Phynale

I finally had my first visit and the surgeon is recommending that I get the bypass while I was already heavily in the sleeve camp. He said he's not trying to talk me into it but that the bypass would be better for me since my biggest problem is eating the wrong foods. I am 57 years old and weigh well past 300. Can you give me your opinion on this topic? I'm assuming most of you will go with what you chose but if you can be objective for someone in my situation what would you advise? The other difference is that I am a cash pay patient so I believe the difference is going to be an additional 4k out of pocket to get the bypass. I keep reading good things about the sleeve but also read the bypass is the gold standard and that you lose more weight with the bypass. Is that still true? Thank you to everyone that responds.

After many years of trying to get my insurance to pay for weight loss surgery (even though it is specifically written in my policy that it's not covered) and getting bigger and bigger with less and less mobility, I have finally decided that I need to just bite the bullet and pay for surgery myself. I just noticed in another thread that I need to think about what I would do if there are complications if my insurance would not cover that? I'm also wondering if I'm crazy to get it done here in the states when it seems it is 4 times the price for gastric sleeve surgery than if I went to Mexico? Are there any other aspects of being a cash-pay patient that are different than when insurance pays for it, both negative and positive?

I can't read all of the posts on one page of a thread without it freezing up. I can't finish a completed post without it freezing up. So far on this one it happened twice.

Okay what I'm about to say will probably sound trite and this is a decision that only you can make after much thought, consideration, research and prayer if you are so inclined. However, it might work to show you what you really want. Flip a coin. Heads you will have the surgery and tails you will not. Then just before you reveal which side the coin landed on, listen to your thoughts. Which side are you hoping landed face up? I've wanted this for years but I woke up about a week ago thinking heck no, I'm not doing this elective surgery. It wasn't long before I changed my mind back. Though I am still about a month and a half away from my surgery date so I'm sure I will have more 'what am I doing' moments. Still I can hardly wait and it's not that I'm looking forward to no longer being able to gulp Water or even drink with my meals or gulp a diet A&W root beer. But I am looking forward to starting in the right direction of losing weight instead of gaining it and being able to walk to the mailbox without running out of breath and being able to get in and out of the tub without worrying that I'm going to slip and fall or being able to run and play with my grandkids or being able to dance or being able to go to a store without buggies or being able to go to an event where there is a long walk from your parked car to the building and a long walk from the entrance to your seats or being able to sit in a seat that is not at the end of the aisle or being able to go to Dollywood or being able to ride a ride without worrying that my weight is going to break it down or being able to ride a horse without feeling sorry for the horse or having to put up with being around people who look down their noses at you and think they are better than you because at least they aren't that big or being able to interview for a job and not having to hope that the person interviewing you does not automatically discount you because of their preconceived notion about fat people. Good luck Frankenstein. I hope everything works out perfectly for you.

I do overeat too but mainly just the foods I really like. Either that or I try to eat right and I'm not satisfied so I keep getting something else and something else until I finally get what I wanted in the first place.

I'm new to this site so please forgive me if I'm posting this to the wrong thread. I looked but couldn't find the tech forum. If I hit like for a post is that just a like for this site or does it show up on my Facebook page? Is there a forum on here for people who are cash pay but who choose to stay in the States for their surgery? Thanks for all of your posts. This is a wonderful site.

My first appointment with the surgeon is on January 11th and I can't wait. I'm a self-pay patient and am afraid I have my hopes up on how quickly I can get it done. I would love to have a moment such as yours. Ever since I decided to finally take this plunge, I have been real careful and stingy about buying clothes with the hope this would be the last time I would have to buy the nearly biggest size at Catherines. I can't imagine buying clothes from a regular store. I sometimes look at ads for pretty clothes for skinny people and drool but have to quickly stop because I don't want to get my hopes up too much until after the surgery.

Thank you so much for this post. I plan on going back and re-reading this after my surgery to remind me of my part of this whole deal. I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

What a great post. Thank you for all of this information. I look forward to hearing more updates.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I am so new to this and did not know realize how little research I had done prior to now even though I thought I had. It's funny the closer you get to actually doing something, the more interest you have in the details. My son has several friends who have had this done and I'm going to ask him to ask them if anyone had it done in Mexico. Though I know he would be totally against it since I would have to go alone. Speaking of which, I think that's one of the scariest parts about this is that I really need to be able to be self-sufficient as much as possible. Can you take care of yourself once you are sent home from the hospital? In the words of the wicked witch, and my little dog too? Will I be able to take my dog out on my own as soon as I get home? As for the hospital stay, from what I'm reading it sounds like if there are no complications that I should be able to leave pretty quickly. I know I'll find out more details once I actually go in for my first consult. I am so excited and scared at the same time. I'm so glad this board is here. I'm looking forward to learning more and more from those of you who have been there. And yet, I'm scared something is going to get in the way of me actually getting the surgery. That is one thing that being self pay seems to help, there being less obstacles. I've recently been having knee pain but do not want to do anything about it so I can see if it helps for me to get some of this weight off of it before I consider anything serious for the knee. Sorry for the rambling. Again thanks to every one of you for your advice. Edited to add: I don't know why I can't make the font any bigger. I tried highlighting my post and selected size 12. Sorry.

This has not even occurred to me. I am having to be a cash pay patient and just assumed my insurance would cover any complications despite the fact that it is specifically written in my policy that weight loss surgery is not covered. This is scary stuff. I'm at the point now where I'm afraid more of not getting the surgery than getting it because of how big I've gotten and how difficult it is now to do anything.