Hello, I'm possibly moving to Stuart/Port St. Lucie, Florida area for work and need to find a new doctor overall and especially to get fills, any information greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I lived in PSL before I got my band, so I can't give a personal opinion regarding any practices. I know that Martin Memorial and St. Lucie Medial Center both have bariatric programs. I don't know if either of those programs will accept patients from other surgeons, but I would call them first.

Strax Rejuvenation is a plastic surgery group in South Florida that also does bands. I do know that they will do fills on patients that received bands from other doctors. (My insurance only covers fills for one year, so I may consider going to Strax after November of this year.)

I had my band placed by Dr. Szomstein at Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston, which would be about 2.5 hours south of PSL. I am very happy with the entire facility at Cleveland Clinic, including the bariatric department.

Good luck with your move and welcome to Florida!

Dulci,

Thank you soo much for the helpful information! I appreciate it greatly!!

Ah - dont do Strax.. I had my band done down in Fort Lauderdale @ Holy Cross when i lived in PSL too. One of my doctors (the one i really like to go to) moved and has his own practice elsewhere now. I called Strax to see if they can do fills from prior lap band procedures and they said yes...at 400$.. WHA??? And they told me they do not except insurance.. Which is crazy because my insurance covers it and i only have to pay 15$ for co pay when i do get a fill from my doctor. Luckily my other Dr. Perez @ holy cross got me setup with paperwork again, and i got my fill for 15$.. not 400. I would say establish yourself with a new doc if you can and then go about fills like that. They will need to know what type of band you have and your fill amount routine.

Wow! $400 per fill. Cleveland Clinic charges slightly more for a fill under fluro. I'll be sticking with my doctor for out of pocket fills.