SouthernSpinoza

Hello, all. I'm new here and new to the VSG community! I've recently decided to go ahead and have the VSG surgery. I have Aetna Choice POS II as my insurance and I was recently informed by them that it's only a 3 month supervised weight loss requirement, not the 6 months I was dreading. So now I need to find a surgeon! I've been searching and searching and just can't decide. I'd like your experiences please. I'm pretty sure I narrowed it down to Karleena Tuggle at True Results in Atlanta, Kevin McGill at Piedmont Hospital, or William Turton at West Georgia Health in Lagrange. Any info you can share would be wonderful! If you have good, bad, ugly, etc, put it all out there for me. I'm looking for bedside manner, billing, program requirements, post-op care, etc! TIA! Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

You have to meet both requirements, but she wouldn't meet both if she didn't meet one. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

My paperwork says to take a multivitamin with Iron and appropriate levels of B1 and B6, a B12 (sublingual, not oral), and calcium citrate with Vitamin D. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

Looks like you were denied solely because you gained weight. It says you don't meet both criteria. I'm assuming you meet the BMI criteria, but because you gained weight, you don't meet the 2nd criteria. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

Wow! My doctor's office told me that with Aetna weight gain is a huge deal. Even half a pound would get you denied. I was recently told that the time frame is a huge deal too. I was told I had to schedule appts 31-35 days apart, including weekends. If you go out of those date ranges, they will require you to do the 6 months instead of 3. On another forum, I saw where a lady gained and Aetna didn't deny or approve her, they just made her do an extra 2 months and she had to lose weight, not gain or maintain. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

That makes sense. Just like if you switch doctors. They will look at the supervised weight loss as a whole, no matter what doctor you used. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

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I also have Aetna and this is where it's at in their paperwork. You can't have a net gain over the time frame when you're doing your physician supervised weight loss (either the 3 month or 6 month). Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

I've been seeing the Flintstone chewable on a lot of forums. Even the NP mentioned it yesterday at my appointmwnt. I told her I wanted to go ahead and start the Vitamins prior to surgery and she suggested the Flintstone ones. She also said the Calcium with Vitamin d would be good to start considering 90% of their patients come in with a Vitamin D deficiency. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

My surgeon requires an endoscopy. I need to clarify when that's done though. She told me that all of my medical clearances (pulmonary function test, EKG, lab work, cardiology clearance, and EGD) would be done on my 3rd visit, but my paperwork says the EGD will be done at the surgery center. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App Oh, the surgeon also requires a sleep study, but they mail you the mask to do it at your home. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

I just had my first appointment at True Results in Duluth yesterday. The entire experience was amazing. Each staff member was extremely nice and they all took time to answer all my questions. They were even short a receptionist, but I couldn't tell. I'm very pleased with my choice! Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App Thank you for the information. So far so good, but I've only had my first of 4 appointments, so we'll see. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App