to those contemplating WLS by Wellborn

I just got back from a wasted trip to Little Rock..... I wanted Wellborn to do Lap band on me at st vincents. Went to seminar and before it started I was looking at the handout they give before it starts. Dr. Wellborn does NOT take Medicare patients and St. Vincents is NOT a Center of Excellence required by Medicare for WLS. I talked to a lady that was on her way in to the seminar and told her why we were leaving.... she was disheartened too as she is a Medicare patient too and came from Texarkana. Just thought I would warn anyone else before they make a trip. Carolyn from Altus, AR

One of the other doctors takes medicare and Baptist is a center of excellence. IN fact, it was just made a center of excellence for bariatric surgeries. Also, there is a hospital in missouri, not sure which one but you can go to the missouri board and ask Jan. Also, where I had surgery was a center of excellence and they took medicare, it was in shreveport. I was lucky though, that I have aetna for my primary insurance. You will have to call around but you will find one that will do the surgery.

try another doctor and call before you come, Dr. Gibbs office is excellant about calling you back and talking with you over the phone.

Carolyn, This just really chaps my hide!! But before I start my rant, let me say that I'm sure Dr Wellborn is a great surgeon, there are many folks here who have their surgery done by him and are doing great. What I'm about to say may get me flamed, but it is my opinion on how I see things, so please hear me out. Over the course of the last 5 months or so, Dr Wellborn has begun an blitz of advertising for lap band procedures. Nothing wrong with advertising, everyone needs to make a buck. Where I see the problem is that he's making it seem like lap band is the be all and end all to weight loss surgery. In my opinion, he sees the lap band as a cash cow, and is hearding in folks in droves. The commercial says it's a safer alternative to gastric bypass, but there are plenty of people who have lap band and are sorry they did. If you go onto the Lap Band forum here at OH, I'm sure you'll find dozens of people who wish they had gone rny instead. My surgeon, Dr Gibbs, has not done lap band until just recently because he didn't feel the data supported the procedure. It has been done for years in Europe, but until it was widely used in the US where he could see the long term results, he wouldn't do them. Lap band is not for everyone, especially those who have a greater amount of weight to lose. So, now you've driven all the way to LR, and probably have a bad taste in your mouth from your experience. I don't blame you at all, I'd be pretty bent too! I had my surgery at St Vincent's, and I make it a habit to go and visit people from this board who have their surgery, most of them at Baptist. I can tell you, the care and support you get at Baptist is far greater than SV. Sometime, if you want, I'll PM you with the mess I got myself into by going to SV. I agree with Jeannie. Call the different Doctors here in LR to make sure they will take Medicare, and then go to their seminars. I'm pretty sure Gibbs and Baker do. In fact, I think there are a couple of people here on this board who have Medicare and have gone to Baker. Sorry this rant is long. I woke up at 3:30 this morning and when I read your post it just got my blood going. I hope you find the solution to your situation. Make sure you do your homework before you make any decision regarding which doctor and what procedure you have. I'm sure you'll be glad you did the extra leg work. Take care. Susan

I have a few words to say to the email or the comment that you had to say about Dr Wellborn and the idea that he is bringing in people like droves, the problem with that answer is ....first he doesnt make the choice for the the patients that he takes care of..the patients makes the choice,.. apparently you have NOT done your homework in the Lapband surgery either. I have had the surgery done and i know alot of people that have had it done and if its not working then its something that the patient isnt doing right, they are either not being compliant or not following what they are suppose to be doing. There is no way you can fail this unless you choose to. Your Dr Gibbs may take Medicare but I bet Dr Gibbs or Dr Baker doesnt take Tricare and this is the insurance of our servicemen that are over seas fighting for our country so keep that in mind when your out there talking so highly of Dr Gibbs,.. also you need to find out the true facts as to why Dr Gibbs hasnt done the lapband till recently, I am sure there is more of a reason as to why he just started. I just want everyone to know that i have done my homework on all these Dr"s in Little Rock and you cannot beat Dr Wellborn. You will not find a Dr or his wife which is the office manager, that gets up in the middle of the night to go to his office cause a patient needs him, or is on call 24-7 and will talk to you whenever you need him, Dr Wellborn is a physician that thinks about his patients first and not as a dollar sign. as to the advertising if you take a look and do some more homework before talking about things you dont have a clue about, the reason you see the commercial about the Wellborn clinic is because the twins on the commercial are his patients and this clinic is proud of their patients and they have them plastered all over his clinic, you are family there, NOT PART OF A HERD as you commented on earlier. I dont think you are fully informed on all the aspects of what this clinic has to offer and so before you judge or have anything else to comment about, make sure you are fully aware of what your about to say, i see that you have your name and comments all over the place and i am surprised that you are not as informed as you place yourself to be. as i have said earlier, i had the surgery 3 months ago and i am down 50 lbs, but then according to you the lapband doesnt work,.. hmmmmmmm....

I did read what susan wrote and i am not at all taking out of text what she said, I think that its great what she is doing for people and all the so called care she does, roses to her.... but what I also see is all the comments that she puts in her little articles that she writes about Dr Wellborn, she is not informed apparently like she should be on what and where she is coming from about him, she is coming across as making a personal attack on him and that is what I was addressing. I do know alot about the rny and the lapband and I can address about any question out there about the pros and cons of each and any other issue about it, so please dont think you know me, cause you will not even have a clue, i am not at all attacking this women, all i am addressing a issue that she had made a statement about, she sounds like a very nice lady but like i said she hasnt a clue about Dr Wellborn and that is the issue that I was addressing. If you dont like having something addressed about dont make the statement, you will get alot of people sending their replys or addressing it when they feel very strongly about the physician that is being accused of being a cash cow..... you will not find another Dr that is more compassionate and understanding that TRUELY loves his patients. you talk about how this lady goes out of her way for other people, well so does Dr Wellborn, in more ways then you and anyone else will ever know... If you take this or anyone takes this as an attack on someone, DONT make comments you cant handle a reply to and make sure you re-read what someone writes, There was no attack just a statement,..