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Being Stubborn Pays Off...

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BayougirlMrsS

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I had my LB 11/10/2009 and got laid off from my job 11/16/2009 on the day i returned from surgery.... So I lost my insurance. Thanks God my surgery was covered and one years fellow ups... up to 7 fills.

 

Skip ahead to seven months after and now i'm self pay..... my surgeon charges $235 per fill. So i paid for a fill in July 2010 and then waited till Nov. to get another.

 

Went one year with out going back. Last appointment 12/2011. total weight loss .... 80lbs. 14cc band and with all the my visits and my calculations i should have 10.9cc in my band. My doctor has acquired a new doctor in his office and i saw him that day for the first time. Not a good experiences. Never Never had pain while getting a fill.... but this time... hurt like hell.

He stick the needle in and because i had not been in in over a year he pulls every thing out to see what i have.....pulls up .... 10cc. I'm like what the hell happened to my .9cc. he said it sometime evaporates. OH OK. didn't know that. So he puts in .5cc at a charge of $235. Wen home and i knew something was not right... i was STARVING... and could eat solids. so i called him back and went back in the next day. he pulls up 10CC.... WHERE IS MY .5CC that you put in yesterday? He said... I don't know.... but that will be $85..... WAIT.... WHAT...you are charging me again?

 

so after multiply rants and Bi@ch fests..... and me telling him he was wrong and that he is raping people that are self pay for fill....

 

I WON...... He has now changed his fill price too...... $150. To all of my Dr.'s self pay patients...... your welcome.

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like I've said before we have to become our own patient advocates, too many times, patients are taken advantage of because they don't ask questions. If I was self pay I'd be doing the same thing,

Thank you thank you!

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Woww, I feel for you. I am totally self-pay but I asked before hand and my fills are only $70.00. Maybe you could ask if you could get a discount since you pay in cash.

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Good job sticking up for your self and shame on the doctor for trying to take advantage of the situation. I hate fills in the office, I have had one unfil and fill in the office and it hurt like hell. The stuck me more times than I care to remember because my port was tilted, thankfully my doc did not charge me for his mistake of overfilling me. I have reread your blog 3 times and from what I am understanding, he pulled out all of the fluid and only put back in .5 cc's when he removed 10cc. Now how did he think that was going to work. My doc always pulls back all fluid to check how much is there compared against what he had placed in before but always puts back the amount he removed plus some new. Of course mine are done under fluro and he watches the flow rate on the monitor when I drink. Hope your ok and I agree people paying out of pocket should get a discount.

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When this "new" doctor pulled up to check what i had in my band it only showed 10cc and not 10.9....... So he put the 10cc back in Plus .5cc. So that had me at 10.5cc in the band. So he thought... the next day when i went back because i knew something was not right..... he pulled up to check again and again.... 10cc... We still don't know what happened to the .5cc he "thought" he put in the day before. At that time he put in .5cc and i defiantly felt the difference. But what pissed me off was the fact that i had to pay another $85. the "office manager" said, we don't know what happened so we are just charging you for the office visit.... i was like.... what a minute, why should i have to pay for your mistake. she is such a "B"..... i told her that too....... i was beyond mad...

But now i have 0cc in my band because of the tummy tuck. The PS removes all the fill due to the swelling of the stomach area. So i have to go back to my LB doctor and have him put my fill back in and pay $150. But i'm glad i fought to not have to pay $235 anymore.

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Check to see with the office and stress this, because both offices I have been to if you go back in within a week of a fill to remove or add a bit, they do not charge. It is like a grace period of sorts to make sure you are at a ok on the level of your restriction.

I was told that the fluid doesn't evaporate, so I have heard a couple versions.. what has anyone been told about the mysterious dissapearance of the fluid in the band? Other than a leak of course.

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