DESPERATE FOR SURGERY HELP

HI MY NAME IS ASHLEY, AND IM 22, I'VE BEEN THROUGH QUITE ALOT IN MY YOUNG YEARS, AND FINALLY AT AGE 22 AM IN THE RIGHT PATH OF A GREAT LIFE,, I JUST FINISHED EMT SCHOOL AND AM NOW GOING ON THROUGH THE PARAMEDIC PART,, I HOPE AFTER THAT TO GO TO MED SCHOOL AND ONE DAY EVEN BECOME A DOCTOR,, WELL THATS THE GOOD NEWS ,, THE BAD NEWS IS ,, I'VE STRUGGLED WITH DEPRESSION ALL MY LIFE,, AND LITTLE BY LITTLE GAINED WEIGHT , I'M NOW UP TO ABOUT 300 POUNDS ON A 5'4 FRAME,, AND ITS ALMOST LITERALLY KILLING ME, I'VE GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE I AM SWEATING BY THE TIME I AM READY TO LEAVE MY HOUSE FOR SCHOOL ,, AND HAVE COME TO THE POINT WHERE I CAN'T WORK UNLESS I AM SITTING AND I HAVE A FAN DIRECTLY BLOWING ON ME. I AM CONSTANTLY SWEATING, WHICH MAKES ME REALLY INSECURE ABOUT GOING OUT IN PUBLIC. NOT TO MENTION I'M 22 AND HAVE NO FRIENDS AND NO SOCIAL LIFE.. I AM CUREENTLY LOOKING FOR A DOCTOR SO I CAN GET GASTRIC BYPASS OR THE LAP BAND.. I AM LIVING IN BATON ROUGE , LA ,, HOWEVER MY PARENTS LIVE IN NEW ORLEANS AND I HAVE BEEN TO A SEMINOR THERE FOR A DOCTOR WHO DOES THE SURGERY AND HE SAYS HE WILL TAKE MEDICAID BUT I WILL HAVE TO GET ON HIS LIST OF ABOUT 60 PEOPLE TO WHICH HE HASN'T TAKEN 1 PERSON IN 6 MONTHS FROM IT.. I AM WRITTING ON HERE TO SEE IF ANYONE KNOWS OF A DOCTOR IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA THAT TAKES MEDICAID AND WHO IS A SAFE AND DECENT DOCTOR. I HAVE FINALLY BEEN ABLE TO MAKE MYSELF GET PASS MY INSECURITIES OF BEING FAT AND GO TO SCHOOL 2 DAYS A WEEK, HOWEVER THEY HAVE TOLD ME NOW THEY CAN NOT HIRE ME DUE TO MY WEIGHT AND PHYSCIAL HEALTH , I FEEL LIKE I'M AT THE END OF THE ROAD AND AM IN DESPERATE HELP OF LOOSING WEIGHT, OF COURSE I HAVE TRIED EVERY DIET AND WORKOUT PLAN KNOWN TO MAN. THIS SURGERY SEEMS LIKE MY LAST HOPE,, AND YES I KNOW THIS IS NOT A MIRACLE BUT I FEEL LIKE IT WOULD BE A GREAT JUMP START TO HELP ME. PLEASE IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANYONE LET ME KNOW! THANKS

Dr. Scott (at Tulane Hospital) in New Orleans takes Medicaid

Hi. Dr. Bernard Jaffe at Tulane Hospital/Clinic takes Medicaid and he is wonderful. He did a great job for me and others that I have talked to. I have Medicaid and was approved within 2 weeks I had many existing health issues so that helped with the approval. Give him a call. Good luck, C. Domingo

Hi THere Dr Scott at tulane takes medicaid and will do the lap band on you if you want that,he was my d r,you have to make sure you do a preop liquid diet no matter what he says.Now what I want to know is how in the world did you get medicaid,I just finnally got it in september after years and years of trying,and now im seeing a ton of people getting it ,with not near as many medical issues as me,it really seems weird ,I had to go through the disability determination appeals at the social security office,I applyed at leat 10 times through the medicaid office and kept getting turned down,hmmm.Well anyways good luck with dr scott,is he the same one that told you you will be on a list,cause he did that with me,it takes awhile,but he is the only one,and any dr at tulane has a list to get into there program,it didnt take 6 months for them to send me a package,maybe 1 month,but then you have to do everything in the package,that does take awhile,and they wont get you in for appointment until its complete,but good luck! Why dont you go over to the lap band message board and start reading.Its encouraging SueElla

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR RESPONDING,, I CALLED DR SCOTT TODAY TO GET SOME INFO AND PLAN TO CALL DR. JAFFE TOMM,, I AM TRYING TO FIND WHO IS THE BEST DOCTOR AND GET SEVERAL PEOPLES OPINIONS ON HOW THESE 2 DOCTORS ARE. IF ANYONE KNOWS PEOPLE WHO HAVE USED THESE DOCTORS PLEASE LET ME KNOW , ALSO SUE ELLA , I HAVE BEEN ON DISABILITY FOR SEVERAL YEARS DUE TO SEVERE DEPRESSION AND FIGHTING OTHER MENTAL PROBS AND THERE AUTOMATICALLLY PUT ME ON MEDICAID ,, BUT GETTING ON DISABILITY WAS A HUGGGGGE BATTLE IT TOOK ME ALMOST CLOSE TO A YEAR AND ALOT OF PAPER WORK AND DOCTORS APT,, I HAD SEVERAL HOSPITAL RECORDS AND MANY DOCTORS LETTERS SENT TO THEM ALSO. I THINK IT IS COMMING UP ON THE TIME WHERE MY DISABILLITY GETS RE REVIEWED AND I AM NOT SURE THEY WILL APPROVE ME AGAIN SINCE I HAVE BEEN IN SCHOOL ,, SO THAT WHY I AM DESPERATE TO GET THE SURGERY ASAP ,, B/C I KNOW APPLING FOR MEDICAID SEPERATLY IS A HORRIBLY LONG AND HUGE BATTLE AND I TAKE SEVERAL MEDICATIONS THAT I DONT THINK I CAN GO SEVERAL MONTHS WITHOUT WHILE WAITING ON APPROVAL,, I AM JUST SO HAPPY YOU GOT APPROVED.. I ALSO GOT APPROVED ORGINALLY IN ALABAMA SO I DONT KNOW IF ITS EASIER THERE THAN HERE. AGAIN THANKS SOOOOOO MUCH EVERYONE

It probably is easier there,since louisiana has so many problems with the health care system.Dr Scott is a good doctor,but go into this completly informed,and insist on a liquid preop diet of at least 7 days,im not sure if jaffe does lap band,and I think that is a good option for you because you are so younge and it is adjustable so you will keep lossing over time,but what ever choice you make I do wish you luck..are they sending you a package,I recomend you get started with there program fast before the regular nurse cordinator gets back,she can be "dificult"at times,and this new lady seems to be much easier to talk to,and deal with. SueElla

Oops I should tell you... that Dr. Jaffe and Dr. Scott work both on the same unit/hospital. I'm not 100% but I seem to remember they work together. It's been about a year since I worked for them (indirectly, I worked as a nurse on the unit they used for postop care.) Good luck!

Hi, As fas as I know Dr. Jaffee only does the gastric bypass. However he does redos for alot of other botched WLS from other doctors, so I have heard sitting in the waiting room by paitents talking to each other. Either way Best of luck, C. Domingo

Ashley, Your best bet is to start with Medicaid instead of the doctor. Find out if they cover gastric bypass or the band and what criteria you have to meet to be covered. They can even tell you what doctors will do it. There is an inquiry form on the website ofr Louisiana Medicaid. I would start by filling that out. See if you can get a case manager assigned to you to help with the process. I have only heard of one person who got a lap band that was on Medicaid and she was part of a special program. I've heard of quite a few people who got the bypass and several of them said it was Medicaid who actually suggested the surgery. Here is a link to the inquiry form. http://www dhh.state.la.us/offices/inquiryform.asp?ID=92 Also, what sort of job were you turned down because of your weight? You have a blatant weight discrimination lawsuit staring you in the face that could possibly pay for your surgery. Call Morris Bart. If someone told you they would not hire you due to your weight, I would sue the hell out of them. I am a nurse and at my highest weight was 286#. Believe me, if I had been turned down due to weight issues for a job, I'd be on the phone to a lawyer. And I used to be on my feet 12 hours a day. I have a nice desk job now. You also need to be sure your PCP is documenting your weight and diet efforts. Are you in the Community Care Program for Medicaid? Everything would have to go through your PCP including the referral to a surgeon. Good luck, Laura

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH TO EVERYONE,, I NEVER KNEW THERE WERE SO MANY HELPFUL NICE PEOPLE OUT THERE, WELL I KNEW THERE WAS JUST DIDNT THINK THEY WANTED TO HELP ME,,, WELL THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN,, I THINK I HAVE FINALLY FOUND 2 OR 3 DOCTORS THAT WILL TAKE MY MEDICAID SO I AM TRYING TO DO EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON THE 3 AND SEE WHICH ONE IS THE BEST AND HAS THE MOST EXPERIENCE ,,, I HOPE TO START A JOURNAL SOON , WHEN I GO FOR MY FIRST APPT, AND GET CLOSER TO A SURGERY DATE,,, I CANT TELL YA'LL HOW HAPPY I AM TO FIND THIS SITE AND FIND PEOPLE WHO I FEEL ARE " LIKE ME" ,, AND GOING THROUGH THE SAME THINGS AS ME,, YOU ALWAYS THINK YOUR LIFE IS TOUGH AND THEN I COME ON HERE AND HEAR ALL THESE CASES THAT SOUNDS WORSE THAN ME AND IT MAKES ME GRATEFUL,, I ALWAYS REMEMBER THE QUOTE" THERE'S ALWAYS SOMEONE OUT THERE FIGHTING A HARDER BATTLE THAN YOU" ,, B/C I KNOW EVEN THOUGH I AM EXTREMELY DEPRESSED , HAVE NO FRIENDS, LIFE, OR BOYFRIEND/ MATE,, THAT I AM LUCKY TO BE ALIVE AND HAVE MY LIFE,, I AM ALIVE AND STILL CAN CHANGE MY LIFE ,, I JUST HAVE TO CONTINUE ON MY JOURNEY ON FINDING THE STRENGTH TO GET MY FAT *@# OUT OF BED AND DO SOMETHING,,, AFTER READING ALL THE POST ON HERE , IT REALLY HELPS ME ,, SO THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!!!!