I was banded by Dr. Simpson on April 21, 2009 and so far so good!

The office staff is super nice and Dr. Simpson is a pro at what he does.

I will get my first fill hopefully on June 2nd and cannot wait!

Anyone else out there banded by Dr. Simpson?

Chris

I think once the baby sleeps through the night, my days will be more productive. Right now I am up every 2-3 hours at night, so I am taking advantage of nap times during the day.

I am super sore today, I guess as this heals the soreness will linger for a few weeks just like last time.

On the upside, since the baby weight came off, I have as of my surgery lost 8 lbs. Not bad considering the insulin - I have my follow up on Thrusday and am hoping that I will have lost another 4-5 lbs.

I do hope that he gives me a fill on Thrusday - I have a feeling he took some Fluid out during the surgery - as I have been hungry every other hour! When I wake up in the morning, I am starving. But I remain good and have an egg or a low carb slim fast shake.

When will you be back down to phoenix?

Hello, I have been reading all the great things you have written and I feel a bit less nervous. Do you have any advice as far as what I could do to get the process in higher gear. Also, what can I expect on Friday.

I am Holly a 36 (soon to be 37) year old female. I weighed 315 at my highest. Right now I am down to 273 thanks to phentermine. I can not live on it tho and have hit a stopping point in losing weight. I have PCOS and hope to regulate my ovulation and be a Healthy Momma some time in the next couple years. I have an incredible, loving and supportive partner who will be with me through the entire process. Till I am old and grey even.

Thanks for the help, you gave with your posts.

Holly

Hey All!

I was banded by Dr. Blackstone of Scottsdale Bariatric Center, but recently was told that she will no longer be taking my insurance (Aetna) so I need to start looking for a new doctor to take over my aftercare and do my fills. Dr. Simpson is one of the doctors I can go to w/Aetna and so I'm glad to hear he gets such rave reviews from all of you.

I am very curious as to exactly how his follow-up/fill appointments go, though. Like, I want all the details...

* are you standing up or laying down for the fill?

* does he take out all the Fluid before he adds more?

* are all fills done under fluoro or just by manually finding the port?

* does he leave the needle in and have you sit up, drink some Water, then add or subtract additional fluid?

* how often can you get fills?

* will he still do a fill if you are hungry (even if you are still losing weight)?

I'm just wondering how different it will be from Dr. Blackstone's process. Its kind of a bummer to have to switch doctors at this stage of the game. I was able to get Aetna to approve 3 more months of transitional care from Dr. Blackstone, but I need to be ready to go to someone else after that. So, hopefully it will work out w/Dr. Simpson.

Thanks in advance for your help w/this!

Holly,

Dr simpson is great! I think you will really like him and you will have the result you desire by sticking to all his guidelines!

Adagray,

I wish I could give you more info, but I think every patient is different.

I have had only two fills since the baby was born and both were lying down and quite painful for me as the baby moved my port. I had it repair just last week and am looking forward to getting back on track.

My fills have been manually at first then with ultrasound to find where my port moved to. He has removed the needle and had me drink Water after the fills. My first fill after the baby I wasn't hungry at all and he didn't want to give me a fill, but I asked him to at least check the Fluid and we found very little fluid so he did give me a fill since we really didn't know if I was loosing weight or just loosing baby weight.

I got my first fill since the port reposition and it was the easiest and most pain free needle poke I ever had with a fill.

This is how a fill should feel - just like the poke from my insulin needle!

Now time to say good bye to all this fat!

workin on the road, so I have very limmitted comp. axcess but had to share my news, Banded Oct.6th 2009 299lbs presurgery wt of 312lbs. April 20th 2010 212lbs!!!!!!!!

Whoooooo hooo I'm down 100lbs since my first meet with

Dr. S. 30lbs to go an majorly motivatited! I will make it! This is my lowest wt since 1990!

Pipedoc - that is awesome!!!!

Congrats Pipedoc!! I can't wait til I'm there!!!

Charms- glad you are now able to get fills with ease! You'll be dropping dress sizes in no time :biggrin:

I was looking for information regarding the program fees for Dr. Simpson. I went to a seminar for a different doctor and theirs was $1000. I called around to a few different places and when I called Southwest the lady seemed puzzled as to what I was referring to and said they had no program fee, yet on here it says he does. I don't really want to go to another seminar if I don't have too, any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you :thumbup:

Dr Simpson charges $1200 for his program fees. Its for the POST op classes they require. He gives you books he has written, measuring cups, etc...They will negotiate that price. Mine was much lower depending on your circumstances. His PRE op charges are in line with what your insurance does or does not cover. I just paid co-pays. Although I will say he required half of my program fee BEFORE insurance submission and the rest prior to surgery scheduling. I didn't like that. I felt like charging prior to insurance submission (no refund if denied) was paying his staff to DO the job HE pays them to do as part of being his staff, but, it was required. I tried other Top Docs in the Valley who didn't charge anything. Also, keep in mind that his 1st Assist surgery partner does NOT take all insurances. Make sure to ask his staff, his partners, his surgery centers if they ALL take your insurance. His 1st assist didn't take my insurance so I am out of pocket $750 for his charge. Not cool. It's the minute details that get ya! Good luck!

Thank you for responding I went to his seminar last week. I tried negotiating the program fee but they wouldn't budge and they wanted it all before they would submit it not just half. He also wasn't the most patient man, I asked a couple questions and he interupted me both times to answer the question he thought I was asking but never let me finish. He may be an excellent surgeon but I was left with a less good feeling about the experience.

Wow! I didn't have that experience. I was able to get my program fee for less than HALF of that. That being said, I already had all my info together. HIS OFFICE staff had to do nothing more than send my COMPLETE file to insurance. With regards to Dr. Simpson. He does come off arrogant. I think he tries to stretch himself too thin. He responds to personal emails, calls and seminars. In my pre-op appointment, he was rehearsed. I have to say I liked him much better than Juarez and Blackstone...two TOP DOCS in addition to Simpson. Juarez was icky and one-sided. Blackstone I never met, she doesn't meet with you until just prior to your surgery, I didn't like that. I want to MEET the doc prior to going under the knife. If Simpson's only downside is that he is a headcase, oh well. Aren't ALL surgeons headcases...playing GOD is in their DNA!

I'm not sure about the program fee-- I can't remember. I am self-pay, so I just had one big amount to pay :tt1:

My insurance doesn't cover any type of weight loss surgery. I think it's totally crazy though, because by losing weight I've been much, much healthier, and I'm sure it's saving my insurance plenty of $!

At a year out, I'm 90+ lbs down. I think Dr. Simpson is totally knowledgeable, and if I were to do this again, I wouldn't dream of using anyone other than him!

It's true that he's quick w/his conversations. He likes to get to the point quickly. He doesn't have time to "shoot the breeze," but I've come to appreciate that he's a busy man, and when it counts, he provides all the answers I need. He's always responded to my personal e-mails, etc. He's worked me in for quick appts, and he knows his profession well!

For some, it may be frustrating that he's so curt, (if you wanna call it that), but I think many doctors are like that. It's a personal choice. I"m more concerned w/his knowledge of surgery, etc.

I'd recommend him to anyone. In fact, my father just had surgery with him last month. He's already down 30 lbs! I think he's going to surpass me in no time!

Reading these posts has actually made me more nervous. I called my insurance only to recieve little to no help. They simply told me I needed a prior auth from my pcp and a bmi of over 40 and documentation of dieting for a year.

I have MMSI insurance through the hospital i'm working for.

it's a POS not that I really understand what that means. =( I'm so new to all of this that I'm lost.

I knew Dr. Simpson was covered by my insurance so I called his office and scheduled a consult for the lap band for this friday.

The super kind woman I spoke with on the phone told me the only thing I needed to bring was my insurance card and my photo I.D.

Is there anything else I need?

I feel like I'm going unprepared.

Please help!

How did your appointments go? My husband was banded by Dr. Simpson. Everything about the first meeting to the hospital visit was so professional and caring. I love his team and the private hospital staff. We would recommend him to anyone who was looking into this type of surgery. The after care has been excellent. We are so happy with the service and treatment we have received.