John P. Grant Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

My surgery date is only one week from today. I have already had a group meeting but know I have to go Friday and have a one on one meeting with Dr. Grant. I am so scared right now....but it will all be worth it in the long run. Well I will try and update as soon as I get back home. Thanks for all the comments and prayers.

I actually had a chance to meet Dr. Grant, outside of the medical setting. He had lunch with a group of people from my job and my first impression was that he was wonderful. He is very sypathetic to the plight of the overweight person. He did talk about the risks and the advantages, but he is a sweetheart. The one thing that sticks out in my mind about him is when he turned to my mother and told her that my size wasn't my fault!!!!! OMG I could have cried!!

I was very impressed with Dr. Grant from our first meeting. He believes obesity is a disease and is interested and helping his patients reclaim their lives. He strongly believes in follow up and asks you to commit to come to those visits. I feel very blessed to have such a fine physician.

It was obvious from our first meeting and group session that Dr. Grant is truly interested in helping people with their weight problems in order to live a full, healthy life. He feels obesity is a disease, and inherited. He talked in laymen's terms and patiently answered questions. He has a genuine interest in his patients. Dr. Grant likes to have patients who live in the region because he is a strong believer in follow up care: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and one year. You must commit to those visits. He and his staff have started an "official" support group. I have met many people evaluating or having surgery, and we are in contact continually. One thing that impressed me about Dr. Grant was that I did not hear one negative comment about him or his staff from any of his patients. I also know he only operates 2 cases a day, 3 times a week to be able to give the full amount of time needed, and not "run people through". I'm feel very pleased and blessed to have him as my doctor.

8/20/2002 - I did not met Dr. Grant, but did met Dr. Knowles and Beth (insurance specialist) from his office. I went through over $2,000 worth of testing that my insurance did pay for. Found out I was denied on 9/16, but have not received my "official" letter yet. I'm not sure why - there isn't an exclusion policy so I know it's not that. I had a member of our Advocacy Group at GlaxoSmithKline where I work to check on this for me. They gave me an answer in 24 hrs. Glaxo says there is no exclusion policy so I'm not sure why I was denied but have to wait until I receive my denial letter to find out. I called United today to find out when I should receive it - they don't know! Someone is supposed to be calling me back. United has been terrible to deal with - I've called them everyday for the past month and get different answers every time I call. I will appeal if I ever receive my denial letter. It took United 5 weeks to make the denial decision! 8/30/02 - still have not received letter from United, so I can't appeal until then. I'm not giving up though, I will fight to the bitter end doing whatever it takes.

I met with Dr. Grant and Dr. McMahon on 8/16/02 and I fell in love...lol. It was a group meeting and I was VERY IMPRESSED with both surgeons. Dr. McMahon is a little more reserved where as I found Dr. Grant to have quite a sense of humor. Both surgeons are very knowlegable and made me feel very comfortable. Dr. McMahon explained the actually surgery and the risk. They both seem to be very sensitive with regards to obesity. At the same time, Dr. Grant is very straight forward in telling you that you have a disease and that they can help, but the disease is your problem and you must help them in order for them to help you. You must be committed and prepared to go through with this surgery and the life changes it will bring.

I hope to receive a surgery date within the next 3-4 weeks.

Sept 28-I haven't posted anything in a while because the so called "Insurance Specialist" at Duke called to tell me I had an exclusion in my policy regarding weight loss and obesity treatment. WELL NO DUH!! She asked me for a copy of my policy prior to my consultation so I forwarded her my policy via e-mail. She e-mailed me back several days later to tell me my policy looked fine. I didn't know much about exclusions at the time and because "they" say that she is the "Insurance Specialist" that she would know more than me. NOT! She even told me she couldn't turn in my paperwork due to the exclusion which she was right, but what she argued with me about was that my HR people couldn't send it to the Medical Review Board. Basically, my company is self insured and they hired this insurance company which acts as a third party. So, if my company wants to send in 100 request involving an exclusion for the Medical Review Board to review.....then they can can. My company is the customer. My HR people have been very good to let me know how the process work. Beth told me that they lied to me and that she had been in insurance for 10 years and she knew it couldn't be sent in. Well...my HR people that I'm dealing with have been doing this for 20 years. Now...no one in HR said that they will pay for the surgery, but they did say to send in very detailed information from all the doctors and to make sure it was very convincing. HR said they would send it directly to the Medical Review Board and have them look at everything. HR stated that they weren't doctors themselves so they surely could not make the decision as to whether this surgery is medically necessary. HR said a lot of times, the Medical Review Board will come back to them and tell them that as Doctors they do feel a procedure is necessary and they ask my company do they want to pay. At that point the decision will be made. So....we will see what happens.

The point of this message...is not to give up. Some of these so called insurance specialist don't give a damn about you. All they care about is getting a paycheck at the end of the week. No real compassion.

I like Dr. Grant very much and want him as my surgeon as I feel he if very competent. But, what seems to happen in their process at Duke is they set people up for these appointments making them think that they can get the surgery building their hopes and after they've billed the insurance company for $300 or more for the consultation then they come back to you and tell you that surgery is not covered, but at least they got the $300 out of the insurance company!Now if the so called "insurance specialist" reviews your policy shouldn't she/he know upfront if this surgery is NOT covered???

It may be the one of the best hospitals in the country...but you really do have to wonder what kind of uneducated people you are dealing with.

First impression is: I like this guy.
I feel confident about chosing him. Staff
is great. They were very thorough. I look
forward to working w/them.

He was very nice and comical.

His bedside manner got better. He visited me in the hospital on a Sunday.

Office staff is good.

Office visits need to be coordinated better.

He is wonderful.

Overall he is very good.

Wonderful bedside manner and surgical competence.

Dr. Knolls has done the preliminary info with me. Duke is well organized and very efficient!