Noobie info needed

For those living in Hawaii, and more specifically, not living on Oahu, I need info. My PCP has suggested I check out four surgeons on Oahu: Steven Fowler, Kenric Murayama, John Balfour and Brandt K Lapschies. I've messages for all but Dr. Brandt K Lapschies, whose phone number doesn't work. I have HMSA HMO insurance. Will HMSA pay RT airfare from Hilo on the several occasions I have to meet with clinical staff? How about accommodations if I have to stay overnight? After all was said and done, your surgery behind you and well on your way to recovery, how much did you pay out of pocket for everything? Regarding surgical procedures, I'm a 53-year-old male with a BMI of 48. I've been morbidly obese at least half of my life and have had my share of the weight loss-weight gain yoyo. Had success through Weight Loss Clinic years ago but developed medical complications requiring surgery. Tried OA many times without success. Am a recovering alcoholic with 33 years of sobriety. I think I need fail-safe surgery; one that despite the addict inside, I can't sabotage. When it comes right down to it, despite what I promise to do (exercise, moderate food intake), I'll likely participate in self-destruction at some point, so I don't want to enter into this next phase of my life in vain. To complicate matters, I'm a self-employed businessman who can't afford to take much time off work. I undertand that some of the procedures allow you to get back on your feet in just a couple of days. Which ones, and do they fit the aforementioned criterion of fail-safe? If you think you can help, by all means, please do so. Mahalo

Tom, I had my wls in dallas texas and just relocated per miltary on oahu 3 mnths ago. so of chorse i cant give much advise. just wanted to let you know if its the Lords will it will happen. With tricare they only covered the syat at the hospital and routine follow ups. i am not aware of any insurance company,and trust be i have had blue cross blue shield..united concord,medicade,aetna. nothing could get the wls apprvd until i got tricare threw military. however none of those would even consider the flight or milage ect for the wls. good luck. Dont give up. your health is to important. congrats on the 33 yrs of sobriety. which island are you on? the big island? we are here for 3 years and i hope to see them all. again good luck and any word of encourgment i can give feel free to email. i have lost 144 lbs in 7 mnths and am 34 away from goal. so it was worth every trial and error and denial ect. oh and it was a 2 day hospital stay and back home one day of rest then back out of bed walk walk walk. prevents any chances of blood clots. again...dont give up. it will happrn. teresa 320/174/140

Aloha Teresa, Thanks for the words of encouragement, and congrats to you! Yes, I'm in Volcano on the Big Island. Tom

Aloha Tom.......I live on Maui and am scheduled to have surgery on July 26th. Yikes!! I've been on a waiting list with Kaiser for almost two years though, so I'm very ready for this to happen. Kaiser has been wonderful. They provided us with classes on nutrition, behavorial changes, doc appointments and tests up the ying yang. Also they have excellent support groups for before and after surgery. They are paying my airfare to and from Oahu for surgery and appointments with surgeon before/after surgery. My neighbor has HMSA and it is an EXCELLENT provider for her. I'm guessing they will be good for you, too, and will cover much as Kaiser does. I wish you great good success on this quest. It will be worth it. If you can quit alcohol for 33 years, you can do this and succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Aloha, KarenS

Aloha Karen, Two years is a long time to wait. I'm happy for you that the waiting is almost over. I've heard good things about Kaiser but my wife's company doesn't offer it. We had HMSA PPO until the end of last year. I'm not sure why it changed but I've heard that for major procedures such as this, an HMO is better than a PPO. Incidentally, I received a call from Dr. Fowler's staff late this afternoon, and while they will be looking into the insurance matter, they mentioned that Dr. Lapschies no longer performs WLS, so my choices have been pared to three. Did you have to do the RT thing often? Tom

Hi, I have HMSA HMO also and I'm having surgery on Tues. I also looked into all the surgeons in Hawaii. I chose Dr Fowler. I have a lot of confidence in him he's also very easy to talk to. He does his surgeries lap. Which is a big plus for me because it's a lot shorter recovery time compared to the open. His coordinator is the absolute best. Her name is Anna she is really on top of everything making sure that everything gets done on time and making sure everything is submitted to the insurance correctly. They also have a really good before and after program. Dr Balfour only does the surgery open and I had to wait almost 2 months for a consult. There is also a Dr Haung who is in the same office as Dr Balfour. Her wait time is alot shorter. I have heard that Dr Lapschies is no longer doing wls, I don't know if that is true though. I also tried to get an appt with him but couldn't get anywhere. There is also Dr Cirangle. I know that he is in Cali and comes over here to do the surgery, but he requires a large upfront fee, I have heard that you get some of it back after insurance pays but I don't have that kind of money where I can wait and see if insurance is going to reimburse me. I have heard that he is an awesome Dr though. Dr Fowler has a meeting once a month, I think. I went to my first meeting on May 4th. My surgery is July 11th. I think that's really fast to get everything together. I have Anna to thank for that she has been awesome. I hope some of this has helped. Amy

Aloha Amy, Thanks for your feedback. Your wait time has been much shorter than Karen's. I wonder why that is? Anyway, congrats on the date! Are you getting the RNY or the lapband? On a side note, is the time set incorrectly on your computer? According to this website, you posted your message at 9:00 pm HST and it's now 8:13 pm HST. Aloha, Tom

Hey Tom... Just wanted to stop by (even though it's very late...lol) and let you know that I have HMSA HMO, also and I am currently going through the process with the Queen's Comprhensive Program (Dr. Murayama). Per another out of state member with HMSA HMO, they do cover round trip airfair when you see specialists/doctors on Oahu. As for accommodations...I'm not too sure. I know that a friend had eye surgery and had to be on Oahu for 5 days even though it was same day surgery, they paid for the hotel in that case. I'm not too sure about costs for other doctors, but my own personal experience with Dr. Cirangle had me paying $4,000 out of pocket. Dr. Fowler's office had me paying $600.00 up front and $40.00 a month for a year after surgery. Dr. Murayamas office has you pay for the nutritionist fee (not covered by HMSA or any insurance) and the first visit is $85 and every other visit is (don't quote me) $40 something for 30 minutes. Just wanted to let you know, though, that all forms of WLS will never be "fail safe." If you reserach enough, you'll always be able to find that you can sabotage any type of surgery if you can't conform to using your tool properly. Anyhow...good luck in your search!

Hi Tom, I am fresh post op - surgery was the 30th of June. Here's some of what I know - I called every doctor I could find, and then due to extenuating cir****tances called a bun*****ali as well. My first appt with Dr. Huang was April 20th, and then surgery June 30th. I worked with Anna at Dr. Fowlers as well - you can email me if you want more info. I chose not to go there for a few good reasons, but when it came down to it, in my situation I would have gone where-ever I could get it done in the time period I needed it ( a big time work situation). Dr. Lapschies receptionist barked at me that he's not doing the surgery any longer and hung up... and one of the docs, I can't remember which said it was a 1 year process to go through, meetings and the like before they would approve you for surgery. Dr. Balfour (same office as Huang) only does the Open RNY. One of the other offices had the required support groups and even though I'm outer island I HAD to go to the groups or else could not have the surgery and that was hard because it would have been self pay. HOWEVER - I too have HMSA PPO and had ZERO problems getting to HNL for my consults and pre-op etc. so long as my PCP had the refferal in to HMSA. Ask them to date it for a year, and you won't have to re-do it so you can go to your follow ups and such. They did pay RT airfare for me every time, but not for rental car or hotel when I had to stay afterwards. I still have not added up my co-pays, but hotel ran me about 700 rental car 250 (which was because my family was with me and wanted to drive around - AND I had to pay for their hotel while I was in the hospital - so yours may be different) I had a consult and then one more appt. with Dr. Huang - Nutritionist visits are at your own expense - the first one 85 and the second about 65.. from here on they'll be about 30 if I need to see her. Honestly??? I don't feel it's too steep an investment. I'm already down 15+lbs plus a TON of water weight post op and I'm feeling really good. I'm already exercising more then I did before surgery and it's by choice (is that weird or what?!?! lol) and all in all - I'm very happy with my decision. Dr. Huang comes across a little short, brief and to the point - plenty friendly, just doesn't seem super outgoing, BUT - I 100% believe her skills are top notch and I am pleased with the job she did with me. I reccomend her. Email me if you want more info - just hit on the email link on my post or my name.. I'd be happy to tell you more about my dealings with HMSA and my great surgeon search. It was a very big thing for me!! Aloha, Tin K

Good luck on your weightloss journey! You're going to love Dr. Murayama and his team! They're AWESOME! Aloha, Kris