LAP BAND WITH DR. CHAPMAN

Hi all!  It has been a while since I have posted, but I have been "lurking", while still trying to decide what is best for me.  At this point, I have ruled out RNY and decided to do the Lap Band.  I am interested in talking with patients of Dr. Chapman about your experiences with him and his staff, insurance coverage, requirements leading up to surgery, etc.
Thanks, and I look forward to talking with you!

Dee

Also, how do you go in and change your doctor on your profile?????

Okay, took me a few minutes to find this one.  Click on "My OH" at the top.  Then click on "Settings" on the list under your picture on the left hand column.  Then pick the "Status" tab and look right underneath the tabs.  There should be a place to click on "My Surgeon".  Go there and choose Dr. Chapman from the list.

Ellen

I absolutely love Dr Chapman and his staff.  They are fantastic as was the care I recieved at PCMH.  I would do it all again with them and highly recommend them.  I can't speak to insurance coverage, that differs from company to company.  I am also not sure about his requirements as I had RNY.  

Good luck.
Ellen

Thanks for the reply! 

Well, my DH is seeing Dr. Pender, also part of that practice.  He is also having the band.  We were originally referred to Dr, Chapman, but he was out at the time.

MY concern is Dr. Pender has only done 50 bands, and Dr. Chapman hasn't done many more than that.  Also, the practice seems to be very geared to RNY.  All the paperwork refers to RNY, even if you are having the band.  We DID NOT get a code to use to go into the REALIZE band site to pre-register and take advantage of info provided to pre-op patients.  He did say we would get a card with a code to go on for info POST-OP. 

They require you use Opti-Fast for the pre-op liquid diet.  They want you to get it there.  It is VERY expensive.  We convinced Dr. Pender to let my DH use EAS CarbAdvantage, but he wasn't happy about it.  If they INSIST you use the Opti-fast - get it online at Nestle'.  About half the cost, no shipping.  We got the Opti-Source there that Dr. Pender requires for the post-op liquid diet.  Cost - $32 for a 2 week supply.  Versus $79 if we had gotten it at Brody Pharmacy.

Insurance - all of them are different.  My DH has Medicare and TriCare for Life and it pays for everything, except the NUT ($125).  Lots of pre-op hoops to jump through though.  For Medicare to pay this has to be done through a COA, plus we had to find a doc who would do it on someone over 65.  This was the closest place we could find.  We were able to get lots of the tests done here in Jacksonville, or at our PCP in Pollocksville, so that was nice.

I imagine the staff you will see is the same as we saw for Dr. Pender.  Some of them know virtually nothing about the band, and are very PRO RNY.  One lady was giving my DH very bogus info on the band.  I HAVE the band, so we KNEW it was wrong.  This was when we went for the endoscopy.

I hear Dr. Chapman has a much better bedside manner than Dr. Pender.

Good luck with your journey.

Hi Dee, Dr. Chapman is the best!  He has been my husband's surgeon for over 3 years through cancer and hernia surgeries.  He did my RNY and then last May when my first colonoscopy revealed a small cancerous polyp, Dr. Chapman did the surgery to remove the part of the colon.  He is an extremely skilled surgeon and is a no nonsense doc who will tell you like it is.  I suspect they have done more RNYs since they get lots of very large patients which are better for RNY.  I thought about the band but decided to go with the "gold standard" RNY since my BMI was 47.6 and I wanted to have the best success long term; Dr. Chapman was ok with either but really supported my decision to go with the RNY.  Either way, he is great.  His bedside manner is wonderful once you get to know him.  Ronnie and I wouldn't have any other surgeon as long as Dr. C is around!

They don't require you to get the optisource/optifast at the brody pharmacy.  THey give you the written prescription and you get it where you want to.  The reason they use Optisource and Optifast is because of the higher protein compared to other liquids.  The more weight you lose pre-op the safer the surgery is no matter which one you choose.  The primary task is to shrink the liver as much as possible so they can get it out of the way for the procedure.

Good luck with your surgery and you'll be so happy you did this for yourself!

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk off line.

Alice

I also love Dr. Chapman.  He is very willing to answer any question you have and takes time to make sure you inderstand everything.  I went in thinking I wanted LapBand and he did seem a little more geared toward RNY but did not push one over the other at all.  He did seem to be ****y but you want someone who is confident when you put your life in their hands. 

I can not say enough positive things about Dr. Chapman and his staff. I went to ECU because my cardiologist is there and my gyno. ECU physicians did the surgery on my heart and I have always had the best treatment there.

I had to go through a few extra tests because of my arrythmia but I was so glad that they are so thorough there. I am more confidant because of that.

I also know two people very closely that have used Dr. Chapman and I was able to watch them and ask their advice. He is wonderful!