Pink Stella

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?

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

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!

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?

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!

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?

I'm am still in the process of deciding which procedure is right for me and I need help! Is there anyone out there who has had the band for 5 years or more? I am really interested in learning what the long-term effects and results are.

Jack - you are the only one I've found so far with 5 years on the band. Please tell me, after 5 years, what complications have you had? I keep finding people with 5 years or more post-bypass with horrible complications and lots of people who have had their bands removed.

I am very interested in the 5-year complications as well! This article gives me pause - http://www.paclap.com/news&resources/ourpublications/article/lapband.html Of course, I've been on the Thinner Times forum reading about long-term complications of GBP and those really scare me.

So my surgeon has advised bypass for me given the amount of weight I have to lose, and though I was really leaning toward the band, I have been researching GBP. Admittedly, the idea of losing a great amount of weight quickly is appealing, but the more I learn about the long-term complications, the more it scares me. I'm hearing about adhesions, bowel obstructions, gallbladder removal/gallstones, not to mention the countless vitamin and mineral deficience. Is anyone here 5 years or more out? Is so, what complicaitons have you experienced?

I agree with Luv - some might not want to offend. I see you're in the mountains; I'm in Wilmington.

People are funny, aren't they??!! I don't know why people think fat people never try to lose weight. My husband's great aunt, who turns 100 tomorrow, told me last time I saw her that I was too fat and that I'm too pretty to be this fat. What could I say, she's an old lady. I think the very old and the very young are the worst/best about saying just what's on their minds. Take this and learn from it...you might decide to be mindful of complimenting others when they do something (non weight related) that might otherwise go un-noticed.

I can see why that might be discouraging, but I think I'd prefer that to everyone being in my business all the time. I haven't had surgery yet (appointment with surgeon tomorrow!!), but I have only told my husband and one close friend. I've lost (and regained) a good amount of weight in the past and had been very open about it. This time, I'm just doing it for me and don't really want anyone else to know. I guess at some point I'm going to have to tell my boss, though I'd really rather not.

After many, many years, I have finally decided to go forward with the Lap-band!! Woohoo!! I am so excited, I feel so great now that I've finally made this decision. And so far, everything is going great. I've found a surgeon and made it past the very first step in his process and have my first actual consult on September 29. I've gotten all the records, insurance information, letters, etc that I need. I keep expecting to be stopped at every turn, but so far, things are just moving right along. I met with my PCP today and was totally expecting her to try to talk me out of it. But instead, she and her nurse were super supportive and they said the surgeon (Dr. Harris in Wilmington, NC) is great. I am trying not to get too excited yet since there's still much to do and I don't want to be dissapointed...but it's not working!

Ok, tomorrow's my appointment with the surgeon and the bariatic coordinator. What questions do I need to remember to ask?

Thanks Brandy. It gives me hope that my insurance process will be quick, too. Brent, it doesn't sound strange - if I had the means, I'd be glad that I could just move forward, too. I saw someone else here say that they took out a loan so that they didn't have to wait the 6 months required by their insurance company.

I have my first appointment on Tuesday. When I first called the office, the bariatic coordinator asked me a bunch of questions and then sent me a bunch of papework in the mail. This package was really helpful - it included several forms for me to fill out, a timeline of the whole process, details about what to expect at the first and subsequent meetings with the surgeon, and details about his program (the RD, the psych exam, etc). It also included the diagnosis code and procedure codes for all of the surgeries he offers so that I could check my insurance before I got too far into the process. At least while I was waiting for my appointment, I had plenty of things to read and do. Good luck on Monday!

That stinks! But it's better to go ahead and start now and get the 6 months over with or you might look back 6 months from now and regret it. I was able to use my flex spending to pay for my weight watchers membership (I did have to have my doctor actually prescribe a weight loss program). Are there any other options, like maybe a wellness program through work or a community center? Maybe at the YMCA or Curves, so at least you'd have some other benefit of paying the memebership fee (in my area, one month of weight watchers cost the same as the monthly fee at the Y, and I get much more from the Y than I ever did from WW). Just a thought!

Thanks! The surgeon's office called yesterday and they had a cancellation on the 15th, so I'm acutally going two weeks earlier than I was expecting. Sometimes everything just works out!! Yay!

Why did you decide to go with the lap band and not another method of WLS? I have just started the process with a surgeon and have been asked to consider all the options. I've been leaning towards the lap band due, but I'm trying to educate myself on all of the options.