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Hi Tina, I had my inverted gastric sleeve with Dr Kim 4 years ago this month. I lost 75lbs and have kept it off since then. I would highly recommend him and his practice. As mentioned by someone else on the post, he has several different programs depending on your insurance so I would give them a call to see what they can do for you. When I had my surgery it was in the hospital but I know he has his own surgery facility now. I've heard great things about it from other patients in our support group. The support group is one of the best benefits of having my surgery with him. We have a private FB page for just his patients and it is run by patients. We organize local events like going to 5Ks, going bowling, dancing, monthly breakfasts and dinners. I know you are in OK so it might be hard to do those things but we also have lots of online exercise challenges like last month we did a daily plank challenge and this month we have a Abs/Squats challenge. Some of the remote people on the page have even found other patients in their area and been able to arrange meet-up events. It is a very active group, friendly and non-judgmental. I see Dr Kim and his staff once a year for my checkups but I talk to my fellow patients every day and some of them have become like family.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best! This is a scary decision at first but it was one of the best decisions of my life.

Best wishes,

JoAnn

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You may also want to check the self-pay options with Dr. Scott Stowers at My Bariatric Solutions in Texas. He has offices in N. Fort Worth/Alliance and Decatur. He has a mobile unit and works with a lot of patients who travel in. (And he went to school in OK ????) http://mybariatricsolutions.com/dr-scott-stowers-bariatric-surgeon

I'm scheduled for surgery tomorrow, so I can't speak for that part of it yet, but Dr. Stowers and his staff have been timely, courteous, and have worked to streamline the whole process for me. Less than 8 weeks from initial appt. to surgery for me. Best of luck!

Edited by misi324

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If one needed to stay the night do they have that option or do they close up shop at night? Because you did not stay overnight with an IV did you experience any dehydration? Sorry for so many questions but I really appreciate your answers.

I live in NW Arkansas, about 7 hours from Dallas; I traveled to Dr. Frenzel's Texarkana office for my initial visit, then scheduled the EGD test to determine if I had a Hiatal hernia, stayed the night at a motel and went home the next day. Four my sleeve my wife and I drove down the 27th, had the operation the 28th and was released the 29th. I rested that day and drove home the 30th. I had originally made reservations for two more nights but felt good enough to drive home...stopping every hour for a ten minute walk at the Dr's insistence I have read some coments about his staff not being up to par but my experience has been very good, in fact the agreed that my Post-op follow up.could be done over the phone as I have had no problems with meeting the Fluid and Protein goals each day. That saves me a 4.5 hour drive each way back down to Texarkana, thank goodness!

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Hi, Tina, Dr Kim did my inverted sleeve 4 years ago. Hes a great doctor! He doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to your health. He cares about his patients and doesn't sugar coat anything. He is straight forward and I like that in a surgeon. His office was always so nice to me. I've lost 90 pounds and have kept it off. The after care support is amazing with support groups once a month you can watch online since you live so far away. There is also a private patient only Facebook support group that is very encouraging as well. We do lots of fun things together each month. The key to success is staying connected to a support system and to have WLS friends that used the same bariatric office makes a HUGE difference! They have a hiatal hernia program if you have insurance. Its a discount program. Give them a call. You will not regret it!

Hello my name is Tina and I live in Oklahoma. I am currently 359 pounds and in desperate need of surgery but my insurance refuses to cover the procedure. I am considering a self pay option with Dr. Kim in Texas. Has anyone had surgery with him and what was your experience. Any information will
Be most appreciated.

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The facility has discounts with nearby hotels.

If one needed to stay the night do they have that option or do they close up shop at night? Because you did not stay overnight with an IV did you experience any dehydration? Sorry for so many questions but I really appreciate your answers.

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Sorry I didn't realize I answered twice to this post haha Can you tell I really liked Dr Kim! lol

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You may also want to check the self-pay options with Dr. Scott Stowers at My Bariatric Solutions in Texas. He has offices in N. Fort Worth/Alliance and Decatur. He has a mobile unit and works with a lot of patients who travel in. (And he went to school in OK ) http://mybariatricsolutions.com/dr-scott-stowers-bariatric-surgeon

I'm scheduled for surgery tomorrow, so I can't speak for that part of it yet, but Dr. Stowers and his staff have been timely, courteous, and have worked to streamline the whole process for me. Less than 8 weeks from initial appt. to surgery for me. Best of luck!

How did your surgery go?

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I'm in Texarkana, So What I did I sent all my personal and insurance information to Dr's Kim Office and few days later they just sent me an email saying that my insurance don't cover the Surgery and that's it, I was like move to the side and Next!; anyway I was bumped and sad, And without knowing but talking about the situation one of my co-workers she had the surgery few years ago with Dr. Frenzel and He comes from Dallas to Texarkana, so I setup the appointment and the Dr. Very knowledgeable, friendly, well concerned about my health and my weight, staff members couldn't be more nicer, Insurance coordinator she informed me that my insurance does not cover the surgery but right there in the moment she gave me option, she validate alternatives, and one of them is doing a EDG test for a Hernia to see if needs to be repair and if needs to be repair they can go ahead and do the surgery to repair it (and its cover by the insurance) and They will do the gastric sleeve at the same time, for a out of pocket cash amount, which really isn't that bad in compare paying full price, so Im going to Dallas to get my tests done I'll be gone for the whole day Sept 6th. And see what is the verdict .. Prayers! Prayers! [emoji1373]

Edited by Sergio_TX

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Have you contacted Dr Kirk at Bailey Medical in Owasso, Ok?

Sent from my SM-N920T using the BariatricPal App

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Hope you don't get a large bill from them after your HH discount program. Insurances aren't paying for the HH repair anymore especially if you have an exclusion on your policy. They have found out bariatric surgery is being done at the same time.

I'm in Texarkana, So What I did I sent all my personal and insurance information to Dr's Kim Office and few days later they just sent me an email saying that my insurance don't cover the Surgery and that's it, I was like move to the side and Next!; anyway I was bumped and sad, And without knowing but talking about the situation one of my co-workers she had the surgery few years ago with Dr. Frenzel and He comes from Dallas to Texarkana, so I setup the appointment and the Dr. Very knowledgeable, friendly, well concerned about my health and my weight, staff members couldn't be more nicer, Insurance coordinator she informed me that my insurance does not cover the surgery but right there in the moment she gave me option, she validate alternatives, and one of them is doing a EDG test for a Hernia to see if needs to be repair and if needs to be repair they can go ahead and do the surgery to repair it (and its cover by the insurance) and They will do the gastric sleeve at the same time, for a out of pocket cash amount, which really isn't that bad in compare paying full price, so Im going to Dallas to get my tests done I'll be gone for the whole day Sept 6th. And see what is the verdict .. Prayers! Prayers!

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

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
      · 0 replies
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