Mottsy

hello, I am from Jena, was just banded on the 31st. Dr. Walter Sartor in Monroe did mine. He was great. I am sorry about your insurance problems. Some insurances make exceptions if you have co-existing health concerns like diabetes, High blood pressure, arthritis. You probably have this information already, but I just really hate to hear of anyone going out of country for this, but I do realize the situation may call for it, good luck and God bless!

I was just banded on July 31st, One night in the hospital, some nausea, but manageble, biggest issue at present is the gas, shoulder and some bloating feeling. Is this normal? any help / advice appreciated

seems as no one has been on this forum for some time, but FYI and for what it is worth, my Rheumatologist in Monroe, LA recommended Dr Walter Sartor and has even had Dr Sartor operate on Him!!!!!!!! that says a lot to me, any comments appreciated!

Anyone have any info on a Dr. Walter Sartor in Monroe, La?

I am still on Steroids, presently 10 mg of predinsone/day, and my hip problem was a rather abrupt onset and when they did the CT scan it already had a fracture, so my surgery was scheduled right away,,,, if yours was as painful as mine was, i do not see how you can wait so long for surgery! worst pain i ever had, but sugery was a breeze,,,,, recovery no problem, still some mild pain but controlled buy ibuprofen usually, my ortho doc said, " you make this look rediculously easy" lol so good luck,,,, and as far as staying on the steroids, my rheumatologist has not said anything to the contrary,! and btw,,,,, they both highly recommend the lap banding!

I too have RA and OA, recently had a partial hip replacement due to necrosis cause by long term steroid use for the autoimmune disorders. both my rheumatolgist and orthopedics doctors HIGHLY recommend the lap banding and are will to write letters to that effect if needed by the bariatric surgeon. I do understand that some bariatric surgeons do not want to do the lap banding with certain autoimmune disorders, have even had one deny me, but he never gave a rationale for not doing it. So i do not know what the problem is unless it is the slowed healing process related to medications, etc. but good luck with yours. I am still waiting on the 3 months supervised documentation by my primary care doc of my diet as required by medicare and then to see this surgeon. hoping it works out,

I was told it would be $250.00 bucks out of pocket, not that much considering, but i cannot imagine why insurance will not pay! Just saying,

I live in Louisiana and my Dr's ofice says medicare requires 3 months of Medically supervised weight loss attemps. I am diabetic and on the ADA diet and she says that will qualify me but they still have to have 3 months documentation from my doc. 2 down, one to go!

Can anyone tell me why insurances will NOT pay for the psychiatric evaluations prior to lab banding? I have Medicare and a supplement and was told by the dr's office that the psych eval would be out of pocket! any info appreciated!