Hey folks--

I finally will have a surgery date by the end of the week for sometime in April. Here is my honest to God, unbias opinion of the Doctors and Specialists I have seen.

First up, Bariatric Surgeon #1.... Dr. Moran. http://www.alasurgery.com/

The Short: $250 "administrative fee." Unsupportive Staff. Reputable and experienced Surgeon. Bad Bed side manner. Very much to the point.

The Long: His office staff was rude, unhelpful, and unsupportive to my needs. They gave me a hassle about faxing my documentating to another doctor when I decided to change. I was denied by insurance because my BMI was > 50. They knew this on the first visit/consultation. Dr. Moran told me all he would have to do is call the insurance company and the denial would be overturned. After I plunked down the cash, the copays, etc, I was told by his office staff that Dr. Moran was far too busy to call me or my insurance company. They referred me to a financing company to pay for my surgery, even though I am fully 100% insured. They offered no assistance in the way of the appeals. Pharrah (office manager), Iris(receptionist), and Ann(bariatric coordinator) are the office staff that I had the displeasure of dealing with. I had to call their office constantly to receive updates on my case. It seemed as if without me calling and asking constantly, nothing got done. Dr. Moran himself was alright, though a bit cold and curt. The office staff motivated me to move to a new Doctor and never look back.

Tammi Moore-- Psychiatrist:

She is a wonderful woman and knows all about the bariatric surgeries. I really enjoyed working with her and talking with her. I am considering seeing her again after my surgery.

Dr. Earnhardt - Cardiologist:

This man was probably my favorite of all the specialists I have seen. So kind, attentive, and informative. Loved this visit.

Ashley Miles - Nutritionist at Rex Wellness

SHe was a total sweetheart as well. It was a joy to see her. Highly recommended.

Baratric Surgeon #2.... Dr. Enochs. http://www.surgerync.com/

Angelica at Dr. Enochs is my angel. She was VERY helpful over the phone far before I paid them a single dime. She is the bariatric coordinator over there. She talked me through my issues and got me in to see Dr. Enochs as soon as possible. Luckily, in between visits, I lost the weight I needed for the BMI factor, so that will no longer be an issue. Dr. Enochs himself is a sweetheart and took the time to answer all of my questions. However, there is a $500 administrative fee here. BUT, since I had already paid Dr. Moran $250 and was so frustrated by the process, Dr. Enochs only charged me $250. Yay! It was somewhat of a lengthy wait once I got to the office (30 minutes after my scheduled appointment) and his office in Cary is a bit of a haul from my home in NorthWest Raleigh, but I think it was well worth it. Dr. Enochs also has a FANTASTIC support staff who saw me and spent time with me. I met with 5 employees while there, all guiding me through their area of expertise. Highly recommended.

Please PM or reply with any questions at all.

Wow that is a great summary for those in the process. Thanks for sharing....

Hi Nicole!

I wish I had warned you about Dr. Moran. Haleybugs (amy) went and saw him and felt he was the coldest person on the planet. Plus he has no personality or affect. Dr. ENOCHS ended up doing her gastric bypass and my lap band. WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE DR. ENOCHS and so do all of his patients. I am on obesityhelp.com and Raleigh loves him!! Oh, he may be opening a raleigh office so don't sweat the drive! ITS WORTH IT! Keep us posted on your surgery. Hugs!

Hey Guys!

Thanks for your kind replies...

Yeah, Jean, everyone seems to LOVE Dr. Enochs. He is doing my band and scheduled me for May 9th. He got me approved and taken care of and he is a TOTAL sweetheart. Love him to death.

Dr. Moran... ugh... Seriously... if anyone reads this thread that is thinking of surgery, STAY AWAY! Everyone I know that has seen him thinks he is rude and his office staff is useless.

I adore the girls at Dr. Enochs.

We all need to read these stories about these Doctors and their office staff..

We all will deal with the office staff daily than with the doctor We only see the Dr once and then at surgery. If the office staff sucks then we are in trouble. Then we have to get stressed out every time we have to talk to one of them...By people like you writing about your experience and posting it for us to read, we get to fish out all the bad places to go and help each other go to the great Doctors, with Great staff's

We all want a Dr with a great bed side manner and most of all we ALL want A Doctors office STAFF that is helpful not nasty.

I am going through a very hard time with my Doctors office staff in Charlotte.

I have been crying for days because of the 2weeks of wasted time they have put me through. On Tuesday it will be my 30th day my paper work is with my insurance company. I am still waiting on APPROVAL.. BUt my Dr's office staff ( Insurance lady in office named LISA) does not know how to do her job. I hate the fact I have to deal with the office staff But I know in my heart the Dr is Great. SO I have to wait this all out like my Dr said today, for maybe 2 more weeks until I get approved... This waiting sucks.. It's so stressful....

Hey Guys,

Please give Dr. Moran a chance. He's an excellent surgeon. Yes he is a bit dry on the bedside manner, but he does come around and actually can crack a few jokes here and there.

The main thing I like about him, he doesn't go crazy with the fills, he allows your body to adjust so that you'll have the best outcome. Janell, his RN is very kind and will go the extra mile to help you, pre and post surgery.

There have been some changes in the office staff and I'm happy with the decision I've made. Just remember you have to be comfortable with your decision, but I highly recommend him. He's highly skilled.

Hey Guys,

Please give Dr. Moran a chance. He's an excellent surgeon. Yes he is a bit dry on the bedside manner, but he does come around and actually can crack a few jokes here and there.

The main thing I like about him, he doesn't go crazy with the fills, he allows your body to adjust so that you'll have the best outcome. Janell, his RN is very kind and will go the extra mile to help you, pre and post surgery.

There have been some changes in the office staff and I'm happy with the decision I've made. Just remember you have to be comfortable with your decision, but I highly recommend him. He's highly skilled.

My biggest problem was with his staff. In general, I liked Dr. Moran. However, this is a very PERSONAL decision. I encourage you all to see the Doctor you choose, but if you do not like him/her, CHANGE! This Doctor is very important and if you guys don't "click" you'll regret it later.

Dr. Moran is a great doctor, just wasn't the right fit for me.

Hmmmm...interesting take on Dr. Moran. I saw him for my consult two weeks ago and had a great experience. His staff was terrific during every call that I've had with them so far. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I think that it may be a cultural difference of some sort. I'm not a huge fan of "fuzzy", so I actually appreciated his to-the-point bedside manner. I'll have to catch the names of the folks that I've worked with. So far the only familiar name is Iris' and she has been incredible. She even let me email her a scan of my insurance card when our office fax went on the fritz. That's not a public email address, so I really, really, really appreciated it!

They have a new nutritional counselor who comes into their office on Wednesdays, Shelley Wegman. I was sooooooo not looking forward to my eval with her 'cause I just imagined an hour of being told all of the stuff that all of us know about how we SHOULD eat. Instead, she was incredibly positive, didn't patronize me one bit, and answered all of my questions until I felt that I completely understood.

As long as you go into Dr. Moran's office with the knowledge that he is a straightforward guy, I cannot imagine that you'll have any trouble. I will definitely keep you all posted if my opinion changes as things move along!

Hi all,

I have to totally agree ,,, My experience with Dr. Moran's office was great. They seemed pleasant every time I called. I wasn' t looking for a Dr. to dote on me,,,I wanted one who would get the job done and have my body in his best interest... I found all of that in Dr. Moran and his staff.. My process went from start to finish in 2 months... I am very happy with Dr. Moran thus far...

So far I have been pleased with Dr Moran and his office. He has a relatively new female P.A. who is very friendly and nice. Also, Iris has been great along with Dr. Moore (psychologist) and Shelly (nutritionist). Surgeons are known for their bad bedside manner- so I was prepared. He was pleasant enough though and answered all my questions.

I love the new pa at Dr. Moran s office,, she is great!!!!

Post-op appointment today with the PA. I wrote another thread about how HAPPYYYYYYY I am with Dr. Moran's office.

Please note that your personality may not be compatible with someone who is "all business", but I actually appreciate to-the-point much more than smile-pat-smile-pat. Just not my style.

Hello, I am new to this and have been following many of the threads as a means of information as I made the decision to have the lapband surgery. Does anyone have any familiarity with Dr. Scott Bovard and Bovard Bariatrics center? I certainly would appreciate the info.:crying:

I personally have had difficulties with Dr. Enochs insurance specialist. Not only was she very unhelpful, I believe that she may have contributed to the insurance denial. She not only misspelled the names of some medication I was on, she abbreviated a year long, invesitigation drug study with dr. supervision and monthly dietician appointments to Physician's Weight Loss. I contacted Obesity Law who, based on just a brief note, think that the appeal can be won but need an appeals application that only the doctor can request. I called Angelica on Monday and again on Thursday. I have yet to hear from her or anyone is the office. As it stands now, I will eat the $400 fee that Dr. Enochs charged and will be switching to Duke and another $250 fee. duke takes longer but had I gone with them initially, I believe Iwould have the surgery by now. I have a personal bias against incompetence. I wish I had more patience but I have futzed away precious months having faith in Angelica, only to be seriously disappointed. BTW, because of the year long diet, I lost below the 35 threshold. That gives me 3 out of five, 4 out 6 and in January 5 out of 7 but not the 4 out 5 the insurance requires. She also told me she would get additional documentation from various sources but did not. I even had to go to my own PCP to get lab work that he had done to expedite the process. Not happy in NC.