Can anyone help me

Hello everyone I have written on here a little before but not in a while but now i have hope again. I called voc rehab cause i have no insurance and they told me to get a referral from my family doctor to go see dr jr salameh so i have an appointment for tomorrow for my family doctor. Ok my questions are has anyone used dr salameh before and how is he and what should i expect dealin with voc rehab I am 28 have been obese my whole life tried every diet and no luck I live in picayune but will travel to jackson for the surgery and does anyone know how much I will have to come up with that voc rehab doesnt pay......Please any help will be appreciated thanks and good luck to everyone on here i dont write much but i read everyday to keep a check on everyone

Stephanie, there are many folks on this board who've used Dr Salameh and who also used voc rehab. Give them some time to respond, this board has been down a few days and just really came back up late yesterday, they may not have read your post yet. Personally I cannot help, neither applies to me, but I hope that you 'll eventually get to your goal, dont get frustrated in the time you're waiting, it takes a while to get all your ducks in a row and some of us did go through a couple of years of waiting before surgery. It's not always a quick process, but you will succeed if you stay focused. The doctor's referral is just the first step. Normally it also includes some kind of previous supervised diet attempts that have to be documented, a psych evaluation to ensure you're fit to deal with the changes you have to go through after surgery to make it work, as well as sometimes a sleep apnea test, multible blood tests, ultrasounds for things like your liver, visits with dieticians etc etc. Good luck to you on your journey to WLS and please feel welcome at this board, we're glad to always be here for you if you have questions. ~~Andie~~

Kristi E from Meridian used both Dr. Salameh and Voc Rehab and will have all the answers for you. She is a sweetie. I know Dr. Salameh and he is a wonderful person and I betcha you will be pleased with him as a doc. He is cute, funny, and a great Doc. Smooch Arlies Here's Kristi's profile and you can email her from it: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=E1082131936

Hi Stephanie some good info. was given to another young lady on board the other day. One thing I can tell you is be prepared to pay out of pocket up front. Our Voc. Rehab. in Hattiesburg do not pay for any pre-op. work, and some post-op work that comes from your pocket. Like Psy. eval., blood work, nutritionist, sleep study if deemed necessary by your surgeon. Don't be discouraged though because UMC where Dr. Salemeah is has a financial plan that can help you if you qualify. They gave me the packet with the info. in it when I saw the other Dr. that left Dr. Blake. You can ask your Voc. office what they pay for pretaining to this surgery. Now I have heard them paying for different stuff at different location. Remember I am talking about (Hattiesburg). Hoola if you need more info. Read Bathsheba post from the other day on 3/23/05 about Voc. Rehab. questions. Hope this helps. Take Care