Advice please let me know what you think

I am searching and trying to find all the info I can about these surgeries. The reason being, is that I need one. I need help somehow. Here are my questions. 1) Where do I start? My PCP, the Bariatric surgeon? 2) I have Midlands Principal insurance...what are their guidelines for surgery. Are they hard to approve. 3) Which types of surgery are best? Please give any info you can. Thanks

I can try to answer a couple of questions for you. 1. Generally your pcp will give you a referal to a surgeon. 2. I do not have any knowledge of this insurance in particular, but I think the best way to find out about their coverage is to call them and ask them what their policy is on bariatric surgery, and if they have any exclusions. Hopefully someone else who has this insurance will have more info for you. 3. The most common types of bariatric surgery are Gastric Bypass and Gastric Banding. The decision on which surgery to have is a very personal decision. I would recommend that you thoroughly research the surgerys and gain as much knowledge as possible about both of them before you make a decision about which surgery to have. There are message boards for both surgeries on this site as well as a wealth of other information available. I hope this helps a little. If I can answer any other questions for you, feel free to email me. Good luck in your journey! Tammie

Depending on your ins., you may or may not need a referal from your pcp. Dr. Hung and Dr. Cordova are the only two wls surgeons in Lincoln that I have heard about. Dr. Hung has much more experience as far as I know. I'm sorry, I don't know anything about your ins. I have never dealt with them. I just know BCBSppo sucks and I am self-paying. There is a third type of surgery not mentioned on this board very often. It is the duodonal switch. Do yourself a favor and look into this. There is a special board for DS on this site. There are no drs. that perform this type of surgery in Lincoln, but there is in Omaha, Dr. Gary Anthone. I am awaiting a surgery date. Linda

Hi K, Good to hear you are searching to find all the info you can about weight loss surgery. I did the same and am glad I did, as my PCP only knew about the lapband and RNY. I had to find out about the DS by doing research. Be sure to visit www.duodenalswitch.com or come over to the DS forum here on ObesityHelp.com to find out more about the duodenalswitch (DS). You won't hear DS option mentioned as often, because it is a technically more difficult (to perform) surgery and there are fewer surgeons performing the DS. (Surgeons who do the DS must train for 6 months or more). Here's another reason you don't hear about the DS as often... (my analogy, but makes sense...) If you ask a Toyota salesman whether a Buick would best meet your needs, he will try to steer you away from it, with any tactics possible, in order to keep you as his customer. Whatever surgery you eventually decide upon, be sure to thoroughly investigate your surgeon. Choose the most experienced surgeon, even if it means having to wait. Because bariatrics has become such a "cash cow", many surgeons are jumping on the bandwagon and signing up for weekend seminars and the very next week are performing complicated weight loss surgeries. I would highly recommend that you look into getting a consult with Dr Gary Anthone in Omaha. Two years ago he returned to his hometown of Omaha, after spending nearly 15 years (and over 1200 surgeries) at USC teaching surgery (RNY and DS) and authoring several published papers. I flew from California to have Dr Anthone perform my DS in Nov 2004. I have had ZERO complications and am down nearly 90 pounds in 8 months. Oh yeah, and did I mention that the DS has a 98% cure rate for Diabetes? And.... with the DS you will not "dump", as this surgery preserves the pyloric valve that allows food to empty at a normal rate from your stomach into your intestine. Best wishes in your quest for more information. Laurie in So Calif.

I am also from NE and had the duodenal switch. Dr. Anthone is a wonderful surgeon. We also have another great wls doctor in Omaha. His name is Dr. Sudan and he has done hundreds of ds surgeries. He also does other wls surgeries as well. His aftercare program is astounding, and his staff is wonderful too. I can't say enough good things about him. I was very, very, pleased with the entire process, including my hospital care. All his patients are given private rooms and the nurses are trained to take care of the special needs of wls patients by Dr. Sudan. You may want to check into him also. I believe his waiting period is a bit shorter. Wendy

Most folks start with their PCP, but it really depends on what your insurance company requires. Maybe the first step would be to call them and ASK. As for which form of WLS is best---that depends on what YOU want from WLS. I chose the DS because I wanted the most normal post-op lifestyle possible---AND I wanted very much to still be able to take NSAIDs for my bad knees.

Dear K, 1.) I started with my PCP, but that was after a very long time of research & deciding what I wanted to do. 2.) Can't help you with that one. 3.) I am glad to hear that you are going to research your choices. It is so important to know what is out there. I read for about a year before making my decision. By hanging out on the different boards, RNY, Lap Band, & Duodenal Switch you will get a very good education as far as what "real" people are going through in regard to challenges or successes. The website www.duodenalswitch.com was a real eye opener to me personally. I wasn't aware (or told by my doctors) about this surgery option, and it was the perfect fit for me. I liked that it has the highest success rate of long term weight loss, that you can eat normal sized meals, and that you have a fully functioning stomach. (To have been able to eat normal and lose 100 lbs in 4 months has been amazing to me!) In addition, I was concerned about dumping syndrome, which doesn't happen with duodenal switch. So I was so thrilled to learn about this option. Just keep doing your research and eventually it will become obvious to you which surgery is right for you. I wish you well on your WLS journey. You are very welcome to pop into the DS board and ask us some questions if you would like. Here is the link: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/surgtype-forums/DS/posts.html Best wishes to you and yours Isha 366/260/220-170 sw cw gw's