Pink Stella

Dr. V is the only one I've found. His office staff are pretty great!

Anyone know of sleeve surgeons in NC? So far I've only found one, in Charlotte, Dr. Voellinger. Has anyone had any experience with him?

I have BCBS NC and that code is covered. I know each insurance is different, but I was given a CPT code of 43659, which is also a covered procedure. I looked both of them up (https://catalog.ama-assn.org/Catalog/cpt/) - and the description for 43843 is "Gastric restrictive procedure, without gastric bypass, for morbid obesity; other than vertical-banded gastroplasty " and the description for 43659 is "Unlisted laparoscopy procedure, stomach." You might contact your HR department, too. Find out if the fed is self-insured. I work for a municipal government and we are self-insured. That means that the city itself determines what coverage is offered and BCBS administers the insurance. If you're willing to discuss it with your HR rep, they might be able to help you out. I'm not sure if any of this will help you at all. Good luck!

Right there with ya! I just found a doctor today that will do the VSG - he's 207 miles from home, but I just can't go for lap band or GBP - too risky for me. I've heard too many horror stories. And honestly, I keep looking for VSG horror stories and the worst thing I've found is someone who sprung a leak while eating KFC the day after surgery. Good luck to you!

I think you're probably right, but with any surgery, you have to learn to eat right and manage the head hunger or it can fail, whether or not you have malabsorption. My father had something like the duodenal switch and he's about 100 pounds overweight now because he never changed his eating habits - bread, cake, liquor...nothing's off limits and the portion sizes are out of control.

Funny you should say that. When I fist went to my PCP to talk about WLS in general, she didn't say anything about it at all. He nurse was very encouraging, but the doctor just said, "oh, you'll be needing a letter for your insurance then." And that was it. She is usually very, well, pushy about things, so I didn't even ask her if she had any opinion, figuring she'd never held back before, so if she had something to say, she'd have said it. Anyway, I think I'll be shopping for a new PCP!

I hadn't really thought about not needing so much after care. There are just so many stories out there about problems/issues with the band and bypass! Thanks, both of you for your input! And good luck, Carolyn!

Hi, everyone, I'm new here and I'm looking for help/advice. I've been research WLS for some time now and have been thinking the sleeve is right for me (the complicaitons of lap band and RNY scare me too much), but I didn't think my insurance would cover it, so I'd sort of given up on the idea. But I found out yesterday that they will cover it (with some hoops, of course), so now I am looking for more information. I'm in Southeastern NC, but the closest doc I can find is in Charlotte, 200 miles away. So if anyone know anyone any closer (I'd like to be a little closer for after care), I'd love to know about it. Also, is anyone out there 5 years or more post-op? If so, what has your experience been like? Any complications? Tips/advice?

Thanks everyone for sharing, these are great. Mine is in my signature.

What did you revise from and to? Should I be worried that there are so few long-term bandsters?