DS with Dr. Charlotte Hodges - Dallas

If you want the DS, do not settle for anything else. I would explore other options if I were you.

Good luck!

I know my response is extremely outdated.  I just started reading these posts.  Charlotte Hodges performed my DS procedure in March 2013.  She is by far the only Doctor I would use.  In fact, my wife is contemplating Gastric Sleeve and will only use her. My progress has been nothing short of miraculous. I have lost approximately 170 lbs.  The reason I chose this procedure is because I had Type 2 Diabetes, Sleep Apnea, Hypertension and severe complications from my Diabetes. I have Neuropathy in both feet, and my left eye.  I have lost some of the vision in the left eye.  I was taking the strongest insulin availabe (u500) and was taking 40 units per day ans still not controlling my Glucose level.  I am now on U100 insulin but I do not take it daily. I only use it when needed, which is very rarely.  I only recommend DS if you have these type of CoMorbidities.  The think I really like is that I have not been hungry since the surgery.  I eat because it is required but I have not felt any hunger pains.  

I know my response is extremely outdated.  I just started reading these posts.  Charlotte Hodges performed my DS procedure in March 2013.  She is by far the only Doctor I would use.  In fact, my wife is contemplating Gastric Sleeve and will only use her. My progress has been nothing short of miraculous. I have lost approximately 170 lbs.  The reason I chose this procedure is because I had Type 2 Diabetes, Sleep Apnea, Hypertension and severe complications from my Diabetes. I have Neuropathy in both feet, and my left eye.  I have lost some of the vision in the left eye.  I was taking the strongest insulin availabe (u500) and was taking 40 units per day ans still not controlling my Glucose level.  I am now on U100 insulin but I do not take it daily. I only use it when needed, which is very rarely.  I only recommend DS if you have these type of CoMorbidities.  The think I really like is that I have not been hungry since the surgery.  I eat because it is required but I have not felt any hunger pains.  

 

John

As an update to my post, my wife created a website that chronicles my progress.  Please see the following link:

 

http://johnsbariatricjourney.yolasite.com/

 

 

 

 

PLEASE READ BEFORE SCHEDULING

I had called way in advance to ask them if they accepted Amerigroup as insurance for my gastric bypass revision and hernia surgery. They moved me along very quickly and AMerigroup did indeed authorize the procedure and we were ready to move forward. At the last minute, they said surgery will not be scheduled unless all monies were paid up front before surgery. At this point I had explained that according to Federal Law and the medicaid program, she could not take payment from me AND amerigroup as well. They kept on insisting that Amerigroup will not pay for the surgery THOUGH A FULL AUTHORIZATION WAS GIVEN FOR ALL THE ABOVE PROCEDURES. Pricilla, the office manager, repeatedly stated that she was told in confidence by a veteran employee of 15 years at Amerigroup that they weren't gonna pay, but they gave the authorization anyways. The only reason I went with them to begin with was because Dr. Hodges herself told me she would work with Amerigroup. At the beginning, since she is fairly new surgeon and super new Bariatric surgeon, since she is just a general licensed surgeon and not board certified, she as super supportive and agreed wholeheartedly that I was a perfect candidate for the surgery. We did stress test, mental eval, nutrition, everything. So, after all that, she even asked me to post on Obesityhelp.com to let others know she will work with state medicaid. I did so several months ago and you can google my post. Since then, she has gotten several new patients, cash pay of course, and decided last minute to drop me. I want to clearly state that I have severe muscle separation in my upper and lower abdomen and surgery needs to be completed as soon as possible, being that my organs are literally falling out of my ribcage. I need the abdominal wall surgery asap, but its an * hour surgery, and I could never survive it at my weight and every doctor has told me they will not touch me if I do not weigh less than 160. So, this was a huge emergency, even on her part, and all of the sudden it wasn't anymore. She dropped me because I would not pay whole amount upfront and let her bill AMerigroup. She knew that there was no recourse for me since only one doctor on medicaid in Texas does the procedure and his name is Dr.J. Wright. He is located in the San Antonio area, and has opted not to perform surgeries on anyone who is not in the San Antonio/ Austin area. So, Dr hodges took up three months of my time, rescheduling surgeries while she waited on Amerigroup to approve. She has personal knowledge of the deceit and I have the emails and phone messages and other methods to prove it. I informed her personally of what her billing department was doing, and she wholeheartedly stated that she told the billing manager to do it and stands behind her billing manager, Pricilla, 110%. She said she would refund any money that I paid and that due to the level of emergency with my health, would send medical records immediately by certified mail. I don't have more money to put forward to have these tests redone for JPS and surgeons, and now she has decided to hold them hostage. I cannot move forward and now I am in a wheelchair as of two days ago and my condition has severely worsened. I cannot move forward without the cash to perform the evals again, since they are non JPS providers (JPS does not offer these services as gastric bypass revision). So, here I am, trying to get help, and all because she was readily dishonest. All I want is my medical records to move forward and a parting of ways. They refuse to give them to me repeatedly. Im lost.