Attended a seminar in Parsippany NJ last night and I definitely want to go ahead with the procedure. Does anyone know of certified doctors in the Lehigh Valley area of PA? Any readers in the LV that have had it done?

Dr. Boorse is at LVH on cedar crest blvd. I went to a free info night. He is a really nice guy, and I would have done it there, but I didn't feel like fighting the insurance company and the hospital wants you to go to a mandatory 6 month screening process whether you use insurance or not. You have to go to monthly day time meetings,and if you don't lose a certain amount of weight, you can't get the surgery and if you lose weight and go below the 40 BMI, they won't do the surgery! A lot of disappointed people walked away from that meeting. I'm tired of the BS of the US, so I am being Lap banded 1/18/08 in Mexico with Dr. Ortiz! 13 weeks and counting! Good luck to you!

Do you think the doctor at LVH will do the fills ( im a half an hour away)??? i had my band done in michigan.... if not where are you getting filled?

You can try Dr. Boorse. I'm going to a surgeon in Florham Park, NJ and will drive the hour plus to have him do my fills. I don't want to wait the required 6 months that LV Hospital requires.

they make you wait 6 months evenfor fills?? holy crap

I know they do the procedure at Easton Hospital, Abington Memorial, Temple has a program both downtown Philly and at Jeanne's Hospital. I live in Allentown as well and I am going to be going down to the Temple program at Jeane's. Doctors down there have alot of experience and being in the healthcare field myself I have not been overly impressed with LVHC--it's too big you become just a number.

no I don't think 6 months for just a fill. I was just surprised to see that no doctor in the Lehigh Valley was certified by Allergan.

Maybe you should check into Dr. Abkin in Florham Park, NJ - going to Mexico makes me nervous :-) Very, very experienced and his staff is super!

Hi! I haven't gotten my band yet--scheduled 1/18/07 with Dr. Ortiz. He has an affiliated fill center in Mount Laurel NJ, which isn't too far from PA. They are certified and have flouroscopy available if needed. If you go to the obesity control center website, they have a link to the fill center. Good luck!

thanks! im still trying to figure out where to go for my fills. . . i know its bad but im probably going to end up at the least expensive...... im self pay

well i'm glad i found this thread! i'm going to an info night thing with dr. boorse at LVH in january and was hoping to get everything done over spring break. haha. guess that's not gonna happen huh? i'm not sure i can get it done somewhere else though... my insurance company, in my opinion, is pretty dumb cause they don't seem to work with alot of doctors. anyone know why lvh has the 6 month thing? the monthly meets aren't too bad except i'll probably have weight watchers flashbacks. lol. this is frustrating me right now. poop.:phanvan

Where in PA are you located? You may want to try a NJ doctor. I'm going to Dr. Abkin in Florham Park. He operates out of Dover or New Brunswick.

i'm in the poconos so i actually looked at some jersey doctors first since some are closer than lvh. but they don't take my crappy annoying insurance so i'm going to lvh i guess. i don't really mind the wait though. i just hope the 6 month diet thing doesn't put me out of range for the surgery. my bmi is 41.5 so hopefully any pre-op stuff i do won't get me bellow 40. never wished i wouldn't lose too much weight before...:eek

I have a couple questions here ...

I work in allentown but live by scranton .. I have capital bluecross ins. anyone use it for lap band ?

I am going to

Tri-State Bariatrics

1-845-692-8780 Tristate Bariatrics :: The LEAN Way :: Paying for Your Surgery - Insurance

my friend had hers done there and they were great .....

They are located in New York not far from the Poconos ..

Anyone else go here ? I am hoping to get my ins to approve this....

I just signed up with Dr. Boorse in Allentown - can I ask you what you meant by "certified with Allergan". Thanks!

Hi for those of you not wanting to wait the 6 months it's the insurance companies that require it. I'm going to a seminar by Dr, Borse July 10, 2008. Spoke to my insurance they are sending me paperwork but I have to be on a 6 month supervised diet and go thru the counseling etc.. before you can be banded. A lot of it makes sense because if you are not going to follow the program what good is it? I'm looking at the band as an assistance not a cure. You can have the band and not lose weight. The band is a physical reminder I still have to do the work. My husband's friend had gastric bypass - he was over 200 lbs overweight. He said the beginning was hard but he is so happy he had the surgery. Now he has to wait a year for the cosmetic surgery to remove all the excess skin. Even with the surgery HE had change his outlook on food and exercise the surgery helped. If you are looking at this surgery as a quick fix don't botter. It's a help but it all comes down to you. I'm at a point where I will do what they say. I'm tired of hurting and not being able to walk. I want to be the person I was before the weight took over.