TheCurvyJones

Dr Alvarez is doing my sleeve December 21. \o/

Enormous sigh of relief. Date confirmed. Loan docs signed and e-filed Monies paid Freaking out commenced

Hello all. I am D, or TheCurvyJ. After much thought and consideration and watching a few friends shrink, I have decided to take the plunge and have VSG. I have chosen Dr. Alvarez and am in the process of having my patient file reviewed to be cleared for surgery. My biggest issue is the money... Dr A is considerably more expensive than other doctors. When I think about going to someone else though, my stomach turns. I need to feel stable and secure in this decision and Dr A makes me feel confident in this decision. In addition, he is a few hours drive from my friend who will be coming with me. This way I can convalesce at her home instead of flying back right away. I was approved for $8500 through medicalfinancing.com. Dr A's financing rate is 9100, so there is a $600 shortfall that I am sure I can cover. My issue is that it will cost me almost $3K upfront to borrow the $8500 (1700 of which will come back to me after the loan is paid). Weird, right? I've never had a commercial loan before... only a student loan and an auto loan. I've never heard of having to pay to get a loan. Unfortunately my credit is not the greatest and my debt to income is high because I purchased a car awhile back and I have some credit cards. I was declined for Fundmydr and I've not tried CareCredit because Dr A's office will not take a credit card. I'm in the position of having to secure a short term loan in order to accept the funding. Insurance will not cover this procedure and I don't have anyone I could borrow from, so this is pretty much my only option. I'm determined to make this work, though. I turn 40 in March of 2014. Every year, I say I am going to be healthy by my next birthday and every year I am fat as ever. If I have my surgery in January and even lose 30lbs by my bday I will already be the smallest I've been on my birthday in over ten years! Scared out of my mind about having surgery-- I have never had surgery before-- but so looking forward to having this done and stepping into a new chapter.

December 21.

Yes, I've exhausted all other options. Looks like I am good to go, just waiting on the $$$ to come through. What it is that because of my credit I have to put down a security deposit. As well the loan fees are not rolled into the loan, those are separate and I ASSume I will have to pay them both before they will fund. I'm just being prepared, it's really more about 2800, but when you don't have that much it may as well be a million.

I've been talking with the coordinator and everything looks good. My application is being reviewed and I should hear back soon and then I pick a date. I managed to find a private loan to bridge the gap I needed to get funding underway and my friend and I are discussing logistics. I'm MAD excited. Crossing my fingers that everything works out.

It's hard to explain. Maybe it's a... I don't know! Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I think when people lose weight rapidly, there are certain telltale signs, sometimes it's just a bit of loose skin in the neck... I could be talking out of my butt, or maybe I see it because I know they've had surgery...

One of my friends is 9 months post op and hasn't told anyone at work or in her personal life. VERY few people know. You can't HIDE that you're losing weight, but people that see you everyday will only see that you've lost a lot of weight. I suspect that most people will guess and murmur and gossip but she has never (and never will) talk about having surgery. IMO people who've lost weight via WLS have a 'look'. I can usually tell because I am used to seeing it... but I think most people will just see a considerable amount of weight lost and won't OFFICIALLY know, but will guess at it.

I'm only going to tell my boss and HR. I'm am Exec Assistant so he will definitely notice my absence. Plus he is the fatherly type. He hears surgery and he till worry. I'm hoping to wrap it around a holiday when we will be down. No one else needs to know because I don't want to answer any more questions than normal and I don't want anyone "Watching". I work with men so i hope they will be oblivious. At the same time, if someone asks point blank I have no intention of lying.

Thanks everyone. I've got a list of things to call BCBS about.

Hello everyone. I'm new here. I have a question for people who are being sleeved in Mexico. I'm concerned about post surgery care, for example if you spring a leak or something? Does your regular health insurance cover postsurgery care? I have Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covers the surgery however my employer puts an exclusion on weight-loss surgery. I'm just wondering if I have to go through any extra hoops to make sure I get good care after I have the surgery in Mexico.

Thank you I will look into that depending on what my insurance company says. What about any followup visits, like to basically check on you... that falls under regular doctor visits, doesn't it? Not specifically post WLS care.