Just had my initial consult

Hello from St. Joseph! I just had my initial consult with Dr. Schuhknecht out of Niles last week. I am new to this and excited. I would love to hear from others in the region about their experiences.

Hi, I'm from Kalamazoo and my Dr is Kibwe Weaver at Bronson Hospital.  I had my surgery Oct 6th (RNY).  If you want you could read my blog, it tells about my experiences.  Good luck to you, do you have a date set for surgery?

Thanks Bubbles! No surgery date yet, but hopefully next summer. I dont think the doctor will submit it to the insurance company till I've seen him for 6 months. After that I think it takes 6 weeks.

MelissaKay,

Where are you in Michigan?  I know every Dr (Surgeon) has different criteria for there patients and then the insurance companies also have there own rules.  I first went to the Seminar on WLS October 2013, saw my Dr in March 2014 (I was still not sure I wanted this).  I did do all the required steps and then I was suppose to see the Dr in June to set the surgery date and my Dr had an auto accident and was off work for 6 weeks.  I saw him in August and he set the date for my surgery for October 6, 2014 pending insurance approval.  It was approved. RNY and I am on my way

Bubbles,

I'm from the St. Joseph area, an hour west of you. My husband works in Kalamazoo though. I went to the seminar the beginning of September, just had my consult a week ago, and hopefully will get my surgery next summer. I have to see the doc for 6 months with no weight gain, get my psych eval, attend two nutritional classes and then the will submit it to the insurance.

Hi, just wanted to say "Good luck it sounds like your on your way".  Are you getting the sleeve or RNY?

Hi Melissa,

My process was 6 months of supervised weight loss, and then submission to the insurance company.  This was their (Blue Cross) requirements, not the doctor's office.  I was mad at the time, but I'm glad now, because it gave me lots of time to do research and simply think about it, to make sure I really wanted to go through with it.  My doctor recorded my regular visit in April as a Weight Loss visit, I had my consultation in May, I had my last one in September, and surgery October 6th.