Dr. Timothy Duckett & St. Luke's hospital in Maumee, Ohio

I am wondering if anyone in the northwest Ohio area has had Dr. Duckett do their lap band surgery at the St. Luke's hospital in Maumee, Ohio.  I am in the first stages of finding a good qualified bariatric surgeon to do my lap band, and need to know if anyone knows much about this doctor.  My doctor of choice has not been approved by Medicare yet, and it may take awhile.  I am trying to find somewhere close to my home, so I won't have to do a lot of traveling for consults, visits to the dietician and nutritionist, the surgery, follow up visits, and the fills.  St. Luke's hospital in Maumee, Ohio is about 65 miles from me and would require a lot of traveling.  But it would be worth it, if this is a good doctor and hospital. Any information would really be appreciated at this time.

I went to a seminar & Dr. appt at St. Lukes with Dr. Duckette and Oweiss (sp) my insurance would not pay for me to have the lap band so I switched.    I had my surgery with Dr. Brian Lane at Wood County Hospital.    I have an aunt and a friend that are both nurses at St. Lukes and neither has said anything bad about  them.  My good friend who works there had her surgery with Dr Lane at Wood County.    If you would like to talk to her send me a private message and I'll give you the info.   I am VERY happy with my Dr. and my decision to switch surgeries. Good Luck! Melissa

i was about to make the same suggestion that melissa did as the "friend" that she referenced is mutual.... i'm out by fremont-where are you??? do you ever go to the over fifty forum ( it's age not BMI!) on here? good folks to talk to !!!!!!!! come on over and check us out!! http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/over_50/

Is St. Luke's a Center of Excellence?  It wasn't when I started researching my WLS.  And if you've got Medicare, you have to go to a Center of Excellence or they won't pay for the surgery. You might have to to to Medicare's website and find out if it is.  I know the Cleveland Clinic is one, but I didn't have the lap band, either. So, check it out! Veronica   

I am getting so frustrated and disheartened right now.  I want this surgery so bad, but am hitting so many "brick walls" trying to find a hospital and bariatric surgeon close by me that will both take Medicare.  I found two hospitals close to me...one in Findlay, Ohio, and I just called one in Bowling Green, Ohio.  The surgeon, Dr. Lane does take Medicare, but Wood Hospital does not.  It seems that I will have to do some major traveling to the big cities, if I want to have this surgery, but don't know how I am going to be able to make the trip for all of the pre and post-op visits, the surgery, the follow up visits, and the fills if I have to drive too far.  I'll have to take out a small loan just to fill up my gas tank!! I guess I live out in "podunk" America where I will have to travel a long way, if I am going to have this surgery.  There are no "centers of excellence" hospitals close by me.  So frustrating!    Susie

Dear Susie,  I had the same experience since I also have Medicare.  I kept trying to get someplace near to me that was a Center of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery.  After delaying my surgery for several months, I came to the conclusion that if I wanted the surgery bad enough and wanted to change my health outlook, I was going to have to sacrifice.  I had already had the information meeting at Dr. Rita Anderson's office in Kettering.  I was very comfortable with her office and the hospital.  Susie the coordinator is a peach and will help you along the way with everything.  She is the guru of coordinators.  With Medicare, as long as you fall within the "required" BMI  everything goes along faster.  The next step was the evaluations.  The office is very understanding about trying to get appointments close together because of the travel distance and time.  I went down and had the nutritional evaluation on one morning, stayed the night at a great motel (can give you the info if you want) and the other two appointments were the next day.  I then drove home that afternoon.   Once I got the okay for surgery, I had to go for one day of testing.  Again, I drove down the afternoon before and stayed in that motel again.  That way I was there bright and early for the first test.  Everything went so smoothly doing this. I had my surgery on 3/3/08 and had to stay overnight because of a Medicare requirement.  My fiance and I drove down on Sunday and stayed at the motel, had my surgery the next morning, and went home the following day.  I know this sounds like a lot but it really worked out well.  I think some of the mileage can be used for income tax under medical and not sure about motel lodging.  I would have to check with a tax expert. Sorry that this was so long but I wanted to give you some encouragement.  I live in the Northwood area outside Toledo.  I would be glad to discuss this further with you.  PS I love Dr. Rita! Pat

Thank you, Pat, for all the information, and I didn't mind how long your reply was...it had a lot of info in it.  I researched further into hospitals in Ohio that took the Medicare, and someone on these message boards mentioned Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.  So I googled it and found, not only the hospital, but a very highly regarded bariatric surgeon, Dr. Steven Myers.  My daughter and grandkids live on the outskirts of Columbus and she is an LPN, so she knows a little about this hospital.  She said that it is a top-notch hospital and even has a heart center attached to the hospital.  According to her, it is a very clean and upstanding hospital and that would be her first choice of hospitals in Columbus.  So I have been checking both the doctor and this hospital, and am giving them a call in the morning to make sure that they both take Medicare before I get too excited again.  Then if they both do, I will make arrangements to be seen by Dr. Myers and have the consultation with him, the nutritionist, the dietician, plus have all my testing done in one day.  This is one of their options for out-of-towners, I guess.  You come in at 8am and stay all afternoon (they provide lunch) for the consults and tests.  From there, I don't know what happens.  But I will do like you did, if this is where I will have my banding done....my husband and I will get a motel the night before for two nights so my husband has somewhere to stay while I am recovering in the hospital.  The hospital even has shuttle service to your motel and back to the hospital.  So it's all up to what they tell me on the phone Monday morning, whether they both accept Medicare.  If so, I'll start the ball rolling for me. How are you feeling since your surgery?  Can you tell me what Medicare requires as far as before and after surgery?  Do you have to go on the 2 wk liquid diet before surgery? Thank you again for all of your information...keep in touch, okay? Susie

Hi Susie, Where there is a will, there is a way.  You sound like me....determined but tired of ther red tape.   PLEASE, please be sure to check the Medicare site and check for bariatric surgery or bariatric centers of excellence for Ohio.  Many of the hospitals billing and insurance people are confused by the term center of excellence.  They will say Yes, they take Medicare and the doc will say, yes we take Medicare but until you find out from this official Medicare site, you still won't be sure.  One hospital in my area said yes, that they took Medicare but under more and more questioning and after talking to a confused supervisor, the best info I found was also on the Medicare site.  The doc's office usually is a good source for Medicare center of excellence thing.  This is the most important thing to find out now. A tip for you.....please start getting samples now of different protein supplements.  I have found out the hard way that all are not alike.  Some have not very good taste or aftertaste.  I am in the process now of trying different ones out.  I wish someone had told me ahead of time about this.  There are several on line places that are reliable.  As I find out this info, I will pass it on to you. When I first started the final leg of this quest for good health, I weighed 236 on 2/1/08.  I had two weeks of a low fat diet (all docs are different about this).   I will admit that there were a few times that I did not do as well on that.  Practice taking the smallest of bites and chew, chew, chewing your food until there is hardly anything in your mouth.  Eat your proteins first and then other things like veggies or lettuce salad.  Getting used to portion size is a little hard...I would suggest getting a food scale because everything is measured in ounces.  When I went in for surgery I weighed 229. Another rule of thumb and a good thing to get used to....no fluid 1/2 hour before, during and 3/4 hour after eating.  The fluid will fill you up and also water down your foods that you are eating.  This was touch for me as I am always thirsty.  But, I finally was able to do it with only a few tiny liquid sips, just enough to get my mouth moist.  No carbonated beverages are allowed....will fill up you fast and gives you abdominal discomfort. I am feeling pretty good after surgery except that I developed a fungal infection on my abdomen.  Luckily I had some prescription cream for this but it is still there but slowly fading.  I guess that this can develop sometimes after any surgery.  I was predisposed to redness under my breasts when sweating anyways so this didn't help.  Also my fiance had the flu just before and during my hospital stay.  We thought it was just a cold but I now have it too.  I am going to my internal med doc this am to have both things checked.  Outside of that, I think I would be doing a lot better.   Today I am down to 217.5, one week post op.   I do notice that I have more energy each day as I am losing, even at this point and being sick. With Medicare you just hav to have BMI of 40 or BMI of 35 or above if you have other illnesses such as pain in weight bearing joints, sleep apnea, diabetes, hypertension, etc.  The docs office will go over this with you....usually over the phone.  Speak with the bariatric coordinator at the bariatric surgeon's office....they are your best resource.   If you have a secondary insurance, check on their requirements too.   Susie, if you want me to, I will give you my email address so I can keep you posted on a more regular basis.  where abouts do you live?  I live in Northwood.   Maybe we can meet sometime and help each other through our journey. Ask away if you have any other instructions.  Check on any other hints people might give you on this forum....they are all most helpful. Have a good day!!     Pat

I see I am very late in posting this reply....but....I had Dr. Duckett do my lap band in 2006.  He is a wonderful, kind, caring doc.  I, unfortunately did not have ANY success with the band.  It was very difficult to find the right restriction with adjustments and they never seemed to last very long.  I was very discouraged after two years of no weight loss.  I lost a little but gained it back.  I went to Dr. White here in Toledo and did a revision (1/16/08)to RNY with Paramount Advantage (Medicaid) and I am very happy.  Dr. White and his staff her are also very caring, kind and wonderful.  The staff there makes sure all of your questions are answered and work with you no matter what.  I hate to discourage you from the band, but it did'nt work for me.  The other thing was my adjustments were not covered by the insurance I had at the time.  It was very expensive to get a fill only for it to not work after a few weeks. I always felt like I had something stuck in my throat every time I ate.....just was'nt for me.