In 2002, Dr. Lee J. Grossbard, a board-certified general surgeon practicing in Zephyrhills, Fla. who performs bariatric surgery, traveled to Mexico to undergo Lap-Band surgery because at the time, other than himself, there were no local surgeons performing the procedure.

Weighing in 105 pounds lighter five years post-surgery, Grossbard, who battled with weight his entire adult life, acknowledges that for him, Lap-Band surgery was the right choice.

“As a doctor, I knew the real complications and mortality rates of bypass (gastric bypass) and chose to have a Lap-Band because it was safer, adjustable and reversible,” he said.

A graduate of the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Grossbard has traveled all across North America, Canada and Mexico as an advocate for the Lap-Band procedure and its benefits to patients. Patients have traveled to him from 38 states and seven countries.

Grossbard believes that his personal experience helps him relate better to his patients. He helps them overcome their fears and challenges by telling them the truth and sharing his history with them.

He has been involved with bariatric surgery for more than two decades and performed his first bariatric surgery during his residency at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass. He has been performing adjustable gastric Lap-Band surgery since June 2001, when the FDA approved the procedure.

Grossbard is a member of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and is a Fellow, American College of Surgeons.

Today Grossbard tends to spend less time in the operating room and more time mentoring, training and proctor other surgeons who are learning the Lap-Band procedure.



January 2008