They are offering a cash option of $9990 all inclusive until February to celebrate the opening of this new surgery center...no word yet though on what docs use it. I am attending the seminar next week. Anyone familiar?

No, but please let me know what you find out, I live in the Dallas area and my insurance will not cover the procedure. I would love to find out about that.

TLC Edge Surgical Weight Loss

I am attending their information seminar on Wednesday night. They are signing people up for it if you wanted to call and and get on the list. The price is good on surgeries scheduled before 02/28/08.

meaning signing people up for the information seminar

Did you attend the TLC Edge meeting? What did you think? Are the doctors reputable/experienced?? Are there any 'hidden' costs? I wanted to attend the meeting last Wednesday night but was unable to make it. Please let know what you thought!

Come on Gentylwind, let us know the scoop

The price is $9990.00 and the surgeons are the same ones who have been doing lapbands forever.

Cynthia

do you have their contact info, i found one web site, but it looked like it was for doc's not patients?

The number is 972-792-2799. Give them a call. They have a seminar tonight in Hurst!

Cynthia

Cynthia O'Kelly (the previous poster) runs the seminars, does the presentation and all that with them. In other words, works for them (not sure why she would not post that info here!) She has personally had a lab band done about nine or so years ago and has maintained a very impressive weight loss and has a wonderful book of photographs of herself before, during and goal.

TLCEdge is a brand new facility and will start their first surgeries at the end of December. They have contracted with a number of surgeons here in the Dallas area and you get to choose which one you want. In no particular order:

Adam Smith, D.O.

Craig Ferrara, D.O.

Nirmal Jayaseelan, M.D.

Francis D. Veninga, M.D.

Richard S. Anderson, M.D.

Robert M. Hagood, M.D.

Andres U. Katz, M.D.

Richard Carter, D.O.

Manuel E. Castro, M.D.

David D. Kim, M.D.

They are pretty excited about the new facility. I am familiar with Medical Edge and am not sure how I feel about them in terms of running a surgical center. I have no personal bad experience, but have had friends work for them who were unhappy as employees..and unhappy employees are not always the most attentive caretakers. But that was many years ago and, as I said, I personally have not had a bad experience with anyone from there, and in fact have a physician friend who is one of their family practice doctors, so in my mind, it mitigates back to neutral.

There are no "hidden fees" that I can discern. The cost of preoperative testing is not included in the $9990 price, so you will want to have a physical on your regular insurance (provided you have insurance) to get your blood work and EKG done. It also does not cover the cost of the psyche eval. It covers the cost of fills for six months after the procedure, which surprised me as many places cover fills indefinitely if you pay cash. However, they did say they anticipate the cost of a regular fill to be under $100 and the cost of a fluoro fill to be under $200. But they did not have exact numbers to quote in that department yet.

In all the seminar was fun but you could definitely tell it was their first. There are still bugs getting worked out in terms of the preoperative requirements and the pricing on certain things that are not included in the cash pay option. I am investigating further and have not made a decision yet myself. But they are ready to get people in by the end of the year, so if you want it on the fast track, get in touch with them.

Well, I didn't say who I was as I didn't know I could! Yes, I work for TLC Edge! The company is new into the surgery center gig, but we are all old (Jary, Mary Belle and myself are all banded and have worked in the banding world for years). The surgery center staff is also old (they are very well versed in lap band surgeries).

All in all, if you do decide to use TLC Edge, I believe you will be glad you did.

A previous poster mentioned that the TLCedge special applies to surgeries scheduled before 2/28/08. Is this true or does it only apply to surgeries actually performed by 2/28/08?

Thanks for the feedback.

This is for surgeries scheduled prior to 2/28. There are some people that want to book for their spring break, so as long as they are on the books, it is a go for that price.

Cynthia

when is the surgery center going to open, more specifically when will you be able to perform surgeries.

The first surgeries will be on 12/27/07. We are trying to get those in that want to take it off their taxes or use up their flex spending. We start seeing patients next week. I toured the facility Wednesday and it is awesome! I am really excited. Of course next week the office will be a bit bare as we have the nice furniture on order, but the bones of the location are all there and in place.

Cynthia

I am excited to come in for my appointment on 11/29. Does anyone else have appointments scheduled @TLCEdge?