Has anyone had lap band surgery in Port Charlotte and do you have any advice on doctors in the area? I was set to go to a seminar with Dr. Matthew Bagan on April 10th and was could not find it by the directions I was given. I was so disappointed I wanted to cry. I have BCBS of Alabama but am thinking of going with self pay just to avoid all of the waiting and dead ends I am likely to hit with the insurance company. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hey there! I live in North Port, FL. I was banded by Dr. Gary Bunch & Dr. Erbella at the Bradenton Surgical Group. I HIGHLY recommend them.

I had issues with Dr. Bagan's office staff which is why I switched to BSG. I would suggest talking with Kris with BSG regarding your insurance. Why pay for the surgery if you can get it covered?

If you have any questions, please let me know!!

Tralyn222 - thank you, I will check them out. I guess my main thing with the insurance company is I don't want to have to go through the 6 months doctor prescribed diet. Now that I'm looking into this I want it like yesterday. I guess I'm too impatient. I am going to my diabetes doctor tomorrow, and hopefully she will give me her blessing and I can take it from there. Thank you again... : )

I'm curious what issues you had with Dr. Bagan's staff?

Hey there! I live in North Port, FL. I was banded by Dr. Gary Bunch & Dr. Erbella at the Bradenton Surgical Group. I HIGHLY recommend them.

I had issues with Dr. Bagan's office staff which is why I switched to BSG. I would suggest talking with Kris with BSG regarding your insurance. Why pay for the surgery if you can get it covered?

If you have any questions, please let me know!!

I'm curious what issues you had with Dr. Bagan's staff?

I had no issue with Dr. Bagan himself, I've never met the man so no worries there. As I stated, it was his staff, namely S*ndy. I'm not going to go into how highly inept they are (she is) when it comes to dealing with insurance, but a year ago, she had no clue. Perhaps now that it's been a year, she's learned a thing or two. I hope things went much better for you and glad to see that your surgery was a success. Good Luck!!

Thanks for the quick response! I don't know about the insurance issues because I am a self-pay. My insurance has a no weight loss coverage clause, so I didn't even try, but honestly, it's fine for me, because I didn't want to jump through the 6 months of hoops that the insurance companies make you go through.

Thanks again! Good luck to you as well!

I had no issue with Dr. Bagan himself, I've never met the man so no worries there. As I stated, it was his staff, namely S*ndy. I'm not going to go into how highly inept they are (she is) when it comes to dealing with insurance, but a year ago, she had no clue. Perhaps now that it's been a year, she's learned a thing or two. I hope things went much better for you and glad to see that your surgery was a success. Good Luck!!

Thanks for the quick response! I don't know about the insurance issues because I am a self-pay. My insurance has a no weight loss coverage clause, so I didn't even try, but honestly, it's fine for me, because I didn't want to jump through the 6 months of hoops that the insurance companies make you go through.

Thanks again! Good luck to you as well! :thumbup:

Well, there you go. Had I been a self-pay, I too wouldn't have had any issues with them. But, even after I had the six month diet down and documented, Sandy still had me going through hoop after hoop trying to prove that my insurance would pay it, even after my insurance rep told them over the phone that no pre-authorization was even required. It took me a year and half, a lot of tears, and then she just got plain tired of my phone calls that she told me that she was throwing away my file and that they could no longer help me.

I met with Dr. Bunch the next day and he had me scheduled for surgery 10 days later. He told me that all my documentation was in order and that Dr. Bagan's office had no clue what they were doing. What an amazing feeling that was to finally be there. I'm one day away from my bandiversary, down 58 lbs but I can't help but be bitter that I would be two and half years down..yanno? Anyhow....stay strong, let me know if you have any questions, I would certainly be glad to help.

You're right, that is quite a PAIN!!! I would be really upset about that too!! When you when you went to the new surgeon, did your insurance accept the 6 months of supervised diet with Bagan's office?

Congrats on the 58 lbs though!

I do have a question for you, how long were you in pain after the surgery? I'm a week out and I'm still in a bit of pain, it's MUCH better than it was for sure, but there's still a bit of discomfort.

Well, there you go. Had I been a self-pay, I too wouldn't have had any issues with them. But, even after I had the six month diet down and documented, Sandy still had me going through hoop after hoop trying to prove that my insurance would pay it, even after my insurance rep told them over the phone that no pre-authorization was even required. It took me a year and half, a lot of tears, and then she just got plain tired of my phone calls that she told me that she was throwing away my file and that they could no longer help me.

I met with Dr. Bunch the next day and he had me scheduled for surgery 10 days later. He told me that all my documentation was in order and that Dr. Bagan's office had no clue what they were doing. What an amazing feeling that was to finally be there. I'm one day away from my bandiversary, down 58 lbs but I can't help but be bitter that I would be two and half years down..yanno? Anyhow....stay strong, let me know if you have any questions, I would certainly be glad to help.

You're right, that is quite a PAIN!!! I would be really upset about that too!! When you when you went to the new surgeon, did your insurance accept the 6 months of supervised diet with Bagan's office?

Congrats on the 58 lbs though!

I do have a question for you, how long were you in pain after the surgery? I'm a week out and I'm still in a bit of pain, it's MUCH better than it was for sure, but there's still a bit of discomfort.

Hi,

Well, the 6 mos supervised diet wasn't with Dr. Bagan's office, it was with my PCP, so yes...they just took everything I had and submitted to my insurance to which they had NO problem getting paid for it.

Don't worry, you should start to feel better and better everyday. If you get gas pains, (which most do) make sure you get up and walk around. Also, GAS-X was my salvation in the beginning.

I had my surgery on Wednesday and was back to work the following Monday. I was a little weak when I returned but not a lot of pain or discomfort.