Hi,

Ive just found a doc in central IL I've talked to the office of sidney Rohrschieb in Clinton, IL. He'll also do lap-banding at Carle Surgi-center in Champaign. His office charges 14,500, and it includes the first fill, preop physical, and nutritional consult. The rest of the fills will cost $78. I know that some of the mexican doc's include fills for life, but the cost of getting there will be more than $78, so I'm thinking of getting mine here. Has any of you heard about Dr Rohrschieb? I don't know him and am hoping he's ok.

Dr Rohrschieb has done the RNY for several people that I know. He's been doing it for quite a while but he was doing it open. He just started banding recently and I think the banding is when he started doing laser. I was a week away from surgery with him and I backed out....just couldn't do that. I am looking into the banding and will have him do it if possible. I work for the state and have health alliance. I checked with his office and personal care and blue cross cover the lap band. If health alliance doesn't cover it this year, I'm going to either switch to a company that does, or just pay for it. I'm 5'7' and 400+ pound male. I lost 50 lbs so far working out. I was having muscle pain and went to a chiropractor and she slipped a disc in my neck. it was pretty painful for about a month. it's hard to lose much when you can't walk (bad feet) and you can't swim or lift weights. I checked into this site hoping to find out more about insurance and which dr's can get it a referall to go thru. Not much in Central Illinois. Email and let me know what you've found out. Jeff

Jeff, best of luck to you on your quest! Congratulations on losing 50 lbs.! How did you do it?

I was working out for an hour 5 days a week. I was also cutting carbs. i'm not much of a meat eater so atkins all the way is impossible for me. however, if atkins is correct, it's no wonder i weigh so much. i mainly eat pasta's. as a kid i ate more hamburger and cheese. i always ate like a horse. i used to walk and bike everywhere. however, now i'm older and way less active. that accounts for about 150 to 200lbs since high school. i like to be active, unfortunately, the weight has gotten to me. I don't know how i really got so big, but i just can't seem to get back. I miss walking and riding a bike. I would like to be able to garden more. if i'm up on my feet, my feet, kneese, ankle's cause a lot of pain. i see the neurologist tomorrow about my neck. if I can, I'm going to start working out in the mornings again. that's why i want the lap band. i'm not trying to impress anyone in a swimsuit, i just want my life back.

Jeff, I think you'll find that most bandsters have a lot of things in common. We've struggled with weight gain (physical and emotional). For a lot of us, serious health concerns are present. We're tired of sitting on the sidelines. We want to enjoy our lives and not be controlled by the flavor of the week. We've found a tool to help us in that journey.

A lot of what I'm doing now is sensible, common sense things that I should have been doing all along. This forum is a great source of information and encouragement.

Best of luck on your neurologist visit. I hope you can get back to your garden, walking, and biking soon!

Hi Jeff,

I've been researching Dr Rohrscheib for about a week now, and I haven't found anything negative so far. I haven't actually met him myself, but his receptionist was very informative and friendly. She didn't rush me through my questions, and sent me an info packet very quickly.

My husband's insurer is BC/BS of IL. and his particular plan doesn't pay for the lap-band. We just changed to bcbs a couple of months ago, prior to we had health alliance, and they didn't cover lapbands in my plan at work, or his. They can tell you over the phone if you call the 800 number on your ins card.

The cpt code rohrscheibs office gave me to check for ins coverage for the lapband is 43659.

Congrats on the 50# loss so far, That must feel pretty good!

Good luck, and best wishes for insurance coverage

i know dr r is working with health alliance, because they're in champaign, to try to get the lap approved. i called health alliance today and they said that my prior approval for the rny was good for 3 months. they said that i could try to re-open it and have health allience re-review the procedure. since it's 1/2 the cost, it's a matter of time before they approve it. i guess i'll see if i can get it thru this time. the more people making the wheel squeak, the faster it gets greased.

That would be awesome. I'd pick up health alliance at work again in an instant if that happened. I just don't think I'll be waiting that long. I'm ready to start getting my life back now!

Good luck to you Jeff!! It's a tough road, but probably not nearly as tough as living the rest of your life obese and in bad health. You'll find lots of support here!!

Leatha

I think I've decided on Mexico. Dr. R is just too expensive for me as self-pay. I've called and talked to Dr. Verboonen's office in Tijuana and I'm feeling like this is the best choice for me. His packages are very reasonable, and his patient's seem happy with him. I'm looking at possibly going down on 9/21. Aftercare is a bit concerning, but not too much since I checked round trip ticket prices at cheap tickets and it's around $143 round trip, so if I need to I suppose I'll just go back down. I think it's very sad that we as such an "advanced nation" are so behind and expensive in health care that our own citizens choose services in another country.

Hi all,

Guess I'm changing Doctors... once I decided on Mexico,

I researched and decided on verboonen, patient experiences and price were number one and two in priority for the decision.

BUT...

I found out today Verboonen is out of service until late in Sept. I've been scheduled with dr. Ponce de leon for Sept 21st.

I don't know much of him, and haven't researched him yet. I'm getting to it though.

I'm not sure how I feel about not being told immediately about Verboonen's absence and Ponce filling in either... especially since I have already started paperwork with their office for time off, and financing arrangements.

I guess I'll have to decide after I research him.

It may be fine, I might like him better, I guess we'll see...

If everything happens for a reason, maybe this is a good thing?