I went to a seminar yesterday at the Beaumont Health Center in Royal Oak (Michigan.) The 2 bariatric surgeons they have are Dr. Kevin Krause and Dr. David Chengelis. Only Dr. Chengelis attended the seminar, and he mentioned that he doesn't do the LapBand surgery. He wouldn't go into details about why not, but it was clear he had reservations about it.

Anyway, that means that the only surgeon at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak who does the LapBand in Dr. Krause. It's a pretty big & well-known hospital, and I'm just surprised that no one else on this forum has mentioned being banded there. I'd like to hear some feedback on Dr. Krause because I haven't been banded yet, and am not sure where I'm going to go if I do...

Megan, check out obesityhelp.com, there you can read some reviews by patients of the surgeons. This place is wonderful for advice and support, but usually only the larger clinics get threads that are very active.

Intersting that Chengelis doesn't do the band, MCare has him on their list of approved providers for it. Oh well, Krause is as well.

You also might want to join some Yahoo! Groups, some good ones for starting research are Bandsters, BandstersInsurance and for SE Michigan folks there is Eastside_Bandsters.

Where will your insurance pay for you to go? Will they only pay for you to go to Beaumont? Or did you choose Beaumont because it is closer and/or you already go there or work there? I work at UM and live in A2, but I am going to Hurley in Flint. MCare pays for Hurley, Beaumont Royal Oak and Beaumont Troy, and UM. UM still hasn't placed one band yet, so they were out of the running. Deol at WBH Troy wants the $800 for the mandatory support group fee plus you need to use her docs for your pre-op stuff (more money) and the consult is I believe $200 that is also out of pocket. Too much to pay for all at once for me. I don'tknow enough about WBH Troy. Hurley has a $195 food kit they require, but other than that, there is nothing hidden. If your insurance pays for Port Huron, I'd go that route, those guys are VERY experienced and skilled and have excellent post-op care. Dr. Mark Pleatman in Bloomfield Hills (or is it West?) anyway, he's also really skilled.

Dr. Krause is wouderful back in 2003 my huband had it done he is young but very good.

At that time there was no such thing as lap band and he got the other done .I had mine done at oakwood just because it was closer to ur house but yes I would go and meet Dr. Krause he is wouderful .I hope this helped.

Sue

I went to a seminar yesterday at the Beaumont Health Center in Royal Oak (Michigan.) The 2 bariatric surgeons they have are Dr. Kevin Krause and Dr. David Chengelis. Only Dr. Chengelis attended the seminar, and he mentioned that he doesn't do the LapBand surgery. He wouldn't go into details about why not, but it was clear he had reservations about it.

Anyway, that means that the only surgeon at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak who does the LapBand in Dr. Krause. It's a pretty big & well-known hospital, and I'm just surprised that no one else on this forum has mentioned being banded there. I'd like to hear some feedback on Dr. Krause because I haven't been banded yet, and am not sure where I'm going to go if I do...

Thanks for the responses ladies. Faithmd, I take it you have MCare? That's what I have too, but as you know they got bought out by Blue Care Network. My employer's contract renews on May 1, so we'll be making the switch to BCN very soon. But I understand a lot of others won't be making the switch for another year or so, and so will remain covered by MCare for a lot longer than me.

Anyway, I'm kind of in a tough position because it's no use to call MCare right now, because they will no longer be my insurance company as of May 1. But I can't call BCN yet either, because I'm not a member yet - not until May 1!!

Sue, glad to hear some good feedback about Dr. Krause! So he's young, huh? How young is young?

Oh, faith, btw, did MCare make you do a 6 - 12 month medically supervised diet? Just curious.

12 months. 12 long months. I am on month #13 now. MCare also has a requirement of a 5% loss of your excess weight suring your MD supervise diet. They use the first time you saw your MD about weight loss and started your monthly visits as your highest weight.

Is there a reason you haven't considered Hurley? I'm very impressed with what I have seen so far.

I wish I knew more about Krause. Sorry.

Here's the link to the obesityhelp.com webpage that has patient reviews of Dr. Krause:

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bariatric+surgeon+profile+Kevin+Krause+gkl.html

Faith thank you for all of the great advice, and for the links as well. :welldoneclap:

I haven't ruled out Hurley, and in fact I think that's where my best friend had her bypass done in 2001. I was there for the surgery and it's a huge, beautiful place. I don't really remember much about the care she received, good or bad, but she came through it ok. I haven't looked into it much, though, because Beaumont is a lot closer. The thing is, I am really not able to make any decisions yet, since my insurance company is going to change soon.

So Mcare had you do a 12 month diet, huh? Yikes! That's brutal! I think I'm glad they got bought out by BCN LOL. But then again, maybe they're just as bad! Guess I'll find out soon.