Kindle

Individual insurance or though your employer?

Leslie, I use credit karma and its great. When looking at financing options, I considered getting a personal Loan from my bank. I actually used their "what if" tool and found out putting the extra $ I needed for surgery on an existing credit card affected my credit score less than taking out a new loan.

I've been saving for 1 1/2 years and I'm over halfway there. I expedited my savings by only contributing 1/2 as much as I normally to to my IRA over the last 8 months. Not having surgery until January, so I will be within $2500 of total cost (surgery + flight + meds + incidentals). I will put this on a low interest cc but should have it paid off within a month or two when I get my tax refund.

I had one when I had my cervical vertebrae fusion surgery. It was the best thing ever! I was under anesthesia when it was put in, but awake when removed....by my male nurse, BTW. never felt a thing and wasnt even awkward (neither was the sponge bath, come to think of it) They are professionals and its just part of their job. Sometimes at night when I wake up for the second or third time to go to the bathroom, I wish I had one....

I'm single, 45 and horny, so BRING IT ON! (Just kidding....not)

Lolliq12, I'm so sorry you had to go through this. It's too bad you were stuck with such an inept nursing staff. As for having a drain put in during surgery, that is surgeon's preference. On the con side, from what I've read, the drain seems the most painful (at least uncomfortable) part of post-op, and it is a potential source of infection. The pros are it's an extra "alarm" for early leaks and in your case, internal bleeding. A friend just had VSG surgery at the University if Utah and she had a drain for like 10 days. She didn't have any problems, its just their SOP. I specifically chose a surgeon who does use a drain although he only leaves it in for 3 days post-op.

I am in the medical field as well and my insurance does not cover WLS. However, I did include local US doctors in my research. In the end, I went with the doctor with the most experience and lowest complication rate. He just happens to be in Mexico. I havent had sx yet so I can't tell you if it was a good decision or not. My only hesitation is the lack of post-op care directly from my surgeon (beyond the first 4 days anyways) First, I don't know if any local surgeons would treat me if I were to have complications. Secondly, the closest one is 3 hours away. Thirdly, that one is only a general surgeon (even though he does WLS) and the closest certified bariatric surgeon is 5 hours away. My remote locale really made my decision to find an excellent surgeon that much more important.

From the sound of things you did not have a drain put in at the time of your original surgery. Is that correct? Seems to me if you had one, the blood would have come out your drain rather than stay in until it became a big clot that wouldn't drain.

Ditto. What a sad little boy.... Under all that manliness, that is!

Geez, Recycled, Do your research before making such arrogant, judgemental comments. There IS a "miraculous" procedure that IS known by the medical community that has been shown to be more effective at weight loss that bypass. (Guess you didnt get the memo) It's called duodenal switch. Not to mention the advancements in emotional and nutritional support she may not have had over the last 17 years.

OK, now that we have the dots figured out, what is the green bar in the upper right section of our profile? Mine says 8 neutral, but others have a higher number and either something like "good" or "excellent". What am I, Switzerland?!?

I live in sports bras but unfortunately as the sisters have gotten bigger (from weight gain) a lot of sports bras don't provide enough support. I guess the manufacturers don't expect "big girls" to be playing sports. Anyways, the one good thing is that any one sports bra usually functions through a range of sizes so as my boobs shrink after surgery (hopefully) I won't have to buy new bras for each size. Once I'm stabilized I'm really hoping to fit into something pretty instead of functional!

Raven123, Can I ask what your sister and brother-in-law's deciding factors were in choosing OCC over other Mexican options? Did they also look at US drs?

Here are the options for gastric bypass revisions... http://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/gastric-bypass-revision.html Keke, are you sure your friend didn't have the duodenal switch? Doing a gastric sleeve is one component of that procedure. It doesn't make sense to go from a restrictive + malabsorptive procedure (gastric bypass) to only a restrictive procedure (gastric sleeve) if the former failed.

I have Regence Blueshield of Idaho insurance and they specifically exclude any treatment or surgery related to weight loss, including complications that arise from any such treatments. (Despite paying over $3500 in premiums to them every year....F.....ers!) anyways, I've researched several other insurance companies in Idaho and they are all the same (ditto to previous exclamation). Does anyone have individual insurance in Idaho that has had bariatric surgery covered? I'm going to self pay for the surgery itself because I'm not about to kiss their as....es and jump though all their hoops, but I was hoping to have coverage for any post op complications that may arise. Thanks!

BTW, I found a neat way to help me "kill time" until my surgery and still make me feel like I'm moving forward. Each month I give myself a new life change goal. I started taking a daily multivitamin. Then I weaned off caffeine. Then I started drinking at least 64oz. of water everyday. I will eventually add in eating slower and chewing every bite until its mush and not eating anything after 8pm, walk a little more each day, etc. so by the time I have the surgery, all these things will already be "old habits"

Thanks and you too!

My research has turned up the same info as Arts. For example, sleeve complications are higher than band complications in the short term (can't remember the exact stats). But in the longer term, the complications of sleeve go way down compared to the band. Basically, if its going to go wrong with the sleeve it goes wrong within the first couple months. (As long as you stick with your long term diet and vitamin supplementation) I would talk to your surgeon about their specific complication stats because little variations in techniques make a difference in leak/stricture rates (I.e. bougie size, oversewing, pre and post op diet plan, etc.)

Be thankful your insurance pays anything. Mine doesn't even give me the option, so I'm self pay. I could have surgery tomorrow if the money fairy showed up tonight. But instead I've spent more than a year saving $$$ for my surgery and still have about 6 months to go, so like the others posters already said, thank God for your blessings and use the extra time preparing for your life changes.

Marfar, how did you qualify for Medicare coverage? You sure don't look 65! I'm just asking because I'm having issues with my insurance not covering wls.

I mentioned getting a band to a friend that has one and she promptly told me not to. She's had it 5 years and is happy with it now and has lost 100 lbs, but took her over two years of fills and unfills to find the "sweet spot". Not to mention an emergency surgery when her band slipped and cut off all circulation to her stomach and another surgery to have her gall bladder removed. I live in a very rural area where fills and unfills will be difficult and a slip could be very serious considering the nearest bariatric surgeon is 3 hours away. Although the permanent nature of the sleeve concerns me, the alternative permanent fatness is worse..... But like Gypsy Queen said, you are going to get biased answers on this board.

CVT certified veterinary technician for 12 years. Raft guide, ski instructor and property assessor for an environmental consulting firm in previous life (lives). Surgery in Jan and hoping to get back to my raft guide "fighting weight" ! Course my diet in those days consisted of Cliff bars, coffee and beer so hoping to be a little healthier

Purplicious, I just sent you a pm but am very interested about your negative experience with OCC. since they claim nearly 0% complication or complaints, I would love to hear from the other side before scheduling a surgery date.

I've been researching my Surgeon options and am probably going to go with Dr. Ortiz. I knew the Newsweek thing was an advertisement and I also know the Center of Excellence thing is a joke. I'm in the veterinary field and its the same thing as someone only going with an AAHA accredited vet hospital.... Piles of paperwork, notebooks full of formal protocols, and doing everything "right" on the day of your official accreditation visit does not make you or your staff "the best". But like barbbdoll, my research kept coming back to him. As for his forum, I would be more disturbed if his moderators did remove Lindsay's posts. I feel That would be biased censorship on their part. For the Ortiz non-fans out there, I would love to hear any personal complaints and complications you've had. I'm pretty leary of general bashing statements and statistics with no proof from non-patients.

Just curious, did your surgeon oversew the staple line? Some do and some don't..the results are controversial.