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Kentucky, "who's your Doctor"



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Hello, my name is Jules, I'm 30 years old and I'm working toward jumping on the "band" wagon. I'm getting my surgery done at Central Baptist in Lexington with Bluegrass Bariatrics. June 4th is my all day appointment for labs and I think I'm good to go with my insurance which is BC/BS FEP. Would love to hear from others who've had their surgery there or any advice :thumbup:

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I am having my surgery done in Hazard with Dr. Oldham from Bluegrass Bariatrics. I have my last all day appt. on June 30 and my surgery is scheduled for July 10th. I am very happy with the staff, they have been awesome.

I have Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama through my husbands work (Lowe's). I got approval after I had to do a bunch of stuff to show I needed the surgery. I have been working on getting approval since last August so it's been almost a year.

It's okay--I'm approved now! :thumbup: Oh yeah, I'm new to the board too!

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We may have the same doctor! I find out everything in just a couple of days. Let me know how things go! I'm so ready for this surgery to happen and I can't wait for a surgery date!

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Help! We've just moved to Louisville from Nashville, TN. My hubby's new job has BCBS, and from the info we got, they will cover the surgery but you have to be on doctor supervised weight loss for 6 months. Since I'm new in town, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of a physician to work with on this?? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

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Not sure what you mean as far as working with you on it. My hubbie and I have Humana. He had his surgery with Dr. Weiss at Bluegrass Bariatrics. I had mine with Dr. Schuster at St. Mary's and Elizabeth. B/c the insurance required the 6 month we both had to do it even though we had different surgeons.

As far as when, where , and outcomes.

Just had my 2 week post- op.. all is well and having a fill in 2 weeks. Dr. Schuster is very mild mannered but I think he is great. No matter what he is saying even if it is "I recommend staying away from breads unless toasted" he is smiling and making me feel reassured.

My hubbie has had a bit of a rougher time. He has not seen the surgeon since his surgery. Dr. Weiss has nurses that do the fills. His surgery was 2 years ago and he has regained all of his weight. The last time he went for a fill (2 yrs. ago) the nurse told him (he had 5 ccs. in 14cc. band) that if didn't lose some weight on his own they would not fill him anymore. Well w/o restriction for most of us that is impossible and he fell headfirst off the band wagon. Since I had my surgery he has gotten back in touch with Bluegrass BAriatrics and went last week for a fill in there E- town office. The nurse practitioner was very kind filling him to 7 cc in 14cc and requesting him to come back if it is not enough. He (Stephen?) was very understanding.

Hopefully now we will become healthy together.:drool:

Good luck to all. We are in south central KY (near Glasgow ) if anyone around here wants to talk.

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Just trying to find a recommendation on a physician for the supervised weight loss part.

Congrats on your 10 lbs!

Then in my personal opinion go with Louisville Surgical Assoc. This includes Dr. Schuster, Dr. Lusco, and Dr. Olsafka (sp?). They go thru St. Mary and Elizaeth's hospital. This is a part of the Jewish hospital and therefore, they also do ofice visits at the Shepherdsville office. Check out their website LAP-BAND

Good luck and keep us posted on your progres. :drool:

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Hello all. I have a seminar with Dr. O(SMEH), Louisville. I called the insurance company (BCBSMA.com)... They said they would cover 90%.. I would be responsible for at least 1200.00.

I so pray they do.. I am so ready to shed this weight. My legs ( i have a sit down job) have vericose veins and they hurt. I weigh 270 lbs.... I do not have any comorbiditties.. So i am hoping the approval will be easy. We will see. I have read all 15 pages of the postings.. Thanks for all the inspirations and information. I look forward to the journey.

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I'm having my surgery at St. Elizabeth florence (in Florence, KY) January 13, 2010. My surgery was approved through Anthem without having to jump through any hoops. Dr. Moon's office handled everything and I was approved on the first try.

I'm not too sure about the office staff as I've had several little issues already. Nothing huge mind you.. but often the small things are what really ticks me off. I'm hoping to report they have turned things around as I get closer to my date.

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I'm having my surgery on Dec. 22 with Dr. Schuster at St's Mary and Elizabeth. I'm excited - Merry Christmas to me. I hope to lose a Ho Ho Ho lot of pounds.

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I need help choosing Dr.V. Lusco or Dr.J. Allen. Both Drs are in my insurance plan and will go for the lapband. Any words of wisdom are really appreciated.

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    • 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!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • 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.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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