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Any Drs in Louisiana used and Cost??



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Does anyone have any experience with or feedback on Dr. Brent Allain in Baton Rouge? He's affiliated with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center as 1/4 of a surgical group that performs bariatric surgery.

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I had my surgery with dr. Ponce de leon in Mexico and I could not be happier! My total cost with flight and spending money was $6000. One ofmy sleeve sister and her hubby both had surgery with him the same day and they are from Louisiana. He is super experienced, has been doing the sleeve for over 7 years and has been a surgeon for over 20. I posted videos of my surgery and journey in YouTube if anyone is interested.

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How about Jonathan Taylor at BR Clinic? Any feedback at all?

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I personally used Dr. Brent Allan from OLOL surgery center excellent staff and surgeon would recommend him to every one! Not sure of cash price total cost to insurance was around 26 k! Call them they won't let money be a issue or insurance for that matter he personally told me money was not a issue and would let you work out payments if need be for good health very personable and caring doctor! No one else offered me that option or level of caring.

Sincerely

Brent

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I personally used Dr. Brent Allan from OLOL surgery center excellent staff and surgeon would recommend him to every one! Not sure of cash price total cost to insurance was around 26 k! Call them they won't let money be a issue or insurance for that matter he personally told me money was not a issue and would let you work out payments if need be for good health very personable and caring doctor! No one else offered me that option or level of caring.

Sincerely

Brent

Thanks Brent! I really appreciate your feedback. Dr. Allain did my gallbladder surgery in 2009 and I really like him. Unfortunately for me, he's not in-network as a bariatric surgeon under my Aetna plan. All it would take is a quick call to Aetna requesting a Non-Participating Provider Request for him to do my surgery as in-network. That call is the difference between my paying $250 vs. ~$3500 for my surgery.

I have gone around and around with his insurance coordinator for 3 weeks now and she flat out REFUSES to make that call. Her last email to me said, "you have to use your out of network benefits since we are out of network".

I found out today that Jonathan Taylor (BR Clinic) is in-network. I made an appt w/ him for June 12, but I've kept my appt w/ Dr. Allain for June 19, just in case. The bottom line is that I trust and like Dr. Allain very, very much, but a $3000+ difference and a rude staff may make me turn to someone else for surgery and that's upsetting to me. :(

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I loved Dr taylor he was in network and covered 100% with my ins. It took two weeks to schedule the surgery. Dr. Taylor is so down to earth that its hard to even tell he's a surgeon. He doesn't have the cocky arrogant attitude most surgeons have. I am so glad I picked him. He's awesome and soo nice! I had my surgery at Woman's

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How about Jonathan Taylor at BR Clinic? Any feedback at all?

I love Taylor! I chose him for financial reasons over Dr ballengar and hargroder. I met with Housmann too at OLOL and Dr Taylor's office got back to me the quickest and was super nice. They had my surgery approved in 4 days. I have united health care through the railroad! I can't say enough about Dr. Taylor!

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For those of you in or around BR, who did you use for your psych eval? Did you just have to pay your co-pay?

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For those of you in or around BR' date=' who did you use for your psych eval? Did you just have to pay your co-pay?[/quote']

I've been seeing Dr. Chu with Surgical Specialists of Louisiana in Lafayette. They recommended the psychologist. He was 100 because insurance didn't cover the eval. I think his name was Bergeron.

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I wanted to post in this forum that I was approved by my insurance company because when I was looking for information on my insurer in Louisiana, I couldn't find any information on this site. I am a parish/state employee and we are self funded. The insurer or third party administrator is CCMSI or Cannon Cochran Management Services, Inc. I hope that if anyone starts searching in the future for information, they will find this post and know that it can be done!

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I've been seeing Dr. Chu with Surgical Specialists of Louisiana in Lafayette. They recommended the psychologist. He was 100 because insurance didn't cover the eval. I think his name was Bergeron.

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If anyone cares to add to this topic...or especially if any previous posters have follow-up or update info, I would appreciate it

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My surgeon was Dr. Bellanger. My surgery was at the new Woman's Hospital. My cost was 14500. That covered all my preop testing, psych eval, overnight stay in the hospital, 2 years post op visits, my dietician, one visit with personal trainer, and BLIS insurance. I absolutely love him.

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Thanks, Doreen. Actually I was considering seeing either Dr. Bellanger or Dr. Hargroder. I love Woman's Hospital and don't think I would consider having the surgery anywhere else but there. My only concern was that Bellanger and Hargroder are so popular that I worry that I won't get personalized attention post-op and will just be one of the masses, so to speak...how has your post-op experience been with him and his staff?

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    • Doughgurl

      2 days until I fly out to San Diego to have my Bypass Surg. in Tiajuana Mexico. Not gonna lie, the nerves are starting to surface. I don't fear the surgery itself, or the fact that I'm traveling alone, but its the aftermath that I'm stressing about the most, after this 8 week wait. I'm excited to finally be here, but I am really dreading the post surgical chapter. I know its going to be tough, real tough and I think I'm just in my head to much now that the day i here. Wish me luck, Hopefully I'm one of the lucky ones, and everything goes smoothly. Cant wait to give an exciting update,. If there is anyone else have a June bypass or even a recent one, Id love to have someone to compare war stories with. Also, anyone near San Antonio Tx? See ya soon with the future me. 💜
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
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    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

        Thank you so much for your well wishes. I am hoping that everything goes easy for me as well. We don't eat out much as it is, so it wont be too bad in that department. Thankfully. Also, I hear you regarding your back and feet!! I'd like to add knees to the list. Killing me as we speak! I'm only 5' so the weight has to go. Too short to carry all this weight. Menopause really did a doosey on me. (😶lol) My daughter also lives in Houston. with her Husband and my 5 grand-littles. I grew up in Beaumont, so I know Houston well, I will be sure to keep in touch and update you on my journey. I may need some advice in the future, or just motivation. Thank You so much for reaching out, I was hoping to connect with someone in the community. I really appreciate it. 💜

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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