Colorado Anyone

[mamato3 1]

Thankyou all so much for the responses. I feel so much more confident that I will be able to continue to recieve care from a qualified doctor. I will start making calls soon and hopefully have something set up by the time I move. I also have an appointment coming up with my surgeon and I will talk with him to see if he might be able to make a recommendation. Just 7 more weeks until I am home!!!

[eejaydiva 3]

First of all, welcome back to Colorado and congrats on your lap band success! I just got banded on 3/19/08, so I'm a newbie, but my doctor ROCKS. He's in Denver. Associated Surgeons/Red Rocks Bariatrics is the name of the practice. His name is Dr. Melniczek. He has a great sense of humor and has been very supportive. Having worked in a medical office, I'd recommend that you find a doctor BEFORE you move, so that you can go to your current doc in Virginia now and get copies of your charts, history, insurance, etc. If you wait until you've moved back, you'll have difficulty doing some of that over the phone. Here is the phone info for Dr. Mel's office! I'll be curious to find out who you choose for your continued care! 303-480-3565

[Guest BikiniBeachy]

Hi! I am pre-band, waiting approval. Anyone in Denver got some advice? I would love to talk to locals...

[Dito 0]

Hey fellow Coloradans...

My wife and I are getting banded by Dr. Chae on Monday (4/14) at SkyRidge. We live in Parker, so it's only a 10-minute drive.

With the great weather we (usually) have here, I'm looking forward to getting outside and walking.

Did anyone else here have to attend the 5-hour nutrition seminar with Kelly? If you did, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

-Dito

[pookie 0]

I didn't have to meet with Kelly because I'm a Kaiser patient, but just wanted to wish you good luck!! I live in Parker too and am having my surgery with Dr. Chae down at St. Joseph Hospital on April 15.

[Guest BikiniBeachy]

I didn't have to meet with Kelly because I'm a Kaiser patient, but just wanted to wish you good luck!! I live in Parker too and am having my surgery with Dr. Chae down at St. Joseph Hospital on April 15.

Pokie, will you email me? I'd love to talk about Kaiser...im at the beginning of the process.

[Dito 0]

I didn't have to meet with Kelly because I'm a Kaiser patient, but just wanted to wish you good luck!! I live in Parker too and am having my surgery with Dr. Chae down at St. Joseph Hospital on April 15.

That's odd. My wife and I are self-funding, and Dr. Chae still had us attend Kelly's seminar. The only thing we were exempted from was the psych eval.

Kelly's seminar did provide some good and necessary information, but at 5 hours (with no breaks), it's at least 3 hours too long.

Plus, it's disorganized. She attempts to "teach" both Lap-Band and Bypass patients at the same time, with the same materials. I know there are a lot of similarities, but enough differences as well. Her teaching materials also covered sleeve gastrectomy, which I'd never even heard of. No one in the room was having this procedure (it's not even FDA approved?). But she still spent equal time describing the surgery.

And that's kind of the heart of the problem: it wouldn't be 5 hours if she wasn't so chatty! She's a kind, knowledgeable, and experienced professional, but not a good speaker or presenter. For example: her booklet is protected under copyright, so do not distribute it. Okay. Simple. That doesn't take 15 minutes to discuss.

We didn't get to the post-op eating plan and Vitamin supplements until four hours had already passed. At this point, arguably the most important part of the whole afternoon, everyone in the room was glassy-eyed and barely awake.

In short, we could have covered the same material, more clearly and in far less time. 2 hours and some better, more concise, hand-outs would have done the job perfectly.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not questioning or demeaning her work as a nutritionist. I'm convinced she's excellent. But as a public speaker and writer... :huh2:

-Dito

[KayleighsMommy 16]

I went for my initial consult yesterday. Turns out I have a incarcerated umbilical hernia that can be repaired at the same time :redface: I am so excited about the whole thing. I have to go for a sleep study, and wear a CPAP for at least the 2 weeks before surgery. I also have to go on injectible blood thinners 5 days pre surgery (due to earlier blood clot in my lung).

I just hope my insurance comes back with my preauthorization quickly:wink2:

[Great2BThin 5]

Hi there,

I am new here and am hoping to be banded soon. I just attended 3 different seminars: Dr. Johnell's, Dr. Snyder's, and Dr. Browns/Metz's. I have chosen Dr. Snyder and have my consultation appt on May 14th. Also have my psych. and pulmonary screening appts next week on the 6th and 8th. I will be self pay so I hope surgery won't be too long after that. Looking forward to meeting other Coloradans here.

[Guest BikiniBeachy]

Hi there,

I am new here and am hoping to be banded soon. I just attended 3 different seminars: Dr. Johnell's, Dr. Snyder's, and Dr. Browns/Metz's. I have chosen Dr. Snyder and have my consultation appt on May 14th. Also have my psych. and pulmonary screening appts next week on the 6th and 8th. I will be self pay so I hope surgery won't be too long after that. Looking forward to meeting other Coloradans here.

Hello! Welcome. SO glad to see thsi thread in motion again. I live about 4 blocks from Dr Johnells office in Greeley, but unfortunately, Kaiser does not carry him as a surgeon, but they do carry Brown/Metz, so I would love to hear how you felt about that team and why you went with the surgeron that you did.

Are you self pay? Who is your insurance, where are you at? On the weekends I'm near I25 and Evans, what a great weekend it was this time around, can only hope for that next week.

[Great2BThin 5]

Hi Bikini,

I couldn't tell you how I felt about Dr.s Brown or Metz because they didn't even come to their seminars. That put me off a lot. When I went to Dr. Johnell's he comes out and meets you and answers questions and talks a bit, Dr. Snyder gave his whole presentation (2 hours) and these guys can't even poke their heads in and say hi? The other thing that put me off was getting to the seminar in the first place. When I called to register, they said no need, just be there at 11am at '3PPW' conference room. They said it would be above the parking garage. So in I pull into the first parking garage unbeknownst to me there are like 3 garages. There was no offices over it, so I was immediately lost. I asked a hospital employee, they were clueless but said to take the walkway over to the connecting building and there would be a directory. As I was walking over I noticed a sign that said "Physicians Pavillion East" so a light bulb clicked, I bet PPW is "Physcians Pavillions West" but where the heck was it? On the directory however I saw "Colorado Bariatrics" in suite 404. I knew they'd know so I went there. I walked in and the receptionist was chomping on her gum on a personal phone call. She looked up and said into the phone, 'just a second there's a patient here' in a real bothered tone. I asked where I was to go for the seminar and she gave me directions. I had to cross the street/driveway and go to the 3rd floor where there would be a sign to the conference room on the 3rd floor. Off I go, get to the 3rd floor, no sign about the seminar at all. Did find the conference room however, and there was another gal waiting. I asked her if she was there for it and she was. There was nothing in the room indicating we were in the right place. THe board that was in the room had some scribbling on it about 'placenta delivery'. LOL About 5 min. AFTER 11 a young gal walks in, apologizes for being late and proceeds to set up at that point. In the meantime more folks showed up all as confused about if they were in the right place. Now the gal presenting the presentation was pretty knowledgeable and very nice. She however, had no idea as to cost, how many lap bands either dr. had done, 2 questions I was concerned with. Afterwards she offered to walk everyone over to the office (where I had been to get directions) to get our insurance, cost questions etc. answered. However, we still would not get to meet the dr.'s until we actually set up appts. We arrive and no one was at the desk, she had to go into like 2 or 3 offices to find someone to come out and address us. Finally the office manager came out and all she was interested in was getting our insurance cards to verify if we had coverage. I explained I was self pay and then she did give the costs. This place was much cheaper than Dr. Snyder where I decided to go but I just didn't feel good about it. Price might be more of a consideration if it wasn't my body, life, and surgery we were talking. But considering this was surgery, I wanted to feel more at ease and just didn't.

I don't mean to bash this place too much and may just have hit it on an off day, but after the previous 2 seminars I had been to, they were much more impressive, I met the dr.'s and got all my questions answered. I figured if they weren't good at giving info and answering questions before surgery, what would they be like after. Dr. Johnell's office took 3 days to return a phone call. So that essentially crossed them off my list. Dr. Snyder's office has been awesome to deal with. Now I can't wait to get the surgery over with. Good luck in your decision. If you do go to Dr. Brown/Metz try and get Dr. Brown, did find out Dr. Metz is new and has only done about 40 lap bands.

Editing to add: I have United Healthcare but my husbands employer excludes Bariatric procedures so not covered. I will be doing self pay.

Edited April 29, 2008 by Great2BThin
forgot to add about insurance

[Guest BikiniBeachy]

Yikes...sorry to hear that. I wish I had more options, but we'll see once approved. I'm happy for you you are able to do self pay and can choose the finest :coolgleamA: Thanks for all the tips.

[Great2BThin 5]

I didn't mean to sound as if Dr. Brown/Metz weren't good. But I was put off by the seminar and not getting to meet them. And just basically the way everything was done. And like they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression. But if I were going there, I think I'd want Dr. Brown since he is much more experienced. Good luck to you. I never though of being self pay as being lucky but I guess it does give you a little more freedom to go where you want, etc. But I am going to have to get a job after to pay it off. I thought of getting a job with insurance that did since my husbands doesn't. But then I figured I'd have to work at least 6 mos to have coverage, then I might as well get the surgery now and work 6 mos after to pay it off.

[Girlmoose 0]

Hi fellow Coloradans! :w00t: I went to Dr. Chae first by Skyridge Hospital. I liked him and his credentials but he was not a "center of excellence" back in Oct. 2007, so my insurance would only cover 1,500. for him to do the surgery. They referred me to Dr. Tillquist in the same surgical group but at Swedish Hosp. since he was already a "center of excellence" with Anthem.

I personally liked Dr. Chae's experience and he actually works with mayo & approves other Doctors and clinics to become a "center of excellence" for lap band surgeries. I wasn't crazy about his staff. Seemed a little unprofessional that way. I think because it was a new office and they didn't have a strong foundation around them. It gave me an uneasy feeling. Just trying to call and get ahold of Susie could take days. It was like they weren't in the office everyday. I think they will work all that out in time though to be an awesome place to go.

Dr. Tillquist's office is ran like a typical Dr. office. Very professional. Easy to get a hold of nurses right away, get your questions answered & on top of things quickly. Dr. Tillquist has been very sensitive and listens well. I've had some pain and he promptly did a CT scan a couple weeks after surgery. The pain went away and the CT scan showed everything fine. Then 3 1/2 months later the pained came back. They got me right in. Together we came up with a plan. Ran blood work first. Then an xray. I do have a flipped port which is causing some of the pain. :thumbup: I'll have to have that fixed but they are very thorough and never him or his nurses ever make me feel like a bother, even though I feel like one... :coolgleamA:

I have faith that I'll get get this "corky" stuff I have going on worked out with him & his staff. I wish I could say it was a breeze for me but I just ended up being one of the few who has had to work out some complications. I'm on my way though. I could have never lost this much weight by myself! In 4 months my cholesterol has dropped from 220 - 240 range over the last 10 years to 180!!! :w00t: My VLDL and all my numbers are in the normal range already which I thought I would never see in my lifetime again!!! My Trig. numbers were 287 and now down to 120!!! :thumbup: I'm not feeling like my life revolves around eating anymore. My brain has caught up with my stomach now and when others around me want to eat fast food and etc. I'm like "you can't possibly be hunger again!" Or, even want to eat it. Doesn't sound appealing to me at all and I worry about their health and what they are doing to their bodies now... It has been a "disconnect" for me with food.

My surgery was 12-17-07. I've had 2 fills. 1/29/08 2 c.c. & 3/5 1 c.c. I have good restriction both times. Not in any hurry to get another one, even if I could. The weight loss has slowed since I haven't felt great this month... Mainly, because I'm not exercising and walking as much as I was. But that will come back as I work through this other stuff... :cool2:

The support meetings are helpful because you do learn a lot from other people and it helps keep your head together and in the right perspective... And it can help you make the decision if lap band is right for you before surgery. Everyone's experience is a little different too... Good luck to all!!! :thumbup:

[Guest BikiniBeachy]

Anyone use Dr Melniczek? Email me! I'd love to chat.