NWA

Hi, my name is Katy and I live in Lowell,Ar.  We moved here about 1 1/2 years ago and I am now ready to start the process over!  I was about a week away from approval in Ohio when my ins. changed and it was no longer covered, so i took a break.  I just need a little help and a point in the right direction.  Are the any doctors here or will I need to go to L.R? Does anybody know of a family doctor who supports WLS?  Thanks for your time and I hope to talk a bit more later. Thanks, Katy

Welcome Katy! I don't know about doctors in Lowell, but Dr. Baker in Little Rock is great! Amy

Well shoot. I was about to tell you that there are some good surgeons in Jonesboro, but that's the wrong side of the state. It just dawned on me you said North West. Sorry - I'm a little wacky today. Come on guys - help her out. I know there are some of you around Fayetteville that could fill her in.

If you end up having to come to central AR - check out Dr. Gibbs. He's amazing! AT

Hi Katy, I am in Bella Vista and I doctor at the Washington Regional Clinic in Bentonville.  Dr. Bilyeu (pronounced Blue) has written my support letter for the surgery.  I have doctored with him a while, though, and I don't know just what he would think about writing it without having been a patient.  With your other records it could be he would do it - especially since you had begun this once.  Anyway this is the doctor who did mine. I am going for Lap Band but I know the doctors also do RnY procedures.  My doctor will be Doctor Fisher at Surgical Associates in Tulsa, OK.  It is closer than Little Rock and I do like Dr. Fisher.  I know there is also a Dr. Katsis that also performs this procedure.  The one thing is the traveling for the tests and meetings at first.  I thought I could get the Pulmonary, Cardiology, Psych and such all done at once but it just has not worked that way. There is a program at Washington Regional in Fayetteville now but I do not know how many procedures have been done there.  They don't do the LapBand which is why I didn't explore it more.  I just did not want the more severe procedures so my focus was on LapBand doctors - and then it had to be one that accepted Medicare so my search has lead my to Tulsa. Hope this will help out. Carol Braman

Thanks for all the replys.  I am still in the early stages, but i am on my way and hope to be posting more on my progress here in the near future. Thanks a bunch,  Katy

Springdale Hospital now has a WLS program.  Dr Josh Roller comes from Duke University and has a great record.  They do Lap-Band and RNY.

Hi, I am in a similar boat as you and started doing the research a few months ago. Here is what I have found out that may help you.

Obesity Support Meeting. Second sunday of every month at St. Mary's in Rogers. I forget the auditorum name but it is downstairs.

From that meeting I have heard recommendations for both Dr Gorospe in Tulsa and Dr. Baker in Little Rock. (There is mention of a clinic opening here in Springdale but I haven't been able to confirm that beyond their webpage. http://www.northwesthealth.com/OurServices/WLSC)

After calling Dr. Baker and Dr. Gorospe, I decided to go to Dr. Baker's seminar. VERY informative. You can find out more about the seminar dates at http://www.obesity-surgery.net. Good website but when I download forms I have to strip the .exe extension off of the files. Might be due to them writing their page around ASP's. Doesn't really matter but I figured if you run into that issue I would pass it along. Dr. Baker comes off as very gruff in his seminar but I didn't find it to be as bad as a few posts on this board made it out to be. I think it stems from him not wanting people to abuse the chance they are given when they undergo the surgery. (Talks some about people not following through after surgery and ending back in the same boat they were in.)

In my case, I am going to have to self pay due to Wal-Mart's insurance. So my requirements may differ from yours but in my case it looks like Dr. Baker is a good fit for me. I am curious about the Springdale clinic that someone mentioned due to its proximity. Probably going to try and go to their seminar on Sept 7th. But unless they are a lot cheaper than Dr. Baker I am going to stick with Dr. Baker. That whole Center of Excellence thing that Dr. Baker has going on is reassuring.

There is an obesity walk taking place in Little Rock on the 22nd of this month. It is a mile walk that you have to pay $25 to join in. While walking a mile is admirable it is a 4 hour drive to do so. I am planning on going to be able to talk to others to see if anyone has any suggestions and recommendations. There are more people who have undergone bariatric surgery in arkansas that are not on this site than that are. Either way it'll get me out of NWA for a day and it is for a good cause. Might even manage to pass by the Peabody to see the ducks march. Always wanted to see them since I moved here to Arkansas.

Main site: http://www.walkfromobesity.com/
Arkansas site: http://walkfromobesity.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=238585

I dont know anything about wls surgeons in nwa. however if you want a wonderful supportive family doctor try doctor david tucker in gravette ark. he is awsome and helped me so much. I drive from oklahoma to see him because he has been a great doctor. I recently had to switch to a local doctor because of insurance and it was very hard for me to do. DR. T was very supportive of me and told me to give the new one a chance. I have to admit his office isnt fancy, he is very down to earth and easy to talk to. my kids say he is a hippie.. but i am completely comfortable with him.. so ya might want to meet him and see how you feel. if you need and address or phone number just email me @ [email protected]