New here.. looking for a doctor in LR area...

I'm new here. There is a wealth of information on this board. I am looking for a doctor in the LR area. Will you  all share your doctor/ pros cons about that doctor.

I know my insurance will not cover The Welborne Clinic. They are out of network for me.

They will cover Dr Gibbs, Dr Fuller and Dr Luttrell. I have not checked on any others. I am wanting a good doctor for lap band.
Thanks so much!

HI THERE!!!!
WELCOME!!!!

There is a lot of great info on this board, and we are all a great bunch of people willing to help in any way we can.... I only know of one of the Doctors that you mentioned, and that's Dr. Gibbs. He has a few patients who are on this board... A great one to talk to about him would be Susan(Susandoeshair) she is a great lady to talk to, and is wonderful.... She was one of his patients, and is also the support group leader for the LR Area at Baptist Health Hospital.

As far as another DR. Who oes Lap band who you did not mention in your list is DR. Baker. He is my DR. And he is a gfreat one... He also has a numerous amount of patients on this board, that would be willing to tell you all about him. He is very strict on his rules, but as long as you follow them, and do everything he says the right way, he is so nice... He is a very caring DR. And I couldn't of asked for a better surgeon to do my surgery.

I hope this kinda helps you, I am the Young one on the board, and sometimes don't give the best of info, so I would suggest talking to Susan, whose DR. Was DR. Gibbs or there is another lady named Wendy(wendyfou) on the board, and STEVE whose DR. Was DR. Baker, and they could tell you more about him.

Thanks for replying! 

By the looks of your ticker, it seems that you are the perfect person to ask! :) You are doing great! I would think that sticking to the rules would be a must with this type of surgery. I am doing lots of research on this message board. It is a wealth of knowledge.

Welcome, I use Dr. Baker also, he is great.  He will educate you on how to not only change your eating habits but those of your whole family.   He is wonderful.
Yes, he is strict, but He knows what he is doing and what it takes for you to conquer the weight issue that we all deal with.
Good luck and you have found a great place to find out answers to many of the questions that you have.
 

Oh yeah, it's all about the RULES!  Follow them, you do great. Don't follow them, you'll be another person added to the list of those who never reach goal or gain all their weight back. The longer and better you follow those rules, the more likely you are to make the lifestyle changes you need to make for a lifetime of success!

Hi, I had gastric bypass with Dr Baker.  I see he is not listed on your post though.  He does do lapband. 
We have several members here who have had lapband, and several who have had weightloss surgery with the Drs you have listed.  Just hang around a little more and read some of our profiles, many of us have written in one way or another about our surgeons and surgery.  Also there is a page here on OH that has where people wrote about their surgeons.  Let me see if I can find it for you.  And when all else fails, GOOGLE!!  I use it all the time. 

Okay here is the OH page for Dr Fuller (click on JD Fullers OH Forum for reviews)
www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bariatric+surgeon+profile+ JD+Fuller+tcs.html

Here is Dr. Luttrells page (again don't forget the forum link on the right)
www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bariatric+surgeon+profile+ Rex+Luttrell+lb.html

And finally Dr. Gibbs page (again don't forget to click on Mark Gibbs OH Forum also)
www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bariatric+surgeon+profile+ Mark+R+Gibbs+hj.html

Those three pages should help you gather some information.  Each page has reviews from patients, a forum and other information such as how many surgeries performed, how many years and more.  So that should help you get started.  Again, don't forget google, you can find a lot there to.  Not all patients are on OH, so search around until you are comfortable with a surgeon. 

Forgot to add another link, this is the page of surgeons in Arkansas who have officially registered with OH's website but they are great surgeons and many of them on this list, you can click on the link under the column labeled "SURGICAL CENTER" to the OH forum for that surgeon.  Not all have one listed. 

www.obesityhelp.com/forums/AR/a,doclisting/type,46/show,unre gistered/

But for many they have listed the surgery types and number of testimonials by patients who are here on OH.   You can call around the different surgeons and just ask if they accept your insurance.  Also find out what your insurance requires for the lapband, so you can start meeting their criteria.  For instance, does your insurance require you have Dr supervised diet attempts for a certain amount of time, or attempts?  I know many do for gastric bypass, not sure on lapband, but if it is, then while you are hunting around for a surgeon and getting ready you can be doing the supervised diet attempts while you wait. 

Thanks so much for all of the articles! I am going to read them tomorrow when I have more time.

I went to a seminar, and I think I have chosen a doctor. You all are such a big help!

Welcome!! I also used Dr. Baker and he is the best. He is the ONLY one I would use. have a great day!!  hugs