I am new to the site and doing my research before plunging ahead. I want to know if anyone got their band done in Louisiana, what Dr., and what facility?

I had my surgery at Woman's Hospital by Dr. Hargroder. He also performs the surgery in Lafayette and Gonzales.

HI I had my surgery July 16th with dr cunningham in lafayette,la... and I have to say I would NOT recomment it :thumbup: They are not very nice they take there time very slow with paper work and they only seem to care about money. They will take ur fills very very very slow in my opinion just to make extra money also they always seem to have an attitude. Although I do like dr cunningham and think hes a good dr. He has a Very diff personality though. So I would not recomment the southwest medical center in lafayette... skip over chu, cunningham and stevens I hope I helped!!!

Wow, from my first phone call to the surgeon's office until my surgery only took 3 weeks. The case manager that handled my surgery worked really fast. If the surgery is covered, your insurance doesn't have any special requirements and you qualify, the process goes REALLY fast at Hargroder's office.

I don't know where in Louisiana you are, but there are many from the New Orleans and Shreveport area on this forum also.

Thanks so much for the information. I called his office and I was informed he didn't perform lapband surgery. I was a nurse for him at the Burn Unit here in Baton Rouge at the General, so I am really familiar with his personality and bedside manner. He is a great Dr. I will look back into it. I'm just starting my research and get my medicare in order. I have to wait until the first of the year to actually start the entire process because medicare has to add part B to my coverage. My secondary insurance is Champva(military insurance) so I hope everything is smooth sailing. Thank you so much for getting back with me and having the surgery at Womens Hospital sounds great.Also where do you go for your refills and does your insurance cover that? Did you have to obtain your medical records from your primary care physician?

Im having surgery in 1 week with Dr. Belott in Marrero, LA.:thumbup: His staff is great. I had several people refer me to his office. From what I can tell after reviewing this website. I was given much more information than alot of people. They were very thorough about before and after care, diet and nutrition, and the nurse is a lap band patient herself. They suggest grocery lists and little tips to help along the way. I am much more comfortable with my doctors ability because I see he has gone the extra mile to inform me . Alot of people on this website barely get any info. from their doctors. They find out more from this site.

Thanks so much for the information. I called his office and I was informed he didn't perform lapband surgery. I was a nurse for him at the Burn Unit here in Baton Rouge at the General, so I am really familiar with his personality and bedside manner. He is a great Dr. I will look back into it. I'm just starting my research and get my medicare in order. I have to wait until the first of the year to actually start the entire process because medicare has to add part B to my coverage. My secondary insurance is Champva(military insurance) so I hope everything is smooth sailing. Thank you so much for getting back with me and having the surgery at Womens Hospital sounds great.Also where do you go for your refills and does your insurance cover that? Did you have to obtain your medical records from your primary care physician?

It was literally so speedy a process that I have no clue what they did. I know they contacted my primary care physician. Here is the link for his website.

GastricBypassWLS.com

You can get the forms filled out online and they very quickly email you back to let you know the next step. It is a series of 6 steps, I think. After you hear back from them, it will tell you when to call for a consultation. If your insurance covers it, without jumping through a lot of hoops, you could be possibly banded within 1 month. My surgery was literally a little over 3 weeks after filling out the first form, and I could have had surgery on the 2nd of July if I had wanted to go to Lafayette!

His office for the lap band is in Gonzales behind St. Elizabeths Hospital. I have my fills done by his PA, Holly, at this office in Gonzales. The fills for him are only done on Friday mornings. Every other Friday, I think. He has two case managers in his office. My friend and I haven't paid anything for a fill yet, so some must be included in the price of the surgery.