Surgeons in Kansas and Missouri

Hi all! I am very indecisive about which surgeon to chose. I have been reading reviews on this site. I have gone to 2 seminars and will be attending a 3rd this coming Wenesday (Sedalia, MO). I would love to hear who my fellow Missouri Message Board members choice was/is and why. I'd like brutal honesty about your choice, were they great at the informational seminar that you attended before you chose them? Did your feelings change when you started to see this surgeon in their office? How was the office staff and your Hospital stay (and staff)? What did you like most about your choice of surgeon? Was this surgeons BMI cutoff a factor in why you chose them? Did your surgeon offer OPEN RNY and LAP RNY or just LAP? Once approved by your insurance, how long did it take for the surgeon's office to get you a surgery date? How was the surgeons billing staff when dealing with getting the insurance aspect taken care of? Sorry to ask so many questions but I'd really appreciate any feedback that I can get. TIA, Cassandra

I just wandered into the Kansas board and read your post. I saw that you were courious about surgeons in Mo, but was inquiring on the Kansas board. Not sure if you are looking over here or not. If you ARE, I highly reccommend LivLite in Junction City. I originally contacted a surgeon in Overland Park, but was told by a not too friendly receptionist that the doc there had a BMI cut off and I would have to loose 100 pounds before they would consider surgery. (I was at 400+). Well I thought, if I could loose 100 pounds, then why was I here? Then a co-worker told me to call LivLite. The LiveLite staff are great! They did ALL the paperwork for insurance, made appointments for me, and didn't mind me calling everyday to see if I was approved yet. The Surgical team was Drs Bolleman and Stevens. Dr Stevens has since left, but Dr. Bolleman is still there and has a new physician. The are incredible people and so easy to talk to. I have never felt rushed or ignored. Their nurses are super and they evne have special chiars and exam tables to accomodate larger people. My hospital stay was great. It is a small hospital, and many of the nurses and aids had already had the surgery also. They only do open RNY, and believe that that is the best way. They can check other organs for anything that looks supicious and deal with it while they are in there. They also feel they can get the best seal by doing it open. Good luck

I live in Lee's Summit Missouri and had my surgery at Tallgrass in Topeka Kanasa. I had lap RNY--I think they do open if it is neccessary but are lap surgeons. My doctor is Brent Steward and he is very wonderful. Kind and caring and has conitinued to be that way for the almost two years since my surgery. I think we are all biased towards our own surgeon but it is my understanding alny of the docs there are wondeful. The seminars are hte second Sat of every month and I owuld be glad to go along iwth you if you are interested. Alice