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I just had my surgery early this morning, was home by 12:30, and am doing great. I really expected it to be a lot worse than it was. The nurse did tell me I recovered better, right after the surgery, than most patients. Anyway, the cost to me as a self pay patient was $13,500. $4000 went to the surgeon, and the rest went to the hospital. That includes all care and fills for a year. I thought it was a pretty good price. I will not receive any other bills. I did have to pay separately for the psych eval., but insurance covered most of that and $195 for the initial consult with the surgeon.

July 24 is my date also, and I am self-pay. I refuse to shell out that sort of money and fail at this! I started trying to lose weight the day I got my surgery date, and have lost 25 pounds. Now I am really motivated. For the first time today, someone asked me if I had lost weight. Friends keep asking me if I am nervous - strange I guess, but I am not. I have just about 100 pounds to lose now. Good luck to all of us on July 24!

Hi Suzanne G., I will be banded by Dr. Brengman on July 24. Today was my first day on the pre-op diet. It hasn't been bad at all. I have only met Dr. Brengman once, but really liked him also. I am glad to hear good things about him. Congrats on your weight loss! You are almost there.

I have a beautiful, shapely, blonde, 23 year old daughter who live in Manhattan. I am brunette and fat and live in Virginia. She has told me that several of her friends who have not met me have envisioned her mother as thin, blonde, and sophisticated. My daughter and I both are the same height and wear the same shoe size. When I have lost all the weight I need and want to lose, I want to go visit her, wear her clothes and go shopping for my own, put blonde highlights in my hair, and then meet some of her friends. Ha ha! Just kidding, actually. But I will enjoy visiting her in Manhattan, and be able to half-way keep up with her walking around the city. Also, it would be fun to go shopping and have her help me select clothes instead of the other way around! By the way, my surgery is July 24. I have lost 15 pounds on my own, and am so stoked about a "change of life!"

It is finally July!!! I know we July babes (and guys) are all excited. I want to wish those getting banded today all the luck in the world, and you will be in my prayers. 1 wsw27 1 tillydog 1 doedoe1961 1 staylucid 1 mygirlayanna 1 eisermanr7 1 rdk211 1 Mrs J.J

Hi Nancy, Dr. Brengman is my doctor also. I know exactly what you mean - I do not "feel" as big as I look on the scan but who can argue with the image? Good luck on your surgery. It is coming up soon! BTW, your band date is my birthday. I imagine I will be on the liver shrinking diet then.

It will certainly be motivating! I should put it on my refrigerator - if looking at myself like that doesn't keep me from eating ice cream, then nothing will!

This was done at the doctor's office (Richmond Surgical Group), and there was no additional charge. I got a call earlier this week saying that the office is now requiring all new patients to have the scans done, and they wanted me to come Friday if possible. Apparently it is a new machine. I am a self-pay, but it is now just part of the lap-band surgery at my doctor's office. I was told I will have them every 3 months, but also could request one at any other time.

Welcome from me also. I love this forum! I am in the Richmond area, and will be banded on July 24. What part of Virginia are you from?

Great story! I read through all of the posts and didn't see this, but of course, we all know... SHIT HAPPENS!

I just got a call requesting that I come in for the white light scan, and I will be doing that on Friday, June. It is a requirement for all new patients, and I am sort of excited about this new technology. There is no additional fee for this. Anyone who will be having surgery at Richmond Surgical Group will be having this scan.

Thanks for the info about pub med. I love to read research reports so that will be a place I go to frequently. I will be banded on July 24, and am so excited! After I made the decision and scheduled the surgery (and will be paying myself, so am really motivated - it costs too much money not for me to be dead serious), I decided to just go ahead and try to alter my eating habits and get a jump start on the weight loss. I have lost 15 pounds and am no longer officially "morbidly obese." Now I am "severely obese" with a bmi of barely under 40. Isn't that something, to be excited to be merely "severely obese?" Good luck to everyone!

Hi! I am from Richmond, Va. also. I can't answer the question about medicaid, but I will tell you what I am self-paying for my July 24 surgery. Richmond Surgical Group at St. Mary's Hospital charges $13,500 for those who do not have to stay overnight. Luckily, I was oked for my surgeon (Dr. Brengman) for that since I am pretty healthy (although I do have high blood pressure). If you have to stay overnight, it is $17,500. There is also a $195 fee for the initial surgical consult and the psych evaluation costs around $100. Welcome to this group...it has been so helpful to me.

Please add me on July 24. I will be banded by Dr. Brengman at St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond, Va.

I will be a self-pay. At the initial seminar I attended, the said the price for a procedure where you don't have to stay overnight in the hospital would be $13,500 ($17,500 for overnight). They also said both prices include insurance in case there are any complications anytime the next year. I have no idea how much the insurance is alone, but they do not offer a "no insurance" price. I am sort of glad.

Froggi, since your last post was so nicely and politely worded, email me your address and your book of choice and I will order one for you and have it sent to you. This is my one and only gift to you. I have a 23 year old daughter myself, and fortunately she is self-supporting and doing quite well thanks to the fact that her parents put her through a good college. What I would like you to do in return is to "pay it forward" and give the book to someone else who might need it when you no longer have any use of it. Good luck and best wishes to you, Lynn (lpaar@yahoo.com)

I think what maybe the other posters don't understand is that you are asking for someone to send you the books for free. At first, when I read your post, I wondered why, if you could use the computer to post the message, why you could not use the computer to order the book. So it sounds like it is simply a money issue. Of course, if anyone is kind enough to mail you one that will cost them money. I do have a book, which I want to keep, but I have found that it doesn't have anything in it that I can't find on the internet.

I haven't been banded yet, but went to a support group this week and asked that question. I was told 30 years.

Hi Mary in Las Vegas (lucky you! I love Vegas), congratulations! I am so happy to hear you are doing so well. I will be having my surgery on July 24, and when I weighed myself this afternoon, that is exactly how much I weighed! I have lost 11 pounds since I got my surgery date just trying to eat healthy. I imagine I will cry to when I hit 244. I can't wait to hear about your progress. I will be joining you soon in Bandsville.

Absolutely not. I hate to say it, but if my husband knew he would give me a hard time. Once, about 10 years ago, I was in the hospital for a few days. There was a white board beside my bed and the nurse was supposed to write my weight on the board. Every night I would get up out of bed, even though it was difficult, and erase it. I don't think they ever knew why it kept disappearing. I am going to have them write in my file not to discuss my weight with my husband; that during my sugery they can tell him how I am doing overall but not to discuss the number. I don't even get on the scales at my primary care physicians office. I had avoided going for doctor's visits because I didn't want to weigh, but my uncle, who is a doctor, told me I had the right to decline stepping on the scales. So I did. However, of course I weighed for my lap bad consult with the surgeon. That doctor and I are the only ones who know my weight. Now, what I have no problem telling is my age!

Hi LeLee, you look so beautiful! I don't even know you but am so proud of you. I can't wait until July 24, when Dr. Brengman bands me. Good luck in grad school.

I have not attended one yet, but plan to next week. Actually, that would be tomorrow (the 2nd Monday of each month) from 7-8:30. Lynn

Your 20 something thin but shapely daughter complains about you borrowing her clothes for the first time in her life.

I attended the Richmond Surgical Group seminar and felt like it was pretty balanced. I definitely came out excited about the possibility, but also felt like I had a good understanding of all of the hard work it requires. That was the only seminar I went to so I have no basis for comparison, but never felt like the doctors were "less than enthusiastic."