jennymac

This is my first post, however I have been following this forum for years. I was banded by betancourt ( h/s is 20/20:sad0:) a few years back. After 2 surgeries, slippage and then erosion ( i lost 100lb) the band was removed. Guess what, I gained it all back. If I had known then what I know now, I would have never had the band. My ins has a WLS exclusion policy, so I am most likely going to be self payfor future- which i will do the sleeve. I will find out in 4 weeks if I qualify for medicaid. Ironically, they cover this surgery and DS. I would prefer to have DS = I think, due to long term WL sustainability. however I am a little sure of the malabsorbtion issues and "odors" if you know what I mean. If I don't get approved for medicaid I will be self pay. I am so scik of this weight and now it is Summer, I am thinking of just self paying and biting the bullet. However I only have about 10K to spend and all of the Dr i have contacted want more because it is a revision, US side about 13.5K. Including Aceves_12.5K Is it safe going to mex with the revision issue?So I am thinking about Jose Rodriguez or Ungson. I need some help here. Guidance please!

:biggrin0::001_tongue:Well, after going back and forth with the decision to go with DS or Sleeve. Finally decided on sleeve. Plus dealing with getting around insurance coding (didn't happen). I am having my sleeve surgery next Thursday!! I am out of Atlanta, cheapest self pay was $17K, so I am going to Dallas. Scheduled with Dr. Veninga. I have had phone consult and have been pleased, but not so much about him on the boards. Nothing negative though. Sleeve count is not up there with the others but I did feel assured. Any thoughts welcome on previous postings for him. The only thing is that they will not release me by myself after the surgery.. I stay 1 night then I will go to hotel for a couple of nights for post op befor flying home. I had planned on just going myself. It is what I did when I had the lap band in MEX. I have no problem traveling by myself. Hubby cannot afford to miss work and mom has a previously planned vacation already booked, so not sure How to handle this. Apparently they can release me to anyone, just not to myself. IDEAS? I cannot wait to have this done. I am so excited. Since I have had the band before, I know what it is like to have all of this weight off!! I will be in Dallas this sunday night. Surgery not until Thursday. Anybody to have a drink or chat with?

:lol0:Well, I finally got sleeved yesterday in Carrollton TX. I chose Dr. Veninga and was just taken aback by the concern, caring and thought that this group showed towards myself (and doubter mom, that came along). I flew in from Atlanta on Sunday and stayed in Fort Worth so we could sightsee a bit before surgery. We went to appt on Monday for consult, brief tests, meet with nutritionist, etc. The head nurse at Dr. V's office is great. She helped me pull all of the details together for the surgery before I left and even helped with things like mapquest, etc. The consult with Dr. V blew me away. I have met with several docs in ATL and while some were better than others, he was by far the best. I wish I cold have him as my PCP at home. He even discussed such things as the evolution of being obese and while humans have such a compulsory need to "store" food. He was very frank in discussing the risks and possible complications in my revision surgery. We discussed many what ifs. And he put my mother at ease. She is one of those (Well I think you are beautiful, and you don't need this surgery) Dr. kindly showed her where I was on the BMI chart and the possibilities that lied in my future if I continued down this path. Also great sense of humor. Tme wise we went 1/2 hour over and was late to meet with their nutritionist/RN ( a former RNY patient). I promise I will get to surgery experience soon. Tuesday was preop tests and went quick and smooth. We were out with time to sightsee the Stockyards. Wed am, my DM was scheduled to fly back to ATL. Plan was to drop me off for surgery and then she go to airport and return car. She just turned 65 and hates atlanta traffic, so was panicked to drive in Dallas/ Fort Worth/ Carrollton traffic in strange town. So I dropped her off at AP, then the nurse nutritionist at Dr. V's office picked me up at the airport to drive me to hospital for Surgery. She insisted. From the beginning I never felt like a "number" here. When I was considering other Dr's in Tex and US for self pay, I did not feel the Dr's office was really being proactive. To be honest, I really did not know what to expect when I got there for the consult. I just prayed that I had made the right decision and put it in GOd's hands. Really just such wonderful people. Anyway- Surgery day- got to hospital early and Karen (RN) locked up all my personals in her office so I did not worry. I got to preop room early, so I had time to relax and mentally prepare. All the nurses were like " we are so excited for you"! Baylor Medical Center in Carrollton is a center for excellence and a large hospital at that. After Surgery I remeber Dr saying that everything went great. After that I was out of it, until I woke up about 6 pm, dying in pain. The pain meds they use are self medicated by the patient. You can hit the button once every 15 min. Well, if you are kind of out of it (as I was after surgery) its hard to wake yourself up to do this. After about 10 min of crying, they gave me a boost of pain meds and then I went back to the 15 min thing. Needless to say, I kept that little button in my hand the rest of the night. Woke up feeling like a million bucks, ok maybe a hundred bucks, but much better. Went for GI swallow as last test and no leaks. Started on liquids, released and I am spending my last couple of days recoop at hotel in Grapevine. I am so glad this day has come. This board has been a great tool and I will continue to post. Mostly I have just looked on my own, so I felt I owed a good post. Yeah!!!

Thanks again for all the support. My relatives are very supportive, but don't necessarily know the in's and out's of the surgery, etc. So nice to be able to discuss specifics on this board. I walked today at the malls for about 3 1/2 hours. Took some pain med with me. Tried the Isopure carb free fruit drink. I like it and only 8 oz. Will get this and muscle milk light along with Protein powder unflavored when I get back to ATL tomorrow. On the pain side, how long did you guys have to use your pain meds. It seems I wake up with alot of pain in the morning. Also, was your stomach swollen? Mine seems to be a good bit, of course it was big before surgery! But it is swollen, and that is understandable, just wondering how long it took everybody else. Also, how were your stitches, incisions closed? Mine were stitched on the inside and have the glue over them. I just let them be until the glue disappears. Maybe a month?

Thanks so much for all the support. I am just trying to do everything right so no leaks these first couple of weeks out. I have to have clears today, then liquids for 2 weeks before going to purees/softs, etc. I have lots of optifast- chix broth, tomato, choc, etc which was included in my price. Serving has 15GProtein, but 20Carbs. Any opinions on calories and carb intake these first couple of weeks. i know bt/wn 60 and 70 G protein, but have seen varying reports on the latter. Also , they had free happy hour at my hotel tonight with free wine, appetizers, etc. It was odd walking down there and not having anything. Even though I love my sleeve, you still revert to those thoughts.

Thanks Tiffy,:thumbup: I knew you would reply soon. I will contact them.

Maddie, Who are you having your surgery with?

Kitty, I had to laugh when I read the post. I am going with the sleeve. It is interesting though how on the DS boards, the smell issue is downplayed somewhat.

:confused1:I am in the process of getting the sleeve- Just not sure if I will have to self pay or I can get insurance to cover. OK, a little history- had lap band in mex about 3 yrs ago. I had it slip after only a couple of months and had to have surgery. My insurance paid. Later about 1 year later, it eroded and i had to have surgery. HOWEVER, DH and I had just returned from a vacation from Cabo. I was robbed at night the night before we left and thrown down a flight of cement stairs. Just mostly scraped and bruised up. After home that week, started feeling flu like for a couple of days, them BAM, like I hit a brick wall I started going downhill fast. Went to ER, they did all kind of tests and still did not know. BP was tanking fast, white count was through the roof, basically I was in sepsis. Emergency surgery showed a stomach perforation. My stomach had been slowly leaking into abdominal cavity for days until the last day when my liver shifted a bit and allowed the flow to become much more substantial. Anyway, I recovered. Now 100lb back on and more I am getting the sleeve. Insurance paid for this surgery as well, but only because surgery report said that the band was removed as a precaution, that the perforation was due to injury. The surgeon later told me it was a mixed bag b/twn the band and the injury. So I spoke with local surgeon who did the surgery, his billing dept, and spoke hypothetically to my ins co " what if we need to do a revision to my stomach where the perforations was, i.e. weak and portion needed to be removed" they said yeah we will cover it if you need a follow up for the tear. They have an exclusion policy on WLS though, so I have to be VERY careful when submitting the coding. Billing dept asked me what CPT codes should we use? I said I will get back to her. I can't exactly ask my insurance which ones. Its a one shot deal so I need to get it right. Any advice????

Thanks to the recent posters for the advice. I will definitely just go with the sleeve, and worst case scenario- later I could always have a revised DS. Right now I am not working, but most likely will get a job offer next week ( i have had two interviews) so I would like to get the ssurgery done beforehand or at least be able to give them a set date in which this is scheduled. I don't want to have a work reputation right off the bat for being a flake. Sooooo, right now I have sent sent the op report for the removal of the lap band to dr stewart ( leah in the office) and am awaitng to hear back.. My fears are - a higher price due to the fact that it is a revision surgery or a surgery date way far out. The other pricing I am waiting on is Dr. Williams in Atlanta--where I live. He did the first surgery when it slipped. I am waiting on a self pay price for the sleeve. His ass't said that it was 13K for a band in the out patient surgery center, so I cant imagine the sleeve being less. Pros are that he is here in town for aftercare, etc. I spoke with his billing coordinator and told her since the last surgery I had was for a stomach perforation (oh yeah, sepsis, icu for 4 days, lucky to live) technically we could bill the surgery with CPU codes for a partial stomach removal, repair etc. to the portion that was damaged with the tear. This way my primary insurance might pay for it. I don't have the time to wait on mediciad. If for some reason I did get approved, and I had already done the surgery self pay- they might retro go back and pick up the bill. Any ideas with the CPT coding issue? Or what should I tell this employer if I am offered the job and don't have anything concrete as far as surgery date? How many days should I figure on being out? I will have over an hour commute each way and be sitting at a desk during the day. Thanks!!