Lake Norman

[paulsgirl1297 18]

Has anyone had or having surgery with Dr Heider at lake Norman regional medical center?

[sacharliem 44]

No I tried but my insurance wouldn't cover it, they call him dreamy eyes, lol

[sacharliem 44]

I'm going to try go to Mexico

[paulsgirl1297 18]

Good luck in Mexico ,what insurance do you have? I have Cigna and they sent me my approval letter within a week ...maybe you could appeal the decision

[allmyjoy 21]

Dreamy eyes did my sleeve on May 10th! Love him and all his staff are wonderful!

[paulsgirl1297 18]

Yes they are awesome and so helpful in any way they can

[jennyannk73 20]

HI there,

I am planning to have a gastric sleeve done by Dr. Heider. I will be self pay. How long from start to finish is the usual time until surgery? I was in the process of doing this here in my town but my insurance would only pay 5,000 total, and the local price was full and non negotiable. It seems like people are very happy with Dr. Heider so i'm attending a seminar there on Monday to start the process with him.

Also, i'm a couple of hours away, so i'm wondering, do they do all the pre-op testing and evaluating (dietitian, psych. and medical testing) just prior to the surgery? I will need to plan my time off (I have two weeks available).

I'm so excited to do this! I am so tired of having spent literally half of my life not being able to do the things I wanted to do ... or at least without embarrassment. I want to go to the beach, ride roller coasters with my son.... I want to not have to use a seatbelt extender on a plane, and not have the person in the seat next to me roll their eyes. I'm tired of all the judgment. If people only knew how many times I have tried to lose weight, done it, only to gain it right more with extra..... It's a heartbreaking illness.

Oh well, sorry to be all blabbing about this. I suppose I could and will ask these questions at the seminar, but I am just wanting to know sooner than later. I've been wanting to do this for years, and my time is finally here. My personal loan was approved so the excitement is on to finally be getting here.

I hope everyone is doing well, and i would love to hear about your experiences with your surgeries!

Thanks,

Jenny :wub:

[paulsgirl1297 18]

You will really like Dr. Heider and his staff, they are always ready and willing to help you in anyway they can. I filed on insurance , and went to my first appointment the first week of February and had my surgery June 21 ..it could have been quicker if I had scheduled appointments sooner . However from what i understand self pay is much quicker because you don't have the protocols of the insurance company the support group offered me the best information and advice and the other patients are always willing to answer your questions ..just ask , the workshop that you attend befor surgery gives you very useful information. The hospital staff is wonderful too, envy one in the office treated me as ifI were the most important person, they seem to respect their patients and don't treat them as a number but a person ...

[jennyannk73 20]

Thank you. I am driving there tomorrow to attend the seminar. I am super excited to be getting going with this finally. From everything I read he is top notch.

[briddrayton 0]

How much is the surgery??? I would be self pay also. Not trying to be nosy, but I have Blue Cross Preferred and they won't pay for anything associated with weight loss, so I can't use my insurance. And I need to know how much something like this costs. So can someone tell me?

[jennyannk73 20]

How much is the surgery??? I would be self pay also. Not trying to be nosy, but I have Blue Cross Preferred and they won't pay for anything associated with weight loss, so I can't use my insurance. And I need to know how much something like this costs. So can someone tell me?

[jennyannk73 20]

Sorry, it didn't take my reply to your question. For self pay sleeve the self pay package is about 12,000.

[briddrayton 0]

And this has to be paid upfront, before the surgery is done, or do you have to pay so much down and then they work with the remainder of the total?

[jennyannk73 20]

I'm not sure but their number is 704_660_4584. They are super nice and I'm sure they could tell you what the options are.... I got a loan to cover all mine so i didn't ask that....