:help:I live in oklahoma city and I am not sure how to find a doctor that I could get info from. I am completely new to this and would like to talk to someone about how to get started. I just got insurance and I doubt it will cover any of the surgery but would like to find out the price and how I could pay on my own.

Please someone write back with any kind of information for someone who knows nothing.

Rebecca

Rebecca... obesityhelp.com has a physician finder to assist in finding a bariatric surgeon near to you. Good Luck!

Rebecca contact your insurance company first to see if it is a covered procedure. It if is and you meet the requirements it would be best to start out with a doc that is approved on your insurance plan. It is a lot of trouble switching docs in midstream if you go to one initially who is not approved by your insurance.

If it is not covered by insurance or you don't meet the requirement criteria then it is a wide open selection for you.

Just from reading various posts the band with a year of followup care tends to be around 15,000 for us in Texas/Oklahoma area. This is just a ballpark figure.

Good luck and keep in touch.

Myra

I started with www.lapband.com and cross matched inamed approved surgeons with my insurance web site. Once I had a list of insurance approved lap band surgeons in my area, I looked them up on www.obesityhelp.com to get "reviews" and read their statistics. The first surgeon I choose I went to his seminar, and learned that he charged a $2000 program fee, which is not covered by insurance. I promptly scheduled my initial consultation with a different surgeon on my list (equally qualified) who only charged a $150 program fee.

You should feel free to go to as many seminars as needed to find a surgeon you are comfortable with.

Good luck!