Julie T.
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Thomas Chua
"My first impression of Dr. Chua was gained in July at his seminar. He came across as a soft spoken man who is a leader in his field. I especially enjoyed his sense of humor. I found him to be the same at my consult with him today (9/23/03). The process is taking longer than I like, but I feel that he is the best at what he does, and it will be well worth the wait in the long run. Dr. Chua's office staff have been incredibly helpful. They have called me back a couple of times to answer questions that I've had and at my request, even called me when an earlier appointment became available. I feel that future patients should know that there is no one more qualified to do the surgery and I believe that the program is very well structured pertaining not only to aftercare, but pre-op as well. Agreeing that no one will rate a 10, I would rate my experience so far as an 8. I don't like that I had to wait so long between steps. I saw the nutrionist and had the psych eval on August 6th, but couldn't get an appointment with Dr. Chua until September 29th!! (In my mind, that was TOO long and was 7 1/2 wasted weeks.) They were able to get me in 5 days earlier, which I was happy about, but it was still 7 weeks! I am fearful for how long it will take to get pre-approval from CIGNA now. But I'll have to wait to see how it goes... (maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!) 09/27/04 Well, I never thought this was going to be easy, but I surely didn't think it would take THIS long to get approval. It has been 16 MONTHS since I first spoke to my PCP about bariatric surgery. CIGNA wasn't the easiest to work with, but after several rejections and appeals, I finally do have approval. My surgery will take place on 10/19/04. But CIGNA failed to let me know that they stopped approving LapBands the month after I first applied! I met with Dr. Chua again on 08/14/04 and we switched to laproscopic VBG, which was ultimately what was approved. (Dr. Chua's office wasn't aware that CIGNA will no logner approve LapBand either.) CIGNA also failed to forward all of the documentation on to the company that they use for appeals. I didn't figure that out for quite a few months and it cost me a lot of time and frustration. But Dr. Chua's office was always there to offer whatever help they could. 10/26/04 I am one week post-op! My laproscopic VBG has proven to be virtually pain free! I have to give credit to what I believe are the highly skilled hands of Dr. Chua, I think he really is a gifted surgeon. I wouldn't have trusted this surgery to anyone else, I truly believe he is the best in his field. "

Aurora Sinai Medical Center
"I couldn't be happier with this facility. The ONLY thing that isn't "excellent", and it isn't even a real issue, is location. I don't particularly enjoy going downtown, but even that wasn't a problem. Valet parking made it a non-issue."

Gregory Kuhr
"Although Dr. Kuhr seems to be good for the general things that you need of a family practice physician, he wasn't someone I could refer a person to who is looking into bariatric surgery. He was willing to refer me, when he thought that was all the involvement he'd have. When it came time to put on the gloves and fight for me, his heart just wasn't in it. He took WAY too long to act, and when he did, he was indecisive and admitted to me that he was afraid that he'd say the wrong thing and would jeopordize my chances. That fear often kept him from acting at all. I felt I had to do a lot of hand holding and reassuring, and ultimately did much of the letter writing myself (which was fine with me) and he reviewed and signed what I'd provided."

Betsy Blair
"Since Dr. Blair is in the bariatric center program, this is what she does all day. It is my understanding that she soley sees bariatric patients and therefore has great experience. She knows the questions to ask and what to look out for. I felt that she was best suited for this evaluation, and I don't feel that going to a psychologist who wasn't as well versed on the subject would have been nearly as beneficial."
About Me
West Allis, WI
Location
53.9
BMI
VBG
Surgery
10/19/2004
Surgery Date
Jun 26, 2003
Member Since
Before & After
rollover to see after photo
This is the day that I found out that I finally got appoval! (9/22/04)
365lbs
Down 145 pounds on my Two Year anniversary (10/21/06) After my "Spa Day".(I have no idea why the color came out so poorly!)
220lbs
Friends 1
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