Presurgical Psych Evals in Buffalo, NY
I wish you the best of luck ... I had my surgery with comprehensive center went great no problems doctors are wonderful. My mom had hers with synergy and was in a coma for a year and had horrible problems, doctors there would not return phone calls and just shrugged off symptoms, mom ended up in Cleveland Clinic almost lost her 2 times. Now she is home and doing well but will have a lifetime of problems, please choose wisley and make sure you can get your doc on the phone and take you seriously!
Umm...well, thank you for making me feel so much more confident about making this very difficult decision. There are a lot of personal factors figuring into it that I haven't chosen to share here.
I'm sincerely sorry about what happened to your mother & that you had such a terrible experience with Synergy, but I honestly don't understand why everyone is so eager to tell me all these horror stories, particularly since they have nothing whatsoever to do with the original question I asked.
Aside from having sleep apnea I am surprisingly healthy for my age & weight, I excercise daily, & I've already begun "training" myself for the diet & lifestyle changes associated with this surgery (which, but the way, I have researched extensively.) I insist on having Dr. Caruana perform my surgery. He has a stellar reputation, & I personally know several people who had him for their doctor; they were very happy with him & have had no complications. If I have to go through Synergy in order to have Dr. Caruana as my surgeon then so be it.
I wish everyone would stop trying to scare me.
I'm sincerely sorry about what happened to your mother & that you had such a terrible experience with Synergy, but I honestly don't understand why everyone is so eager to tell me all these horror stories, particularly since they have nothing whatsoever to do with the original question I asked.
Aside from having sleep apnea I am surprisingly healthy for my age & weight, I excercise daily, & I've already begun "training" myself for the diet & lifestyle changes associated with this surgery (which, but the way, I have researched extensively.) I insist on having Dr. Caruana perform my surgery. He has a stellar reputation, & I personally know several people who had him for their doctor; they were very happy with him & have had no complications. If I have to go through Synergy in order to have Dr. Caruana as my surgeon then so be it.
I wish everyone would stop trying to scare me.
I was just wondering, since I am trying to have gastric bypass and I see that you have univera and are from buffalo...did you have any difficulty getting approved from univera?? I am just starting the process and just curious how many hoops I am going to have to jump through lol...thank you for your time
I haven't actually been approved by my insurance company yet, although I'm not anticipating any problems. I have Active Univera, which I guess is one of the better plans.
So far, I've been to the training seminar, had my psych eval (I went to Dr. Christopher Pino on Niagara Falls Blvd. He was kind of weird, but I think he pretty much approves everyone.), met with Dr. Caruana (he's very nice & professional) & all the folks at his office, had my first appointment with the nutritionist (Jennifer Turesky accepts insurance; some of the other ones don't. She works out of the Seton Professional Bldg. right next to Sisters Hospital. The meeting is "painless", & she just makes you keep a food diary for about 5 weeks.), & had my primary physician write the letter recommending me for surgery & sign the paper approving me to participate in the nutrition & exercise class.
I was a little concerned when I read that Univera makes patients lose 5% of their body weight before being approved for surgery, but as it turns out, that's only for lap band patients.
So at this point, I think I'm mainly just waiting for the okay from Univera. Then I meet with Jennifer again, attend the one-hour nutrition & exercise class, & meet with Dr. Caruana to schedule the surgery. I think that's it.
Hope this was helpful.
Best of luck to you!
So far, I've been to the training seminar, had my psych eval (I went to Dr. Christopher Pino on Niagara Falls Blvd. He was kind of weird, but I think he pretty much approves everyone.), met with Dr. Caruana (he's very nice & professional) & all the folks at his office, had my first appointment with the nutritionist (Jennifer Turesky accepts insurance; some of the other ones don't. She works out of the Seton Professional Bldg. right next to Sisters Hospital. The meeting is "painless", & she just makes you keep a food diary for about 5 weeks.), & had my primary physician write the letter recommending me for surgery & sign the paper approving me to participate in the nutrition & exercise class.
I was a little concerned when I read that Univera makes patients lose 5% of their body weight before being approved for surgery, but as it turns out, that's only for lap band patients.
So at this point, I think I'm mainly just waiting for the okay from Univera. Then I meet with Jennifer again, attend the one-hour nutrition & exercise class, & meet with Dr. Caruana to schedule the surgery. I think that's it.
Hope this was helpful.
Best of luck to you!
Thank you so much for the quick response. Yeah I pay alot to Univera so I hope they ok me lol. So far I have only done my registration packet, attended seminar, had my physician sign ppwork, now I am waiting for them to call me to schedule my initial weigh in, etc.. I am going thru Buffalo General only because I really wan Dr. Hoffman, Ive heard great things, and he is doing my grandmas as well. But you seem like you have all your ducks in a row, and thats always good. Best of luck!!!
A coworker of mine had his lap band surgery done by Dr. Hoffman & highly recommends him. He's lost about 120 lbs. & looks fantastic! His name is Michael Sagnibene, & he was actually featured in a segment about lap band surgery on WIVB: http://www.wivb.com/dpp/health/healthy_living/Lap-bands-may- help-severely-obese
Unfortunately, I am not a candidate for the lap band because my BMI is too high - I have to go with the gastric bypass surgery; but I know Dr. Caruana has an outstanding reputation. He's performed the surgery for every friend of mine who has had it done. They all like him very much, & have been happy with the results.
Just a tip -- if you decide to go with Jennifer Turesky as your nutitionist I recommend calling ASAP. I was lucky enough to call when she'd just had a cancellation for the following day; otherwise, I would've had to wait until Sept.
Right now, I'm debating over whether to start going to one of the support groups. I've never been much into that sort of thing but I'm thinking it can't hurt to go check it out.
Unfortunately, I am not a candidate for the lap band because my BMI is too high - I have to go with the gastric bypass surgery; but I know Dr. Caruana has an outstanding reputation. He's performed the surgery for every friend of mine who has had it done. They all like him very much, & have been happy with the results.
Just a tip -- if you decide to go with Jennifer Turesky as your nutitionist I recommend calling ASAP. I was lucky enough to call when she'd just had a cancellation for the following day; otherwise, I would've had to wait until Sept.
Right now, I'm debating over whether to start going to one of the support groups. I've never been much into that sort of thing but I'm thinking it can't hurt to go check it out.
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