Looking for Memphis,Tn LapBand talk

[sandie1958 0]

To Madelines Mom:

I Live In Horn Lake So Good To Know You Are Close By. I Was Considering Dr Woodman But Now Have Decided To Go To Vanderbilt In Nashville. Went To Seminar Of Woodmans Was Impressed But He Was Out Of Town / Wasnt Done By Him. Let Me Hear From You Sandie

[Jammin & Losin 1]

to jammin and losin:

i just got on this web site so good to hear someone is using dr. woodman. i went to his seminar 2 wks. ago. he was out of town & cyndi did it for him. we were all disappointed. she was nice but she wasnt very informative. what insurance comp. do you have? i have cigna & she brushed all of us off that that cigna she said you will to have a 6 mo. strict diet recorded by a dr. but when i called the insirance comp. they didnt mention that . i now have a appointment in nash april 12 at vanderbilt to see if i can be approved. did you have to go thru anything like that ? i have been on several diets but cyndi said they have to be documented & recent for at least 6 mo. for cigna to pay . she never mentioned that the band had to have fills i didnt know that until i went on the webiste,. it wasnt explained. people were getting up & leaving . so you liked the dr.? thank you for all the info. you can give me .

Sandie this sounds nothing like the seminar I went to at Dr. Woodmans office. he was at the seminar as well as Cyndi and also both were very helpful with all details. He explained the band and how it worked had a band there with him and passed it around for all to see. yes Cyndi did warn me that until she checked with my ins company to be sure for me not to be suprised if they would want at least a 6 month supervised diet which they did end up needing for my band to be covered. I can tell you that my seminar helped answer alot of my questions and I was also able to talk to Dr. Woodman for a few minutes after the seminar and he answered a few questions for me then. I have had nothing but a good experience with everyone in his office and I would recomend him to everyone asking for a Dr. in the Memphis area. Does he have a good since of humor NO but his he a good surgeon very much so. I could care less if he makes me laugh when I go to his office... I just want him to know what hes doing and that I feel he does. he is very straight forward and will set you straight on what your not doing right with your band in a heart beat but to me that means he cares. he wants his patience to succeed or he would just say do what you want and eat what you want and if you lose then okay you lose...no he says you messed up now stop messing up and get back on that band wagon. I for one need someone that will keep me straight and doing all the bandster rules so we will get along just fine. He has done 2 surgeries for me and I think he is an excellent but straight forward surgeon!

[MemphisLady 0]

Misstea, Thank you so much for the info on the Clarksville doctor. I will look at that site!

Sandi1958, Sorry you had a hard time at Woodmans clinic. I also went to his clinic last year and Cyndi was the speaker. She seemed very, very busy. I felt rather lost in the crowd, myself. I also ran into the 6 month Dr. monitored diet. Many of the insurance companies are asking for that now to make it a little harder to qualify and make sure you are prepared for eating better. I haven't done that part. It won't hurt for the doctor you choose to send in your request and see if it qualifies. Let us know how your vanderbilt visit went.

Nikki - Memphis Lady

[MemphisLady 0]

I have some information on Dr. Hruska in Clarksville, Tn. She sounds like a good doctor, but does Not have a package price for a self-pay person. Dr. Hruska charges $5000 and the Hopital charges 20,000 and a couple of other charges her office and the hospital spoke of. Also, you don't get any free fills for say a year. They are all $250 each. Too bad for me but great for the insured. I can tell she is a great and caring doctor.

[pbrown 0]

Hi Memphis Lady,

I live in Pocatello, Idaho. I am considering self pay as our insurance doesn't want to pay and I can get the surgery for $11,000 which includes the fills afterwards, in Blackfoot, Idaho. This is about 30 minutes from Pocatello. In Idaho Falls Idaho, an hour away,they are quoting about $11,000. as well. They have just started to do these in both locations.

Salt Lake Utah also does the surgery, but I don't know how much they charge for self pay. it is 2 and a half hours south of Pocatello so it is a little far for me to go.

[FriscoLadyBug 0]

Hello pbrown, Thank you for the information! Those are some pretty cheap prices. I am glad the amounts are coming down. I never found one that cheap around Memphis, and now I have moved to Dallas area.

[pbrown 0]

Just to let those of you that may be considering Lapband Surgery. Idaho Falls and Blackfoot, Idaho are doing the surgery self pay for $11,000 and that includes the fills afterwards.

Even if you have to buy an airline ticket it may be cheaper then where you live. Not sure how you would do the follow up fills. Maybe they would do it for less if you aren't planning on doing the fills here.

Just an idea!

[TerryB 0]

I am from Memphis and I am having surgery in Mexico with Dr. Ortiz. I had Gastric Bypass surgery in 2000 and experienced a staple line disruption in 2002, I have since been healing from that issue. I have gained back 100 lbs. My surgery is scheduled for 8/10/2006. Dr. Ortiz was one of the only surgeons I could find that would do a revision self-pay that had any experience with band over bypass.

I hear that dr. Houston in Nashville will do fills on Mexico patients if needed. Does anyone have any more information on that?

Terry B

Memphis

[wanttobethin1 0]

Memphislady, and Terryb I live in Mason and go to Nashville to see Dr Hugh Houston also send me an email I would love to chat and I will send you my work number I work in Memphis. Rtwisdale@fpgpc.com work or Rtwisdales@aol.com

[samos 0]

I am self pay for my band with Dr. Weaver and it is going to be 17,000 but this includes all the preop tests (psych eval, nutritionist) and all post op appointments for 1 yr.

Sarah

[TerryB 0]

I got banded August 10 by Dr. Ortiz in Mexico. I am 4 days out and feel really good. I live in Downtown Memphis and was very impressed with the whole experience. Dr. Ortiz does self-pay band for 8500.00, mine was higher because it was a revision. That price includes 3 nights hotel and transportation to and from the airport and surgery center. Fills will be $100 due to the flouroscope.

My experience:

My sister and I flew into San Diego on Wednesday and a driver was there to pick us up and drove us to the hotel. I am a Marriott platinum and Hilton Diamond so I know hotels (travel for work a lot). It was a nice hotel, clean, the bed was a bit hard and but it had a beautiful atrium and the people were really nice. From what I understand the food was good(I was on liquids for a week), my sister ate there. Neither one of us speak spanish but we were fine.

Mrs. Ortiz (Doctors mom) picked us up from the hotel and drove us a few blocks to the surgery center. I saw the cardiologist and nutritionist which were both professional. The did a breath test, ekg, did a complete history, got my post op diet plan and they took blood.

They had agreed to do the surgery the same day for me so at that time I was prepped for surgery. I got a private room with a flat screen TV, small couch and chair for my sister to wait for me. They took me in, I got banded. They explained everything to my sister when they brought me back and me when I woke up. Dr. Ortiz did my surgery with Dr. Martinez, i have 4 small 1/2" and 1 medium 1" wounds. They are sealed with glue (which is really cool). I am not going to lie when I first woke up it HURT but they gave me pain killers and I was OK.

I was up walking the halls of the surgery center that night with the other two girls that were banded that day. I was released the next day after speaking to Dr Martinez and was given a card with the band information on it. I have an Inamed 9.75 cm band.

We went into San Diego the next day and flew home the following day... I wasn't really as comfortable as normal on the flight home but it wasn't bad.

If anyone is considering this journey, I will be glad to answer any questions.

Terry B

[JMO 0]

Hey all you memphians, I am in memphis also. I also had dr. woodman and I love him and his office.. Just wanted to say hi...

[wanttobethin1 0]

nice to have all these memphis friends we should all get together. TerryB if you decide not to take that flight back and forth Dr Hugh Houston in Nashville will see patients from Mexico. With flights so high it is cheaper to see him than fly back and forth....Let me knoe if I can help

[TerryB 0]

Thanks so much and I will certainly take you up on this in a few months. Currently I am traveling to Northern CA for work every other week so it is not a big deal to go to San Diego. But my contract will end by the end of the year so I will talk to Dr. Houston at that time. I had thought abouth that prior to the surgery.

Terry B

[floydsgurl 0]

Hi everyone...My name is Regina..I live close to Memphis..I live in Hickory Flat,MS..nice to meet everyone here...