Desperately Need Info!!!

Hello! I am new to this site, but was told to check it out by a friend who had the surgery 2 years ago. My reason for being here is that I am a retired military spouse who needs information for my doctor.  I live in a town about an hour from Ft. Riley and my doctor is a TriCare Prime provider.  She has written a letter for TriCare but lacks the information as to who to send it to so that we can move forward to get me on the referral list for the surgery.  I am hoping someone can get the correct information to me quickly so I can in turn get it to her.  If anyone has the correct info, please, please get back with me here a.s.a.p.  She does know about Tallgrass in Topeka and has advised me about that.   I appreciate any help I can receive concerning this. Thank you so much!!! Msd7  

You might want to try calling Tallgrass. If you tell them you are wanting to be a patient they may help. They are very knowledgeable about that kind of stuff and have someone on staff that handles the insurance stuff.

You live close to Ft. Riley, so you're not too far from Junction City. Give the girls at live-lite @ Geary Community Hospital a call. I'm sure they can help you out! A great group of people!! Good Luck and let us know how you turn out. Hugs Theresa

Tallgrass has you jump through a million hoops to just get a first appointment with a doctor!  I didnt like them at all! I went with LivLite...they have a informational meeting at the hospital on March 13th...just call them for the time.  My surgeon was Dr Hashem...if you get him be prepared to work really really hard!  He is STRICT, but its for your own good and so you have the best results possible! I have tricare (active duty spouse).  You have to be at least 100 pounds overweight, have a co-morbitiy like diabetes, sleep apnea, etc, and have been on a medically supervised diet for at least 3 months.  All of these things MUST be documented in medical records which can be sent to Tricare.  Call LivLite..they will send paperwork for you to fill out and release of information.  They will deal with Tricare for you.  Once you are approved they will set up your appointment with Flint Hills Surgical Gorup (Dr Hashem, Dr Bollman, Dr Narsico)  Dr Hashem is the only one that does Laproscopic RNY...the others only do open.  Depending on your phsyical with them they will tell you which one will work for you.  Dr Hashem will put you on a strict liquid diet for at least 3-4 weeks before surgery. Let me know if you need anything else... Sharon Surgery 12/04/2007    235/175/130 (beginning, current, goal)

I also used LivLite in Junction City.  Dr. Bollman was wonderful!!  I switched to them from another facility that couldn't get their stuff together due to all kinds of delays.  I called them and they took over right away and got it done.  I also can't say enough good stuff about the nursing staff at Geary Community Hospital.  They were all extremely nice and many of them had already been through the surgery themselves so they truly understood what you were going through.  I have recommended them to others and they too have had a good experience with them.  Good luck. 

I am in support of all who get weight loss surgery, but I am going to have to strongly disagree with the poster who slammed the Tallgrass group in Topeka....THEY ARE A TOP-NOTCH GROUP. This comment about a million hoops to jump through was really uncalled for...sorry, I don't mean to offend, but I was offended.  To go through the Tallgrass (now called Turning Point) program, you must simply attend one of the monthly meetings (second Saturday of each month at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka). Then, just fill out your paperwork and submit it. The next thing is that you will be called for a doctor's consultation. The only way a person might not get an appointment is if there are insurance issues and the staff would not want you paying the $300 consult fee only to find out that you will be rejected. Also, if you have Blue Cross of Kansas, they have an exclusion to WLS....come on BC/BS of Kansas...let's get you out of the dark ages...and you wonder why you are having to lay so many people off here in Kansas...maybe employers are getting pressure from their employees to find better insurance contracts who set the best interests of their employees first???? Weight Loss Surgery saves lives... There...I just had to defend a group of people who work hard at Tallgrass saving many lives each year....including my own life. Until last year's surgery, I was resigned to the fact that I would probably be dead within 10 years or less. Viva WLS, John