anybody from asheville area?

I went to the seminar at Mission. I am just beginning the process and I was wondering if anybody has had experience with Mission and WLS? Thanks for your time...................

Hi Sonia, I am from Asheville and intially started my journey at Mission. At that time Dr. Bradshaw was the only doctor that would do anyone with a BMI over 45, mine was like 69, so I was going to have to lose about 80 pounds to be considered for surgery here so I went looking into what else I could do. I found Hickory Surgical and I LOVE them. I was impressed with them the second I talked to them on the phone. Here in Asheville, I felt the surgeon was behind some iron curtain and unattainable until I had jumped through "X" amount of hoops. In Hickory, the surgeons came to the meeting and answered all questions (well over an hour) and I was very impressed. Hickory was also rated a Center of Excellence by my insurance, which made things pretty much hassle free. I have heard very good things about Bradshaw, Soosaar and Gross. I do have a friend that went to Bradshaw, and she is super happy with her results (but she didn't have near the amount of weight to lose as I did). Honestly, I don't hear much about the Asheville surgeons on this board. If I were you I would go to one of the support group meetings at Mission and find out what people have to say. Good luck and I wish you much success. If I can be of any help, please feel free to email me! Nancy

Thanks alot!!!! I went to the seminar at Mission and there seems to be alot of hoops but I guess that is a good thing. The earliest I can have the surgery is 6 months. I have a BMI of 41.2 but my insurance says that I have to prove that I have been morbidly obese 4 of the last 5 years but I only have proof of 3 of the 5 years but I do have proof that I have continually been on different medically supervised diets which kept me borderline. The waiting of the insurance is driving me crazy. I imagine though everybody has the same thoughts of "what if I am denied?"

Yeah, I think we all thought that way (or think that way). Trust me, you are going through the hardest part NOW! Best of luck to you........it will happen, just don't give up!

I talked with you a couple of days ago. I am from the Asheville area, actually Waynesville. You told me you went to Hickory. I hope you don't mind me emailing. I have a couple of questions. First off, which Hospital did you use Catawba or Frye? Do you have BCBS? That is who I have. Did you have to go down there alot? I spoke with Libby Shaver at Catawba Valley Medical Center. She was extremely informative and nice. I thought I would check this route instead of Mission. You are right everyday seems like you have to jump a hurdle with very little help. I really appreciate you giving me the idea to check out other options. When I started this venture I thought the closer the better. But now I don't know that. There are other options which could be for the better. Have a good day !!!!!!!!! Thanks Sonia

Thanks alot for your time. For the past couple of days I have been having hurdles put up and it mentally exhausts me. My Family Physician would not rewrite the letter of recomendation and Mission says it HAS to be changed. Along with a few more hurdles that it seemed like I did not get any answers from Mission. It stayed in my mind about what you said about the surgeons in Hickory and I checked and they are also on my plan a center of Excellence so I called them today. Boy, are you right. From the beginning of the conversation the girl I talked with was so infomative and actually sounded like she really wanted to help even when she knew I had been going elsewhere. She gave me so many suggestions. I told her about all my hurdles and she had a suggestion for every one of them. She told me there was no need to worry and she even said the letter from the physican was more than okay, I felt so at ease. I now have an initial appt for December 27th. She even said I could do most everything up here and would only need to make a few visits down to Hickory. Again, Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

Sonia, Sorry it has taken a little while for me to get back to you! I don't check my email as often as I should, but please email me whenever you need to! I can tell you I LOVED the people at Hickory. I actually went through Frye, but I think Catawba is just as good. I have heard great things about both. My only problem with Frye was with their payment agency (not sure if that is what you call them). After surgery I owed the hospital around $900. I made arrangements to pay $100 a month, and never missed a payment. TWICE they took the payment, cashed it and never posted it. They were nasty about it (both times), which I thought was a bit ironic because it was their fault. I researched things and found out that Tenet (which handles Frye's accounts) has had many problems. In the end their poor bookkeeping was to my advantage though! I didn't have to go to Hickory too often before surgery. I did most everything here in Asheville. After surgery I went every six weeks for a couple of months and then every three months, but honestly, I loved going because they were all so helpful. I had my surgery with Dr. Cox, and I had a friend who had surgery with Dr. Cook. She didn't have to go as many times as I did after surgery and I don't know if it was just a difference in surgeons or the fact that she was not as overweight as I was. She started at around 275, and I started at 391. I do have BCBS (state health plan) and it was a breeze. My plan covered 80%. The hospital bill ended up being about 900, I think I paid 400 to the surgeon and I had a few fees beforehand, like my 350 deductible and a 100 hospital deductible. Out of pocket I think I paid around 2000 because I hadn't met any of my deductible at the time of surgery. I don't know what your plan states, but those were my stats. I don't know if you have visited Hickory's website, but it is www.hickorysurgical.com. Email me anytime! I promise to eventually find it! Best of luck! Nancy