Frustrated and near tears..what should I do?

This is a long story so please bare with me.  On 4/17/06 my friend and I had LapBand surgery at the Barix clinic in Scottsdale with Dr. Eric Schlesinger doing the surgergy.  During the summer we each had 3 fills.  Two of the fills had to be done by x-ray because he was unable to locate the port.  In August we had our last fills and were told we basically had filled up the band and we had the tools to lose weight and we were on our own since Dr. S was leaving for Penn.  In September Barix closed their doors.  We were on our own wondering why everyone else was losing weight and we weren't.  We thought we were a couple of failures.  In May we made appointments with Dr. Steven Simon as he was the doctor recommended by Barix as the doctor to see for our yearly exam.  Dr. Simon found out that my friend had hardly any saline solution in her band.  He told me that my port had become detached and would need port revision.  Mind you, this was the first of May.  My friend has since gone back to Dr. Simon has has received wonderful care and has lost an additional 20 pounds and is back on the right track.  I have not been so lucky.  Dr. Simon has not contacted the Barix main office in MI letting them know about my surgery because I feel that Barix should pay for it.  This went on from May until July with Barix stating that they had not recieved anything from Dr. Simon and Dr. Simon saying he had contacted them.  Anyway, in July my school district went with Aetna insurance and Dr. Simon is on  their plan.  Marcia Wells who works in his office was to contact Aetna about paying for the port revision.  Since the beginning of August I have sent letters and left messages to Dr. Simon's office about contacting Aetna to begin the pre-certification process to have my port revised.  I have received one phone call asking if Dr. Simon can begin the pre-certification process and I said yes plus I had already indicated that in my letter to him prior to the phone call.  To this day, Dr. Simon's office has not contacted Aetna.  I am extremely frustrated, confused, disheartened, and I want to cry.  All that money for the LapBand and I have lost only 30 pounds.  Does any one have any suggestions?  I am thinking of contacting Dr. Terry Simpson because he accepts Aetna.  Does any one think that the doctors don't want to do the surgery because it was done by another doctor and don't want to take responsibility for me?  What am I to do?

I think you hit the nail on the head ,I dont think any Dr likes to redo or adjust another Dr work - every dr  does things a little differant, basically under same principles  but differant. -- What I would Suggest is that any communication with Barix  be done by registered mail - that way that cant say they didnt receive it!  If you get a chance to change ins - I would  I changed to United  because I knew the Dr they covered and the procedures  they covered,   I dont know Dr Simon or ever heard how his office works - I can only suggest to make sure you get copies of everything.  Cant hurt to keep your own documentation.   Now that Dr Schlessinger is back here in the valley under his own practice and not governed by Barix - You might want to contact him for a consult  and see what advice he can give you ??? He might be able to give you adviceonhow to deal with Barix ? I understand how only a 30 lb loss is disapointing - but when was last time you lost 30 lbs and kept it off ?? - keep your head up - good things are yet to come - just takes time and patience ..  

Jeanna! You are so darn sweet!  I just love your tender lovin posts!!!!  .......I"m looking forward to our "date night"!!!!  :) Wednesday support group?  ............I think we should have a good old fashioned "Let it all Hang out" kind of night!  We've had so many guest speakers lately that we haven't had a good pow wow night.  What do ya think? I never made it to Utah afterall so I should be able to make it on Weds!!!!!  (the 12th and all are invited!) Let's have a "Show and Tell" night for Support Group! Bring one thing that "Shows" your progress or represents a goal. (could be a photo, an old pair of jeans, a new tiny pair of jeans, new boyfriend :)......etc! Bring one story to "Tell" us about life as a post-op!

Ahhhhh you poor thing!  What a tangled mess for you!  .......  How about giving Dr. Schlesinger a call since he's not with Barix anymore.  I know he's had a lot of his old patient's calling him to reestablish care.  He has had a lot of fallout from Barix stuff.  .........Just give Kathy a call at his office.  You can get his contact info off of his new website at www.azwls.com Dr. Simpson and Dr. Simon are both great docs as well!  If you have Aetna PPO with out of network benefits then you should be able to qualify for a full revision!!! Good luck!  .....  You can call me at work if you need to talk through some other ideas!  I"d be happy to help if at all possible! wk # 480 991-6877

If your original doctor is in town again I would definitely start by contacting him.  If he doesn't provide remedy then try Dr. Simpson or Dr. Blackstone.  It is my understanding that  insurance should cover revisions.

I'm so sorry you're having so much problems.  My friend had wls surgery several years ago and ran into the same problem.  I was seeing Dr. Hillario Juarez, so I referred her to him because of his terrific bedside manner. She had no problems getting him to do her revision.  He works out of Bridges Weightloss Center at St. Lukes on 18th Street.  I don't have his number, but he does take Aetna.  I have Aetna PPO right now and was told he takes it. Email me privately for more information.  He does the lap band as well. Good luck, Randi

Eric S. Schlesinger, M.D., F.A.C.S 20950 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite 380 Phoenix, AZ 85050 Phone: (480) 419-2280 Fax: (480) 991-6615 the whole barix situation ended a mess, with many of us stranded with no real resources for after care. Dr S did my RNY in IL in 2002 and if it were feasable I would travel to AZ for all my followup. I think if you contact him he will do all that he can to help you. I wouldn't count on ANYTHING directly from Barix. they really let us down.

Dr. Juarez and Dr. Fang with the Bridges program at St. Lukes hospital also take Aetna insurance, you might want to have a consultation withe one of them. They are both very nice and have a great track record. Good luck.  Shannon V.