Anyone in Tn..know Dr William Steely?

I finally found another surgeon who is on my insurance list and who does not charge large fees to walk in the door so was FINALLY feeling hopeful, when they tell me all I needed to do was get 3 things done, gather all records and schedule appt with Dr Steely. I felt like wooohooooo I was finally ON MY WAY... but when I tried to schedule the tests they told me to get done, noone will do it for me without surgeon's referal.. so.. this leaves me very bewildered and frustrated to say the least! The 3 things they want me to complete prior to scheduling with surgeon is psych eval, dietician eval, and sleep study. From what I understand these are things not covered by insurance, and they are rather expensive from what i was told today. $550.00 each for the psych evals (say 2 needed) .. then $1300. each for the sleep study( also 2 wanted). And the dietician i did not even call on after the other runaround.. SOOOO.. I am crossing everything humanly possible on this big bod ;) in hopes someone can maybe point me in the right direction?? I think I am on my way and I keep hitting road blocks.. I just want to get to first base atleast before I get knocked down .. thank you in advance! God Bless! Dawn

Actually most insurances will cover the sleep study and the psych eval. Your PCP can refer you for those it doesn't have to be the surgeon. Now on the other hand the dietician consult usually isn't covered (luckily mine was). If you are close to a county health dept. call them and see if they have a registered dietician. They usually do and you can set up the consult with them and its usually way cheaper than going to a "regular" dietician. I know locally if my insurance didn't cover it I was going to have to pay 120.00 for a one hour consult. Also the sleep study is usually only done in two parts if you actually have sleep apnea. The first time you go is to diagois the sleep apnea and the second time is to put you on the machine to see what air flow you need. My surgeon is Dr.Hruska. Dr.Steely is her assist during surgery. She also had me do A psych eval, a dietician consult and a sleep study. Hope this helps.

Thank You Augusta, This is very helpful ..never would have thought of the health dept. As it turns out the psych clinic did call me back and told me they discussed what I wanted done and decided since they had a cancellation, they would see me tomorrow at 11am and we will try to submit it to my insurance and see what happens. As far as my pcp giving me a referral for sleep study I do not have a pcp to go to and am currently looking for one..have appointment with an ob-gyn doc the 17th, maybe she will be kind enough to give me the referral. keep your fingers and toes crossed for me lol .. thank you again! God Bless!! Dawn BTW.... has ANYONE heard of this insurance before?? it is new for us and we havent seen anyone with this insurance anywhere before.. "TENNESSEE LABORERS HEALTH AND WELFARE FUND"

Dr Steely is well known and respected here in Clarksville.. He used to have a LONG waiting list; from what friends tell me it is not as bad now. I know they want those done prior to being seen to expedite things, and it can be a pain, but you are in good hands with Dr S and crew.. I had the Lap DS so I did not have him personally as a doc, but he does ALOT of military dependants and those I know are pleased..Now, my mom had a sleep study done and they get two different nights within a month and she was actually able to leave Gateway early in the A.M. both nights. Never heard of 2 pysch evals needed; its a long 500+ test and was running about 300.00 here last year. Id call around. If it isnt covered maybe you'll find a doc who'll cut you a break?.Best of luck to ya

Well a NEW DAY and a NEW ATTITUDE does amazing things lol.. Today I scheduled psych evaluation for the 24th.. will cost $130, not covered by insurance but they're going to break it into 2 pmts so I am pleased. Next I set sleep study up (also the 24th) with a different clinic with NO problems at all. Am using Baptist Hospital and they are much friendlier and kinder that Ft Sanders was yesterday! Will take 2 appointments so far but my insurance should cover these according to the insurance clerk I spoke with. Now all that is left is my dietician appointment and I will call the health dept as augusta suggested and see where that leads. Have appointment the 16th with ob-gyn I saw last year and HOPEFULLY she will support me as I ask for her referal to the surgeon. If not, I will try another PCP. Seems things are back on track, and I could not be happier. Thanks ladies for your responses.. Best of luck to you all and I am here if anyone needs anything.. just holler

Good Morning Dawn, If you are in the Clarksville area give The Dover Road Clinic a call. Dr. Clardy is a wonderful family doctor and is my PCP. He has helped me with my DS surgery plans and is really good about listening and answering all the questions you may have as well as doing what needs to be done. Give Gina or one of the girls a call and tell them Debra sent ya because you are hoping for WLS too. God Bless and good luck, Debra Dover, TN CCFOS Dr. Husted Duodenal Switch Pre-op April 2, 2004

Well, I went to see an old ob-gyn I had seen one other time quite a while back, and with fingers crossed, asked her to be my new pcp and asked for her advice on WLS and mentioned that I desperately needed a referral for surgery in order to get a consult with a surgeon.. SHE WAS AWESOME! She gladly said she would do that for me and that she would be my pcp and would help in any way she could. Boy it is soooo wooooonderful to have a doctor who actually cares for her patients.. I was about to give up hope of finding someone like her.. I have decided to go with Dr Hodges in Johnson City because he is about 2 hours closer to me and doesn't have any huge fees to pay up front. Just waiting now for appointment date with him. Hope it won't be too much longer before the appointment and we try for insurance approval. WISH ME LUCK! I soooo want this!! Well thanks again all of you for your responses and GOD BLESS!! Dawn