Disappointed

Hi gal pals in TENN. i just want to go some where and get drunkno really i don't drink,i am just venting today.I am just sick about this damn tenncare ins.It looks like i will not get to have the lapband surgery that i truely wanted.I can not find a surgeon that will do the surgery in tenn.and take the tenncare ins.Enough about that for now.Melanie i am so excited for you gf i know you will just do fine and be on the losing side in no time.God bless Eva

Eva I am soory maybe i am miss ubderstand here but i thought there were several tn care pt on here. Are you sayng no dr takes tn care that does lap band? My friend Cheery asked for a case manager, and it help her did you try this approach? Will you not consider the RNY? Are you dead set on having a band? I personally am choosing the RNY unless dr suggests otherwise. I want what ever is going to help me. Just liike i want the lap but if i have to have open I will.. Dont go get drunk just keep looking... Post on the main board too lots of tn people there Good Luck Michelle

Eva, Hang in there girl! I know the Tn. Care is very hard to deal with. I am sorry to say but someone told me Tn. Care does not pay for lap band. I don't know if that is true. Please try to get a case manger like Michelle said it really will help. Cherry

well I had a secretary who had the open surgery on tenn care. her surgeon is from Nashville. Lap surgery is still too new I imagine .

Hiya Eva hon. We have had patients on Tenncare to have WLS, but they have all been rny. I dont know of anyone thats had the lap band on it. I know the surgeons in the group i'm using do both surgeries, and they give a reduced rate and payment plan to anyone having to self pay the surgeons portion. Tenncare will cover the hospital portion of the bill, which is the major portion. Relax hon and hang in there. We're pulling for ya! God bless!! And thanks so much for your well wishes. I need them! Melanie

thanks guys, yes i know that tenncare will pay for the RNY surgery and i can have it right here in my home town Frankiln, Tenn.at Williamson Medical but i still rather have the lap band it just makes more sence to me at my age to 57 i am not as young as some of you are and at my age i guess you just think about more things that may happen with more invaseive surgery,anyway that is the way i feel right now.If things do not change then maybe i will have to change my mind. ttyl Eva

Hi, Eva. Just wanted to let you know that I had open RNY at Vanderbilt last September 29th and have done very well and I'm 57, weighed 357 two weeks before my surgery. I haven't had any problems, no throwing up. I can eat most anything, but of course in much smaller amounts. I'm diabetic and also have high blood pressure, but both of those conditions are under good control and I'm off my medications for them. I've lost 110 lbs in eight months. Hope this encourages you. I read the other day on another board about a lady who had open RNY and she was 60 years old.

What type of TennCare do you have? Dr. Boyce here in Knoxville does the LapBand and takes some types of Tenncare (I have PHP and had a Lap RNY last Tuesday), but I don't know if he takes TC on the lap-band or not. It might be worth a call though. Good luck hun! ~Sabby

I know that what I am about to say probably isn't going to help matters any but last yr when I was attempting to find a surgeon to take me and such I discussed Lapband with my insurance case manager she stated that in 2004 that TNCare was no longer going to be covering it because they considered it to still be experimental. I hope they do change their mind I know of a lady that was also hoping to have the lapband done and couldn't because of tenncare's decission. I feel so bad now when I run into her and she comments on the weight Ive lost. I know how much she was looking forward to having the surgery. I feel so guilty that I was able to get the procedure that was best for me yet she wasn't able to. She keeps telling me though that I have lost enough weight to start throwing my "too big" clothes her way Things that need to be done sometimes have a mysterious way of occuring so best of luck to you *huggles*

Eva, We have done one lap band on a TC patient. It was John Deere. Jama