Hop_Scotch

I am only in the very early stages yet, haven't even had an initial consult with the surgeon, but should I go ahead with WLS I won't be telling many people at all, if any.

If they do measure your height, don't stand tall, slouch a little or perhaps a slight bend in your knees....

If you are going to get a lot of undue pressure I wouldn't tell them until absolutely necessary, and if that is until after surgery so be it. You are doing this for you, don't let anyone persuade you otherwise. Good luck with the family! I am a fairly private person when I am not under anomyity of a message board, if I process with weight loss surgery very few people will be told, if in fact anyone. I will need to go interstate for the surgery and I am single now, so there is no one to explain to where I am going or what I am doing. When I was considering a lapband a couple of years ago, I allowed by then partner to persuade me not to do it, I wish I had stuck to my guns and had it done. Benefit of hindsight I am glad I didn't as I see an ESG has a preferable option for me.

It doesn't look like you are from Australia? I think you will find that it is the Australian medicare system that is being discussed in this thread. You are fortunate, in Australia if a medical procedure doesn't have a medicare item number it is not covered under private healthy insurance either, and people are out of pocket for the entire costs. I am considering ESG which is not covered by medicare and thus not covered by health insurance and will need to fund the surgery myself or as is discussed here apply for early release of super (retirement funds).

Sorry Noo, I haven't been through the process, but I was looking the other day at the online centrelink form for early release of super and I couldn't see a field for adding savings or assets, nor does the documentation required specify copies of bank or investment statements. May it is something they follow up with? There is a company that helps with applying for early release of super, their fees seemed a bit exxy, but if they help achieve a good outcome it could be worth it. Feedback on facebook was a bit mixed but overall 4.2/5. Company name was My SuperCare. Perhaps Noo you may not be so out of pocket with a revision, as you may not be required to do all the aftercare for up to one or two years? Note that unless preservation age has been reached early release of super in most instances will be taxed at about 22%, so if $10,000 is released, tax will be $2,200 and funds received will be $7,800. So at the end of the day, we won't receive the full cost of the surgery, hospital and doctor fees etc. I am not sure if tax is paid directly by the super fund or if it is captured by the annual tax return process. I am considering early release of super for the surgery I am proposing (ESG, if deemed a suitable candidate) which is not covered by medicare (thus also not covered by private health insurance). For anyone in Australia considering early release of super for weight loss surgery, note that there is a government review underway at the moment, if early release of super for these circumstances continue I suspect that the criteria for early release will become a whole lot tougher than it is now. If all goes well with my consult etc I want to have the ESG in Sept or Oct, but what to go through the application for super release as soon as possible. If I am not successful, my chosen clinic is a member of MiFund and they have interest free plans (application fee and low cost montly fee only) so I will apply for that. To be honest this is possibly better than early release of super, as application fee and monthly fees would be less than the tax payable on release of super, with the added bonus that super remains intact. My fall back position if not sucessful for early release of super or MiFund is a surgery that is covered by medicare and private health insurance, but I really do want the minimally invasive ESG. Apologies for the waffle!

Hope your revision went well Nickie!

Thank you everyone for some wonderful information about ESG which I am seriously considering. I will likely have the procedure done in Melbourne if the one surgeon in my home state (who does these) hasn't done too many ESGs. I like the idea of it being non-surgical as well as non-invasive. A drawcard to Melbourne is also robotic surgery. If I go ahead with the procedure I hope to have it done fairly early in 2018, hopefully February. I would like to lose about 25kilos (though I do need to lose more)...any more than that would be a bonus.