Snuffy

Dr. Elariny did my band surgery in January of 2004. After several fills paid by Medicare he stopped accepting insurance for fills. He wanted $200 cash for each fill which I could not afford on disability. This was not negotiable. He refused to even talk to me about it unless I paid cash. I switched to Dr. Barry Greene and have been very happy. He accepts Medicare assignment for all my appts. including fills. I love his PA, Peter Womack and his staff is much better than Elariny's. Dr. Elariny is a fine surgeon but I think he is rather stuck on himself. Just one gal's opinion.

I have Medicare as my insurance. They covered my surgery and now I want to see if they cover fills. Does anyone know the CPT code for fills? One that they have used and it was covered. Anyone with Medicare been able to get the fills paid for? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Stephanie

I will be on the prilosec for the rest of my life. I have stopped taking the carafate. The ulcer was at the junction where my stomach meets the intestines. My band was not pressing on it but my surgeon was afraid the acid could erode my band thus the unfill. Stephanie

About three months ago I was having severe stomach pain. I was popping vicadin it was so bad. I had an upper GI which showed no slippage. Then I had an endoscopy with a 3.2cc fill in a 4cc band. My GI had no trouble passing the scope. He found a 12mil ulcer which he said was rather large. I had to have a complete unfill because my band surgeon was worried about erosion. I was unfilled for seven weeks and then had another endoscopy but this time with the surgeon. He found that the ulcer had completely healed because of the prilosec and carafate suspension I was prescribed. I had a 1.6cc fill two weeks ago and am having another fill on Wednesday. I had great restriction before the ulcer and was losing 10 lbs a month. I have no restriction now and hope I can get back to where I was. I heard that can be difficult after a complete unfill. I do feel much better now. Actually, I had complete pain relief after the unfill. My band doctor says that ulcers are not uncommon with the band. I had lost from 343lbs to 213 in 16 months but have gained back 15 lbs in the last 9 weeks. This of course does not make me happy. Hopefully, it will come back off when I get back to a good fill level. Stephanie

I also have PCOS and have still managed to lose 70% of my excess weight so far. I wish you luck with the band. It is one of the best decisions I have made. Stephanie

I have had crohn's disease since 1989 and have had one ileal resection in 1993. I am 41 years old. I was banded in January 2004 and have not had an exaserbation of crohn's symptoms. I have moderate crohn's in my ileum based on a colonoscopy last month. I have gone from 343 lbs to 213 with my band. I have quite a bit of diarrhea but the band did not make it worse. I am still better off with the excess weight gone and my band doctor agrees. Most surgeons will not perform gastric bypass on a crohn's patient but many will band them. I am very happy with my decision to be banded. Stephanie

Tanya, I was 343 the day of surgery and am now 213. I would like to get down to 150 to 175. I think if I did not lose anymore though I would be ok. I have not done anything special to get to this point. I have tried to follow the rules of bandster eating as much as I can. I do not, however, deny myself. I eat what I want just less of it. The only thing I can not eat is bread in any form. It gets stuck and makes me PB. I also have to eat a lot slower than before. If anything gets going with a local support group I will post about it. Stephanie

I'm a little late to this discussion too. I am in Germantown, Maryland. I was banded in January of 2004 by Dr. Elariny in Vienna, Virginia. I have lost 130 pounds and am very happy with my progress. Another Elariny patient and I have been kicking around the idea of getting a support group going as Dr. Elariny does not have one specifically for lapbanders. We're thinking we could meet at restaurants or houses depending on interest. If you live in the area and would want to meet maybe once a month let me know. Stephanie

I have both Kaiser and Medicare insurance. Kaiser does not cover the band but only RNY. I went outside of Kaiser and used my Medicare benefits to get the band. I was approved after the fact as Medicare does not pre-approve. I had to have a BMI over 40 and at least two co-morbidities which I did. I paid 20% of what Medicare considered reasonable and customary. The surgery cost me approx. $1500 which included a $799 program fee which was not reimburseable by insurance. Medicare has also covered my fills. By the way, I am in Maryland. I don't know if you can go outside of Kaiser and use your Medicare benefits in other state. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer. Stephanie

Kim, I don't know anything about Dr. Chebli so I can't help there. Good luck with Kaiser. They can really be a pain. Stephanie

Kim, I too have Kaiser and live in Germantown, Maryland. I had a lapband in January 2004 and at that time Kaiser would only pay for a RNY which I did not want. I also have Medicare so I went out of Kaiser for the lapband. Dr. Hazem Elariny did my band. He is in Vienna, Virginia. His number is 703-465-5060. I highly recommend him. He is a wonderful surgeon. If you have any questions about him email me at sljoseph@comcast.net. Stephanie

I have crohn's disease and had a lapband placed in January 2004 and have lost 60 pounds. I am very happy so far and have not had any ill effects. INAMED says crohn's is a contra-indication for the lapband but my doctor felt the 343 pounds I was carrying was more of a problem than getting the band. A RNY would be a very bad choice for someone with crohn's. Hope this helps. Stephanie