Greetings from Pasco County

Hello everyone. My name is Carole and I'm a 36 year-old wife and mother in Land O' Lakes, FL. I'm in the process of, after a lot of thinking, researching bariatric surgery and surgeons in the Tampa area. My health insurance policy does not cover WLS of any kind it is explicity excluded. Which is a bit of a bummer in some ways. But a blessing in others. Since I'll be a self-pay there will be, from what I gather, fewer really ridiculous hoops to jump through. If anyone has any surgeon or hospital suggestions I'm all ears! :D Happy to meet you! Carole

Hi Carol, I just had surgery this past tuesday at Town and Country hospital. It was done by Dr. Alfredo Fernandez--------------He is Great!!!!!!!!I had the Lap Rny and I would highly recommend him and the hospital. Any questions feel free to Email me. Good Luck Gail

Welcome to the board, Carole! Does your policy exclude WLS completely or only when medically necessary? Many companies read like it is excluded, but technically if you have the comorbidities and high BMI, you can get approved, just a thought... I have heard great things about Dr. Murr and was impressed with him when I saw him interviewed on the news here in Orlando. Consider him as one of your choices too. Amy

Amy - The policy specifically and explicity excludes all WLS and most weight loss treatments. I could spend years fighting it and jumping through hoops. But since I do have the means to pay for this myself I'm just going to bypass the fight. Especially since I don't have any comorbidities. Which is a good thing (I'm healthy as an ox ... I just happen to weigh as much as a small one) for me but a bad thing as far as a fight with my insurnance company. I figure if I do decide to have the WLS I'd rather do it while I'm still healthy rather than wait until I have several comorbidities. At this point I'm considering all of the doctors in the area. I figure the first thing I should do is decide on the surgery (yes or no) then on the type (though I'm leaning toward the lap-band) then pick the surgeon who is best qualified for the type of surgery I decide on. It is so odd. I've been thinking about this and reading about it secretly for years. I kept telling myself I can do it myself (just like when I was 3 years-old). Now that I am realizing that I can no more do this on my own than I could cook my own breakfast at 3 it feels weird to be talking about it. Thanks for the welcome! Carole

It's good that you're as healthy as an ox, too bad that you weigh as much as a small one (that made me smile), but please tell me you don't LOOK like an ox, or smell like one!!!! That whole ox thing has me cracking up here, so I must be tired!! Anyway, research your potential surgeons well and check what their complication rate is. Best to luck to you! Jan

I am having lap band surgery with Dr Rehnke at Pasadena Palms in St Pete on the 13th of Dec. So far the process has been lengthy but relatively easy. I have insurance but I think he charges 17K for self pay and you are right there are fewer hoops for self pay. Check out his website and go to a seminar to get a feeling for him. obesitynomorefl.com

Hi and Welcome, I live in Pasco also.. I had lap-rny with Dr Murr about 16 months ago. He is wonderful. He is at TGH. I looked into lapband as my first choice with a doctor in Zephyrhills. My insurance would not pay, so I went to Dr Murr and so glad I did. He is now doing lapband, so you could weigh the pros and cons with him. For me, the rny was the way to go. Each person is different. Good luck! By the way, Dr Murr has an open meeting once a month for those folks looking into wls. You can call his office for time, date and etc. Marla

Hi Carole, I had surgery with Dr. Alfredo Fernandez. He has a wonderful program. He operates out of the Town n Country Hospital which is not that far from Land O' Lakes. He is a great surgeon. He treats everyone like you were a part of his immediate family. There are several people in our support group that were self-pay and they said he worked with them to get a price break. He is with Tampa Bariatrics. Click my profile and see my progress. Gina