more than just weight. I no longer suffer from sleep apnea and my knees don’t hurt anymore. I don’t experience the fatigue that made me just sit and watch my kids play. I have gained so much. I jog every night. I lift weights. I love to dress up and go out with my wife.

Before this journey, I didn’t even know what morbid obesity was, let alone that I was morbidly obese. When you think of the word morbid, it means just that – death. Now that I have my LAP BAND, I have life.

-Kevin.S

Starting Weight 344 pounds (June 2007)

Current Weight 226 pounds (May 2009)

I am a 26-year-old wife, mother of adorable twins, and nurse. I have been overweight for most of my life. At my heaviest, I weighed 247 pounds, and was still in denial of how big I really was.

Being overweight and young was not easy. I was forced to wear clothes that weren’t necessarily for young people. When friends my age were wearing two-piece bathing suits or cute little one-pieces, I wore a one-piece with a skirt to hide my fat.

I adore my children, but I didn’t adore the body changes after childbirth. Being overweight and trying to keep up with 3-year-olds who want to run and play all the time was very hard. I would get winded just getting up from the floor after playing with them. (There is nothing graceful about a fat person getting up from the floor, no matter what age you are!) Instead of sitting on a park bench watching, I wanted to run and play with my kids like most mothers my age. I longed so much to be in the best possible shape for my kids. I also did not want to pass on the same habits to them that made me fat.

Being a nurse, you know that your patients expect you to be healthy yourself. No matter how pretty your smile, everyone always looks at your body. I was tired of not being an example for my patients.

One day I received a call to become a nurse in a Bariatric practice. The day I started there was the day my life changed. I began to really take notice of the possibility of changing my life. Working in the field of weight-loss, y

ou want to feel that you are an example for your patients. I was also excited about having a real life with my family.

Dr. Grossbard and Florida Obesity Surgical Associates brought out the person I longed to be my whole life. 90 pounds down, I can now run and jump with my kids and my husband, who is also a LAP BAND patient. My energy level has increased. My outlook on life has improved. I am now the example my children and my patients need. I even bought a bathing suit that shows off my new shape. My husband gave me the best compliment in the world when he told me how good I looked in it.

Some may think I took the easy road; I didn’t. You still have to change the habits that made you fat. You still have to take charge of your choices. The LAP BAND is the tool I needed to help me make the choices to lose weight. I now have the tool to help me fight my obesity.

-Erica.S

Starting Weight 247 (April 2007)
Current Weight 160 (May 2009)

My name is Emily, my height is 4'11" tall. I started gaining weight after I got married and especially after I had my three kids. My highest weight was 208 pounds. That was 6 years ago. I was so uncomfortable carrying that weight. My self esteem was low . I wanted so badly to step into a department store and go to the racks that had clothes that were more in style. Instead I had to go to a big and tall store and spend time looking for clothes that would be appropriate for my age,and since I am short in statue I had to have the clothes alterated.In 1998 I had to have triple by-pass surgery. After the surgery, my heart specialist warned me that I would have to lose my weight. He advised me to walk and do some exercises and put myself on a strict diet. I did the walking and I did the diet he wanted me to do but as usual on the dieting I would get bored with the food I was eating. I joined Jenny Craig,lost 66 pounds but once again I got bored with her food quit the program and gained the 66 pounds back plus more extra weight. Name a diet and I would say that I had tried that diet. Finally, a neighbor of mine told me about Dr Grossbard and the lap-band procedure. I attended one of Dr. G's seminar and I was very interested in what he was saying. I came home and discussed it with my husband and family and they gave me the go-ahead. I then went to the office to discuss the procedure once again with Dr. Grossbard and than I than waited for my insurance to give him the ok on performing the surgery. On July 2, 2002, I had my lap-band surgery. I had no pain whatsoever. My surgery took 20 minutes,I did stay over night in the hospital just for observation. The next morning I went home.

In the weeks to come I saw the weight coming off fast. My family and friends started to noticed the difference in me. I would go out weekly just to buy new clothes,and that was a great feeling. Finally I could wear stylish clothes. I would get compliments from my husband and that really lifted my spirits up. From 208 pounds I went to 130 pounds.From a size 20 dress I went down to and 10. I owe my life to Dr Grossbard. Not only has he helped me lose this weight he has given me my self esteem back.

- Emily.P

My decision to have weight loss surgery was a choice that had to be made. I was sick & tired of being sick and tired...my joints, knees and back hurt, I had multiple co-morbidities, and I was deathly afraid of dying at a young age. I discussed with my wife the possibility of having surgery and she was very supportive. I considered gastric bypass but I felt the risks were way too high. Then I heard about the LapBand System and decided to attend a seminar put on by Dr. Lee Grossbard of the Florida Obesity Surgical Associates. What an eye opening experience that was. Dr. Grossbard himself is banded and lost over 100 pounds. With about 200 lbs. to lose, I knew this was the tool that I had been looking for. On June 29^th 2007, I put all my eggs in one basket and decided to change my life forever and with the magical hands of Dr. Pandurangan Krishnaraj, I had the LapBand installed.

In the beginning I thought I would do something wrong and the band wouldn't work for me. Boy was I wrong! My band is the greatest gift I have ever given myself. So far I have had no complications. I have had several fills and my band is currently at 8.6cc with good restriction and satiety. I am so thankful to have found the doctor that I have. Dr. Krish, as his patients and staff call him, is fantastic. In fact, the entire staff at FOSA is without a doubt some of the nicest people you could deal with.

I often tell people who have noticed my weight loss that the band is a weight-loss tool and can achieve excellent results, BUT the individual has to be “sick and tired of being sick and tired". In other words, if they aren't ready to do the work and be totally committed to changing their current behaviors, then the success they achieve is only temporary. A positive attitude, commitment to exercise, follow-up appointments, and communication are the key to winning this game.

The transformation for me so far has been amazing. My shirt size has gone from a 5x to a 2x, my pant size has decreased from 60 to 48, and I have so much energy that my wife is having a hard time keeping up with me.

It has been a little over a year and I have lost about 120 pounds. I'm happy to have a tool to help me be proactive in my quest to become a healthier husband, brother, son, and hopefully someday a father.

- Jim.C

I had my Lapband done March 24, 2006 – yes I remember the exact date. This is almost like my new Birthday. That was the day my new life began. I had tried several attempts to loose weight prior to this time. None of them were permanently successful. There are those that say having a LapBand is the easy way out. Well if you ask somebody that has one, they definitely tell you that is not the case.

• Being so out of breath after playing with my kids for 10 minutes that I had to sit out
• Being the fattest person in the room everywhere I went
• Feeling so self conscious I didn’t want to go out in public
• Being ashamed of what I had let myself become.

After being morbidly obese all of my life, and getting older. I started having problems with my knees. I would be walking and they would give out on me and climbing stairs, I don't even want to talk about the embarrassment I went thru with that. Years and years of all the yo-yo dieting, losing and gaining more back that I had loss and being totally disgusted with myself, I finally decided it's time to do something about
this weight problem, I felt this was my last resort.

Getting real desperate, I was even considering the gastric bypass, something that I said I would never do. I saw on the Internet the Lap band??? Did a little more research and found they were having seminars at Paso Regional Medical Center. One of my best friends was also having weight problems. We decided to go to the seminar. After going and meeting Dr. Grossbard we decided that the Lap band was the best way to go. I was very fortunate, the surgery went well and I've never had any problems. I have to say its the greatest thing that I've ever done for myself, mentally and physically, I've finally taken my life back. It's wonderful to be able to enjoy doing things with your friends and family, especially your grandchildren and walking your dog(smile).

I was banded September 14, 2004, I've maintained the weight loss, never to be morbidly obese again, but I have to admit that I'm a procrastinator, I've lost almost a person and I still have not reach the weight that I would like to be at, I still have a few pounds to go, but I know I will get there, that's for sure. I have a few things that I have to work thru, the body change, but that will be alright. This is healthy life change for the better and I thank God for Dr. Grossbard, he being banded also makes it a lot easier for the patients. He understands what it means to be obese and that helps, he might not say what we want to hear but he says what we need to here. There is no need to be embarrassed with him because he truly understands. He is not just a doctor, he's a friend, a little crazy(smile), I guess it's that New York thing. His concern for his patients is real. Thanks to you Dr. G and your wonderful staff for helping me start to live again.

- Carolyn.B

You’re here because you are fat. I can say that because I am fat too.” While research had brought me to the seminar it was his opening remarks that sold me on both Dr. Grossbard and the lap-band weight loss surgery. Here was someone who had been there, understood the challenges and wouldn’t tip toe around the issue.

-Wiston.Y

-Jennifer.M

-James.A