woo woo

I completely agree with Sherry. I do not know why Bariatric Pal would allow you to post slanderous comments. Defamation of character is a serious offense and this forum should be removing this post of your Susan. "Slander" (which does not apply here, incidentally) and "defamation of character" are legal terms/torts that must be proven in a court of law, not a type of comment.

LL is 1000% right. The issue here is imbalance of power.

No offense but this screenshot business is hilarious. Anyone that follows this site knows that Susan used to do surgery coordination and has since quit. #thankyoucaptainobvious

The concern is that narcotic pain medicines depress your respiratory system, so when you pair that with obstructive sleep apnea there is a very real danger that a person can stop breathing if sleeping while on narcotics without the CPAP.

I think that you should try your best to go forward with the surgery. Scrape together the basics they need to start school, beg borrow steal if necessary . You can always add some new clothes and things in a few months, which will be when the seasons are changing anyway. I happen to think that the very best and most effective way you can provide for your kids and put them first is to care for their Mother's health. If you are healthy and happy then all else will fall into place because you are at your best.

Good luck to you!

Re: FA I don't know too much about it, from what little I have seen there are some zealots involved... it almost strikes me as a type of denial of the truth about obesity. There was a wacky blog post shared on this site from another member's friend that was into FA (but to be fair also seemed to have some serious issues as well). Obviously it (obesity/fat) doesn't make one a bad person, or necessarily unattractive, but to deny that obesity is unhealthy just seems a little bit crazy to me! :P

I am wondering why this friend of yours is getting in your business like this? Having strangers email you to try and pursuade you not to have the surgery seems very instrusive to me. Eek.

Just came across another summer special in Dallas, this is for Dr. Nicholson, they are offering as low as $4000 for qualifying individuals: http://www.nicholsonclinic.com/pages/promo Just wanted to share for those that are interested.

I am curious about this as well. Assume they remove another portion of the stomach to make a new, smaller sleeve? Also curious how much of a regain have you had if you care to share?

This is a really good thread. @@Skywalker I just wanted to mention that V-8 juice is VERY VERY high in sodium (which would explain the tastyness of it) and so not a good choice post-op, or for anyone with high blood pressure for that matter.

You know for some reason I was assuming that it was income based or something but the hernia thing makes a lot more sense. As far as quality, it's mainly the facility costs are much higher up north. We are talking about major metropolitan cities like Dallas, so I wouldn't be concerned about quality of care or doctors in the south at all. I used to live up north (midwest) and self pay there is 27k + -- with the vast majority of that being the price for the hospital. Surgeon's fees are about the same. Southern states seem to have more surgical centers & competition and such to where you are not going to a gigantic full blown major hospital and paying for all the stuff you don't need for just surgery and aftercare. On top of that, in order to stay competitive, the surgical places are really nice and new and way more comfortable than most of the big, old hospitals up north.

@@Travelmego I live in Dallas/Ft Worth area, many of the popular surgeons advertise on tv here. I saw an ad on tv this week for 10,900 self-pay sleeve for anyone, or 4900 for "those who qualify". This one was for Dr. David Kim. He has a program called "Making Bariatrics Affordable". This is the website I found through a search: http://www.drdkim.net/special-pricing/ I would not be surprised if the prices on the other "big" Dallas area surgeons are close to these or will be soon as there is a lot of competition here between Dr Kim, Dr Nicholson, Dr Barker and possibly a couple others. I know for sure that Dr Kim and Dr Nicholson regularly serve out of town patients.

Some parts of the USA (southern states like texas, louisiana, florida etc) offer self-pay rates that are very, very competitive with Mexico rates. Many also run specials during the summer for example or for lower-income folks. Just putting that out there for those that were not aware of that option. I have seen specials in the 4-5k range in the US lately.

Go to the doc that your surgeon is suggesting. They will know exactly what to do.

That doesn't sound good at all. What does your doctor say?

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It depends on your policy. Some insurances cover nearly 100% of everything, some have higher out of pocket. Have you talked to your insurance company about what all is covered for bariatric? If not, def give them a call and they can give you the full scoop. ETA: Not sure about the cost of sleep study, but if it is ordered by a regular doc it should be covered under your insurance. You can go see an ear nose and throat doc, for example, or maybe your primary care provider? Say you have been told that you snore loudly and/or appear to stop breathing during sleep.

I think that one can have many legitimate reservations about having surgery Mexico without being prejudiced. I think it's risky to label someone as prejudiced for such a flimsy reason. There are real, serious reasons that people might have concerns about surgery in Mexico. These are sometimes ignored. Just my opinion.

If you want to have it reversed, I would think sooner rather than later is your best bet. Just thinking of scar tissue and such.

Looking forward to updates! Congrats on your surgery

I felt more comfortable waiting and going thru insurance. It didnt make sense to jeopardize my family's financial wellbeing (in case of ongoing or serious complications for example) because I didnt want to wait a few months. It just depends with what level of financial risk you are comfortable with.

Here is a link to the website where you can put in your address and find a meeting near you: http://www.oa.org/membersgroups/find-a-meeting/

Pick up a hands on hobby like knitting or crochet, scrapbooking etc that you can do with your hands during tv time? Another good option is to sip on a low cal beverage.