Peoria Surgical Group experiences? Please share your experiences!

After much research, I was so dissappointed to find out I can only go to the Peoria area surgeons. I wanted to go to Chicago with my mother. She is over 55 years old and Peoria surgeons wont do Lap Band on people above 55. We were so disappointed. So anyways...after talking with United Health Care, I will be looking into the Peoria Surgical Group now. Please give me the GOOD, The BAD, and the UGLY experiences you may have had with this group. If you can share what their staff is like and also the wait time for surgery scheduling. If anyone has had a BMI of 35 with comorbidities, please let me know. The lady on the phone one day was not too optimistic with me about getting surgery with Peoria Surgeons. I have high Blood Pressure and also have deteriation in my lower back and Depression and last but not least..haha..high cholesterol. So I am hoping to get the Lap Band to help me get healthier. Thanks for any information you may have on this group.

Good luck, I am not with them now but, i started out with them. I like where I am now alot better. Again good luck

I can't comment on lapband -- don't know much about it or anyone who's had it. But for RNY, doctors Marshall and DeBord are the best in the area -- hands down. Melinda is the bariatric nurse in charge and she's top notch! Some of the other support staff can be a trial at times. But it's worth the grief to have your surgery done there. PSG follows up with you for life! Some of these other places only track you for a year or two and then you are on your own. We have many people come to our support group who went other places to have their surgeries and got no support whatsoever or only for a limited time. This surgery is for life and you'll need support/care for life. There are support group meetings for pre-ops once a month (1st Monday - 2 separate classes (RNY & lab band). There are general support meetings (geared toward post-ops but pre-ops are welcome to attend and learn) twice a month (2nd and 4th Monday evenings). There's another general support meeting on 2nd & 4th Friday mornings. And there's a 1-yr out meeting on 3rd Monday evenings. PSG is associated with St. Francis, so an OSF exercise specialist (personal trainer) is available to PSG patients. And they are continually looking for ways to improve all the processes. It's a good place to be! Deb

I went to Peoria Surgical Group for my open RNY...and i have never regretted it for one moment.. I had my surgery January 05,2005. I had a BMI of over 55 and i also had a lot of comorbities..i had high blood pressure, cholesterol, hypoactive thyroid, diabetic and also being treated for depression..I had the good fortune of having Dr. Norman Estes and he is a real sweetheart and very very thorough..Unlike the other post I have not found any of the staff at the Peoria Surgical Group to be anything other than polite and very helpful in anything i would ask...Dr. Estes has been doing this surgery since the 1970's and on the first visit he explains everything..then you see a psychologist and then when you get that approval you see the surgeon again and then have you pretesting done..all in all from start to fini**** took me a good 6 months from start to finish.. I do hope you change the way you feel about going to Peoria Surgical and give them a chance cause i had a very good experience with them and I hope you do also..I had my surgery at OSF St. Francis Hospital and the staff there is terrific...