Anyone familiar with New Start at St. ALexious in St. Louis MO? I am trying to get approved to have Dr. Follwell perform my surgery. Anyone with any info about him or the program, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks,

Mary

I am just wondering if you had anything done from St. Alexius Hospital. I have recently went to a seminar in Cape Giradero and I am completing all the paperwork necessary to submit for a lap band. I would love to hear how your surgery went if you had one or what you thought of the new start program. Thanks for replying!!

I am still waiting for my insurance to approve me for surgery. I have had no luck finding anyone who has had surgery there on this web site or yahoo's bandster web site. Hopefully I will know in the next week or so if I am approved. Then I will get the first available appointment with Dr. Follwell and then hopefully be banded soon. I 've been going crazy waiting. Even sort of depressed. I think I am overeating now do to the stress of waiting and thinking, "Oh, I better eat this one last time - it may be the last time I have the chance." I need the now! I will keep you posted as to my progress and experience. I am about 2 hours north of St. Louis, in Quincy.

Mary

Anyone familiar with New Start at St. ALexious in St. Louis MO? I am trying to get approved to have Dr. Follwell perform my surgery. Anyone with any info about him or the program, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks,

Mary

Mary, I am in the early research stage and wondering why you selected St. ALexious. I have several that I am researching and weeding through the process of elimination. Anything you can share that might alleviate some of my upfront time? I am anxious to move forward and according to my insurance should qualify.

Thanks,

Paula

My PCP suggested them to me. I really didn't research alot of other places. So far my experience's with them have all been positive. I have been to the seminar, meet Dr. Follwell there, and my patient rep. there is very helpful. I am really anxious to get approved - no doubt that I qualify - just a waiting game. Good luck to you!

Mary

I have heard about the program and seen the ads for it. Iam going to Dr. Minikin at Des Pers, Hosp. in St. Louis. My wife and I have an apt. on Monday and keeping fingers crossed that he approves us and send in the paper work. The tests are done expect for right before surgery.

Chris

Pre Band

St. Louis

Chris, this is great news! Dr. Minkin is on my short list and I had intended to call them today but time ran out. He is in my neck of the woods so convenience plays an important role. I also see that he has a seminar on Tues. that I thought I might pencil in.

Anything you would be willing to share about his process would be greatly appreciated. How long have you been waiting for approval and any idea how soon your surgery will be scheduled.

Thanks,

Paula

Chris, I am scheduled to attend Dr. Minkin's seminar on Tues. 8/14. I have a consult scheduled with him for 9/4, apparently my insurance is going to cover 100% as long as I meet all their criteria. I don't think I will have a problem qualifying. Even though my BMI is only 36/37, I have a pretty good paper trail of my weight loss efforts over a lengthy period of time that I can provide. I also have high cholesterol, pre-diabetes (on meds for both) and starting to have trouble with my knees and back.

Anyway, I have looked back over some of you previous posts and wonder if your delay in surgery is your choice of if the Dr.’s requirements push out the delay. Even though I want to do my research, I don’t want to drag this out for 3 or 4 months. Based on your history with Minkin do you think banding by the end of September is realistic? Any thoughts?

Hello Chris and pbaus, I had my band placed by Dr. Minkin back in March,and love it. Dr. Minkin is a great guy. I'm am attending the seminar on the 14th with a friend,who is very interestd in the band since he has seen how well I have done.Hope to see you there.

307/238/190ish

Banded 22 Mar 07

Dr. Darren Minkin

Des Peres Hospital

St. Louis, Mo.

I'M WITH THE BAND

Hey Driver! Always good to learn of a satisfied customer. I will pose the same question to you that I did to Chris (above) from the time of acceptance (dr. & Ins) did you have a lengthy wait before the procedure was performed?

Now that I have made my decision, I'm anxious to move forward and would LOVE to get any waiting / adjusting behind me before I start the holiday season which is always super busy for me.

Hope to see you on Tues. My understanding is there is about 25 registered.

Paula

Hello Paula,

My insurance gave me fits during the process, and I had to fight them a little bit. I started in early Jan. and was approved in mid Feb.and wanted to get it done. I had all of the pre op testing done by the end of Feb. and was ready, but Dr. Minkin made me wait,(can you believe it ,HE WANTED TO TAKE A VACATION, THE NERVE OF THE GUY!) LOL!

I can say that this is the best decision that I have ever made in my life

Alan

Hi Alan, it sure was nice to put a name and a face together. What a walking testimonial to the procedure you are! I was very impressed with Dr. Minkin. He was very down to earth and sensitive to each individual’s situation. He didn’t get too technical in his lecture and seems very genuine.

I am anxious to take this to the next level. Hopefully, all will go smooth and I will be banded by the end of September. Hope your friend (and his wife) could see the health benefits. Maybe we will begin our journey together.

Paula

Hi All:

I justed wanted to give you an update on things since it has been a while since I posted. Sorry for the delay.

Well we both went to see Dr.Minkin on Monday the 13. We went over the medical test that he required. We had figured that since we had not heard anything before the apt. we were fine. Thin he told us that they had allready since the request in for both of us back at the end of July. When he told us that I felt that this visit was a waste of time and money since he could have called on the phone. That being said, Iam glad that we did go because I was able to obtain the letters they had sent. So I called UHC to see if they had gotton the letters and they did not have anything in the system. So I faxed the letters to UHC and got a response back that not all the information that they were looking for in the letter or was submitted. However I do not know what was sent by mail/fax from there Minkin office. So I faxed the letter to his office and they can take it from there. They want five years and other information. I had to work very hard with my own doctor and had to go through my file myself to obtain all the information. I even had to write the letter. My wife is still having problems with here doctor but I feel we got them under control since we went to them on Monday before we say Dr. Minkin. Dr. Minkin did say they have up to 30 days to respond to the request and his exp. has been take that long. Were hoping for approval soon but not sure how long it will take etc. I did ask him that once approval is in how long do you have to get the surgery done. He was not able to answer that. Since we will not be doing the operations at the same time I have to schedule time off for both of us. I was thinking about work schedules, hoildays, etc. Then later in the day after reviewing the letter that he had sent I got to thinking about all the costs for both us and what we will have to pay out of pocket. We have maxed out the flex spending for this year that we might be better off to wait untill the new year. I really do not want to do that, I would rather start now but sometimes money holds you back.

I know this is long but I wanted to make sure that I covered everything so you all know what is going on with us. IF you have any questions you can e-mail me.

Thanks

Chris

Pre-Band

St. Louis

:whoo: