CaliGirl626

Hi Calif_princess, I live in the 626 area and I found two doctors in Rancho Cucamonga. I didn't particularly have a bad experience with the doctor, just the staff. That is the reason why I decided to go with the other doctor instead. If you search for my name you should be able to find the thread that I wrote about the doctors last month. ^____^

Dear Sshaw9126, I am also a cash-pay patient. My surgery is in 10 days. I would suggest you to ask your doctor (surgeon) whether or not they offer the BLIS for cash patient. BLIS is pretty much a surgery insurance for cash patient. If you want more info about it, check out this link. Coastal Center for Obesity : Patient Support : Finance I understand your anger. Instead of the insurance wanting to solve the problem, they just keep on wanting to fixing it from the wrong end. Take care!

I'm getting banded this month... My doctor said that he doesn't see any reason for me to wait. He said we can start the baby factory whenever if we want to!

Welcome! ^______^

I'm schedule to be banded on Monday May12th... so close!!!!!

Thank you so much ladies~!! It's true that it's just one tortilla soup. But like lovekatz said... it's not worth screwing up the surgery. If I can't even do a 2 weeks pre-ops, then how am I going to commit to this life-changing surgery... I know that I'm "here" needing the surgery because I have made numerous excuses to eat. I guess I was just hoping that I would make one more excuse before I really have to give it up (for a while). Just to avoid the temptations, I think I will tell my co-workers that I will not be able to make it to the luncheon. I think that's the best! Really, Thank you so much, that was like a reality check for me! *that's why I love my bandster family~!!!*

bevpear: thanks for the advice on the robe! I will need to go look for it since I already put my winter clothes away. Too bad I won't get to do my band with Dr. Krahn. I really do wish the staffs would improve the business practice. It would be sad to see the dr. losing more potential patients this way. If you don't mind me asking, what was the one incident that happened to you?

Gigee: I thought that's normally the case, the cash-pay patient should be a bit faster since there's no wait for approval. Oh well, I don't know why. When I first called the office to get the info on the Seminar, I told the person who answered the phone at Dr. Krahn's office that I will be paying cash for the surgery, and I got a very stern "Why?? you don't have insurance?" So I told her "Yes I do have insurance, but my insurance doesn't think it's medically necessary for me to do this." I guess Dr. Krahn is just not meant to be my surgeon. Oh, well...

I'm also self--pay and I should have my surgery in Mid-May. My doctor does this "blis" thing for the cash patient. You might want to read about it and see if there's a doctor in your area that offers the same deal. Here's the link to the documents: http://coastalobesity.com/PDF/BLIS_OH_ArticleNov07.pdf Hope it helps!

I re-read your post about the approval process. I told them that I was going to be a cash patient. Maybe that's why the process for me is different (in another words, very slow..)?

Hi Gigee, I agree with you, I'll let my friend knows about this incident and when he goes in to see the doctor, he can tell him about it. I know that Dr. Krahn is super busy, I went to his seminar and there weren't enough chairs for everyone. Maybe the staffs are swamped with all the patient files, but then they shouldn't make any promise to call / callback. If you are going in to see Dr. Krahn, please let him know about this. I hope they can fix this problem. ^_____^

Hi~! Angelface: I did consider Dr. Oliak. But since I work in Rancho Cucamonga and tends to do some on-site work around San Bernandino area, my decisions came down to Dr. Krahn or Dr. Owens. I had a friend who had the band done with Dr. Krahn and he encourage me to go see Dr. Krahn. I did, and I do like the doctor. But considering that through out this process, you will have to deal more with the staff than the doctor, I chose to go with a better support system. Wildercrews: Before writing this, I spoke to some of my really good friends and told them the situation, I also spoke with my husband and we all felt that Dr. Krahn's staffs may not be able to fulfill my needs. That's why I decided to contact Dr. Owens and then started writing this thread. If I decided to go with Dr. Krahn, I would probably kept my mouth shut about this. Thank you so much for everyone's comments!

Hi cmcallister2 and pmcdaniel, Thank you for your response. At the beginning, I really wanted to have the surgery done with Dr. Krahn, but after too many incidents, I decided that it would be wise not to. I e-mail my husband and his response help me change my mind: "In my opinion, if the lack of communication you’ve been experiencing is any foreshadowing of what pre-OP and post-OP is like, then this is not the team you want behind you. You don’t want finger pointers when you need help. You want people that are going to help you with your needs" I e-mailed the other WLS doctor (Dr. Milton Owens) and within 15 mins, I received the response. The patient coordinator had already called me back, sent me a list of the Lab tests I needed, set up a consult date, and also asking me for a tentative date that I would like to have the surgery. (I went to Dr. Owens's Seminar two months ago, so they had all my information. Also, I'm a cash-patient, that's why it seemed so fast) Once again, I'm sure Dr. Krahn is a great doctor, it just so unfortunate that there is lack of communication between his offices....

Hello everyone, I've been doing some research on LapBand doctors in Los Angeles / San Bernardino country area. Any suggestions on the doctors? Anyone had Lapband done with doctors from these areas? So far I've been to 2 seminars: Dr. Milton Owens (Rancho Cucamonga) and Dr. Jeremy Korman (Marina Del Rey) Thank you!

Hello LBT Citizens.... I have been hanging out in LBT for a while now. I am not banded yet, but I'm working towards that. This site had helped me so much! I first came here asking for a recommendation on the doctors. I ended up with a lot of great advices and also good friends. Now, I have another question for you all to ponder. Who would you choose...between a young(er) doctor who had less than 10 years experience and an old(er) doctor who had 20+ years of experience? Grant it, that both doctors charge the same for Lapband procedures, operate at the same hospital, both include 1 year of fills, similar price for fills after one year. Some of my friends said to go for the older doctor since he has more experience, (but what if he retires soon? Who will do my fill?). My other friends said the younger doctor is probably a better choice because he will pay more attention to you and might do a better job. I'm so confuse. I don't know who I should pick. If you could do it all over, who would you pick as your doctor? thank you so much, my (soon-to-be) bandster family~!

I think I made my decision... I'm going with the younger doctor, even though he had done less Lap-band than the other doctor. I've heard from his patient than he did a very good job. The older doctor's assistant told me that the doctor could perform the band surgery in less than 45 mins. At first I felt that it was a sign of expertise, but now, I just feel that I don't really care how long it takes for the doctor to do the surgery, I just want him to do a GREAT job. Thank you so much for all your comments and advice! "One more step closer to being a bandster!"

Thank you so much! All the replies really help me decide on the doctor! I guess having a lot of experience is great, but if they get too comfortable doing things in one way, it wouldn't be good. And having less experience is acceptable if they are willing to learn new technology.

There is a booklet you can find on Dr. Owens's website. I e-mailed his assistant and she told me where to look on the website. I had like 50 questions and the assistant (Lisa) was able to answer most of it... i'm still deciding on which Dr. to go with.....

Hello all, I had a chance to meet Dr. Krahn today. He seemed like a very nice and very confident guy. I found out that Dr. Krahn does some work out of Rancho Specialty Hospital, he goes there for fills. pre/post op on Thursday. He told me that he is the head of the bariatrics at Rancho Specialty. I'm still waiting to meet with Dr. Owens. Right now it's just figuring out which doctor I will be going with. I will keep updating my progress.

Do you have any co-mobidities? Diabetes, High Cholesterol, High Blood pressure, arthritis? that would probably help in getting the approval. My BMI is 37-38 and I didn't get approve (shame on you, blueshield~!) But i'm gonna get the Lapband done anyway. I'll pay for it out of my pocket (ouch!)

Good Luck to you Nicole. I have Blue Shield, my problem is a bit different from you. For me, the insurance said that I'm not big enough and I do not have enough Co-morbidities for them to pay for the surgery. I haven't had the WLS yet, but I'm working on that. I spoke to my doctor and she said that if I can do it, it would be good for my health. It's very upsetting to see that the insurance company hold the power to say "yay" or "nay" on our health. To them, we are just a claim number that help them boost their profit margin. I will be paying for the surgery on my own. My husband and I decided that my health is important enough that we are going to Refinance the house and pay for the surgery. So, to have a 20 years loan on our house and having 2 healthy people working towards paying that off is way better than having one healthy person and one not so healthy right? Sorry this seems to be like venting. I guess what I'm trying to say is to go with something you are comfortable with. After all, it's your health, it's your body. As you get older, you might change jobs and change insurance coverage. So don't let one company stops or alter what you really wanted. Fight for it~!!

Hello Everyone, I'm seriously considering LapBand procedure. I've been to two seminars already. I guess this is not really a question, but I would love everyone's opinion on this. Between the two doctors, I don't know which doctor to pick. Here are some of their info. 1) Dr. O: His office claimed that he had done 2,000 + bariatric surgery. (He wasn't at the seminar because he just had a knee surgery). The cost of the surgery is $ 16,800 which includes 1 year of fills. However, after 1 year, if I need to get a fill, it would costs me about $ 250/fill. His office is 15 mins from my work. I had asked the doctor if I could maybe set up an appt to meet with the doctor (since I didn't get to see him at the Seminar), they told me that it will costs about $ 200 for a consultation. (If I choose this doctor, then my $ 200 will be apply towards the surgery cost). 2) Dr. K: he probably in his mid 30s, he said that he had been doing Bariatrics surg for about 6 years (never really mentioned how many he had done). The cost of surgery is $ 15,500 with free lifetime fills. His office is 45 mins from my home. This doctor also said that he will be using the 3rd generation of the band (came out June-July of 2007) on all his patients. Both doctors said their complication rates are less than 3%. My husband said the price difference is for the experience. He fully support me 100%. Money plays a big role for me since I will be paying for the surgery myself without any of the insurance's help. Based on these information, anyone have any ideas? I'm really confuse right now... :confused2: thank you!

Hi Dori, I live in San Gabriel Valley but work in Rancho Cucamonga. However, I would rather had a surgery done with a doctor that someone else had done and had good experience. So I'm still looking around. I just send in a request for Dr. Krahn to contact me. Hopefully I will hear from him or his staff soon. Thank you for much!

Catfishdna: Thank you so much I will look up both doctors. Did you have a Lapband surgery already?